Regina recording artist Poor Nameless Boy is coming to Melfort as part of the Home Routes Tour on Monday, Nov. 20.
Poor Nameless Boy, real name Joel Henderson, will be performing in the Melody Motors showroom.
Henderson said that he had never done a Home Routes tour before, but has performed in parallel types of concerts in the past. Henderson said that he is looking forward to the tour, which will see him perform in Outlook on Sunday, Oct. 19 the day before the show.
“To be honest, it’s my favourite type of show,” Henderson said. “I think, especially coming out of the last number of years we’ve been through (with) the general sense that people couldn’t gather, it’s wonderful for venues, but even just for home concerts, for small coffee shop shows for art gallery shows for theatre shows, those things. (It) kind of broke my heart.”
Henderson has toured mainly larger Saskatchewan cities in the past. This will be his first time performing in Melfort.
“I was playing in different places that would invite me out or places where I was on a double bill on a show or something like that—a lot of Regina and Saskatoon,” he said. “From 2017 on, I wasn’t playing a lot of shows in Saskatchewan, so it’s going to be nice to be able to do that.”
Henderson is heading out to promote the release of his latest single “Maybe I’m Lucky” and garner a few new supporters along the way with the tour.
Henderson said he is looking forward to connecting with audiences as his music is ideally suited for this type of intimate performance.
“There’s gonna be a lot of stories, songs, things behind it, some talking about the last number of years,” Henderson explained. “I’m not a person who just jumps from song to song. We just talk about life and if the audience is engaging and things like that, I consider that a big plus too.”
Henderson’s performance in Melfort is one of nine shows he’s playing across Saskatchewan. Henderson said the location is not important, but rather how people feel and if they are ready to relax and hear some stories.
“Some are in homes and some are in very private residences,” he said. “Some are smaller churches, some are in art galleries So it’s you never know, right?”
Since his albums Activity Book (2013) and Bravery (2016), Henderson has been a traveller, gracing stages across Europe, Australia, and North America. Taking a respite from extensive touring in 2020, Poor Nameless Boy reemerged on the airwaves with “Jean Jackets” in the fall of 2021, offering a glimpse of the captivating music that awaits us in 2023-24. His latest release “Maybe I’m Lucky” is gaining attention on radio and streaming and is destined to be another hit.
Henderson said he is looking forward to the tour on a personal level because he has rarely performed in recent years.
“The ones that I have been (playing are) ones that I just felt like I couldn’t say no to it,” he explained. “I just felt like the best way to get back out there for me, as someone who’s travelled all around the world and done all this stuff, is just play shows in Saskatchewan where I’m from and connect with people there.”
Henderson said he is looking forward to seeing how everyone is doing because he likes dealing with people person-to-person.
“Poor Nameless Boy” will be at The Melody Motors showroom Monday, Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets available pre-show at Melody Motors or Northern Lights Gallery, or pay $25 cash at the door.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
