Fans can lend their lips to The Boom Chucka Boys and be in the band’s new “smooching” music video.
A “big-scale video” is being shot on Saturday at Westerner Days for the band’s new single, Can’t Take My Lips Off You.
To be part of it, real-life couples can enter a “kissing booth” on the fairgrounds and neck for a few minutes on camera.
Lead singer Ryan Langlois cautions participants to keep it G-rated; “We’re a family-friendly band!”
The third single from the band’s Ramble album will be released to radio in August. It’s a fun song about two people who can’t stop kissing each other, said Langlois — hence the need for some puckering up for the music video.
Videographers from the local Unveil Studios will also shoot background footage of the entire fair, including people on midway rides, eating carnival food — and cheering in the stands at Saturday’s Westerner Days Centrium concert, featuring The Boom Chucka Boys, as well as Lindsay Ell and Kira Isabella.
“The idea is to capture the joy of summer,” said Langlois.
Joyful describes how his band feels about being an entertainment headliner at Westerner Days. “It feels pretty surreal,” said Langlois, who remembers a time, about seven years ago, when he and Teddy Roy Michaylow (now the group’s bassist) were at Westerner Days watching Gord Bamford performing as a headliner.
“I remember thinking, that’s so cool ... we could do that. ... And now we are!”
The Boom Chucka Boys — including lead guitarist Joel Rathjen and drummer Ben Shillabeer — have graduated from playing in the beer garden and cabaret at Westerner Days to becoming a main-stage act.
This was in large part due to an amazing 2014 in which the band was nominated for Group of the Year at the Canadian Country Music.
While the musicians from Red Deer and Sylvan Lake didn’t go home with the trophy, they did win later at the Alberta Country Music Awards.
“That was from our peers, so it was huge,” said Langlois.
So far, 2015 has included tours of Manitoba and Ontario — firsts for the band — and Top 40 status for Turn This Car Around, the first single off Ramble.
Langlois is very excited about how well that song has gone over with listeners. Although the second single, Rebel Wings, didn’t fare as well, he has high hopes for Can’t Take My Lips Off You, and is looking forward to performing for friends, family and local fans at Westerner Days.
He believes the group’s fun-fuelled stage presence will kick into an even higher gear for a concert on home turf.
The Boom Chucka Boys show with Lindsay Ell and Kira Isabella starts at 8 p.m. in the Centrium, with rush seating. The concert is free with gate admission.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com