k.d. lang and The Reclines To Reunite After 35 Years At The 2024 CCMA Awards
The former cowpunk returns to her roots with her original band, joining a star-studded list of performers at the country music celebration in Edmonton on Sept. 14.
k.d. lang as featured in CBC's 'From The Vaults'
The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) has made its final performer announcement for the 2024 CCMA Awards and it is a headline-grabber. The show will now host the official reunion of k.d. lang and The Reclines, performing together for the first time in 35 years in Edmonton on Sept. 14.
lang may have found international fame as a pop superstar with a powerful and emotionally expressive voice and as a queer icon, but her roots in country music run deep. She first made her mark in Canadian music as a maverick cowpunk artist back in the '80s, at the start of a career that has spanned over four decades.
She is about to be inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame, adding to her remarkable legacy of accolades that includes four GRAMMY awards, eight JUNO Awards, ten CCMA Awards — including three consecutive Album of the Year wins and two consecutive Entertainer of the Year Awards — a BRIT Award, an AMA, a VMA, four awards from GLAAD and Canada’s highest civilian honour, the Order of Canada.
In addition to this special performance at the CCMA Awards, lang will be honoured and celebrated in an exclusive induction ceremony during Country Music Week 2024.
“Reuniting with The Reclines after 35 years in Edmonton for the CCMA Awards feels like a full-circle moment,” shares lang. “The bond we shared, both musically and personally, remains as strong as ever, and revisiting a song that shaped our journey together is incredibly special. I’m thrilled to bring this experience to life on such a celebrated stage and share it with fans, both old and new.”
Based in her birthplace of Edmonton, k.d. lang and the Reclines were together from 1983 to 1989, after starting out as a Patsy Cline tribute act. The first band featured Stu Macdougal on keys, Dave Bjarnson on drums, Gary Koligar on guitar and Farley Scott on bass.
After regular gigging at Edmonton’s Sidetrack Café, the group gained national attention with its 1984 album, A Truly Western Experience. Her unique sense of fashion and energetic performance style caught the attention of Rolling Stone, who dubbed her “a Canadian Cowpunk.” Lang earned a 1985 Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist, famously accepting the award wearing a borrowed wedding dress.
The following year brought lang an American record deal, and she received critical acclaim for her 1987 album, Angel with a Lariat, produced by British rock luminary Dave Edmunds. In 1989, lang released her last album with the Reclines, Absolute Torch And Twang, and it earned her a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.
The CCMA also today announced a new group of presenters for the 2024 CCMA Awards. They are Hailey Benedict, Ty Bentli, Dax, Shannon Ella, Gilles Godard, James Barker Band, Kwesi Kwarko-Fosu, Madeline Merlo, Steven Lee Olsen, Brad Rempel, Sacha, Tim & The Glory Boys, Julia Tocheri, Tenille Townes, Alli Walker and more.
As reported in Billboard Canada, the lineup of previously announced performers include Dasha, Jade Eagleson, Brett Kissel, Madeline Merlo, The Reklaws, Owen Riegling, Josh Ross and Julia Michaels, MacKenzie Porter, Thomas Rhett, Dallas Smith, Tenille Townes, and Jake Worthington, with Porter and Rhett doing double duty as the show's hosts for the evening.
Country Music Week 2024 kicks off in Edmonton on Wednesday, September 11, culminating with the 2024 CCMA Awards on September 14, airing live at 8 p.m. ET On CTV. Tickets are available here.
