Callie McCullough concludes tour with Revival House appearance opened by Nora Joy

See Callie McCullough conclude her current tour for the album Cutting Through The Noise at Revival House with singer/songwriter Nora Joy opening the evening concert.

Hot off the road promoting her new album, Callie McCullough is coming to Revival House for the conclusion of her tour, with up-and-coming singer/songwriter sensation Nora Joy opening. The concert takes place on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 8 p.m. These two Stratford powerhouses will bring their own brand of music together for a night of new and familiar songs.

McCullough’s new album, Cutting Through the Noise has been appreciated by audiences from Nashville, New York, Los Angeles to Toronto on a tour planned to wind down for her hometown of Stratford.

“A lot of these songs were written over about two-and-a-half years ago. The overarching theme of the record is about that, cutting through the noise. I think we can all agree that the past few years has felt like a good amount of chaos in the world in a way that we haven’t experienced before. This is about raising your own unique voice and realizing that while there’s a lot of noise out there you should still be yourself,” said McCullough.

Fans of McCullough’s first record will be pleased with the consistency in her approach to songwriting where each piece is a journey of its own while staying true to her roots of folk, country and Americana. The lyrics are all a little bit different, given the songs were all written between 2020 and 2022, a time when there were many questions in the world and in the songwriter’s mind.

“I was growing in my 30s and the things I was thinking about was changing and there’s a whole song about that called ‘What If I Don’t’ and I was reflecting on my childhood and how I grew up and again I had those universal questions like ‘What are we doing here,’” said McCullough.

Most personal to her is “Test of Time,” about her life growing up on an apple farm, family and learning to put the work into things and make them last, which were lessons she took with her in her music life in Nashville.

Putting an album together is not a solitary task and there were many collaborations on the album, produced by Dave Brainard. There were a number of talented singer/songwriters working with her, including Stratford’s Scotty Kipfer, Ryan Forsdadt and Molly Brown, among others. It was a dream collaboration for her.

Touring the album brings new energy to the music, and getting to tour it with a six-piece band was special, though the Stratford show will be a trio. Performing the title track live has been really exciting for McCullough, as while they have been playing the other songs over the past few years, “Cutting Through the Noise” was kept close to her until she was ready to release the album.

Also appearing with McCullough at Revival House will by the opening act, Nora Joy, an impressive teenager from Stratford with a musical sense beyond her years.

“I asked around town for someone who would be a good fit for the show. I wanted to give an opportunity to a young female artist from the area. I remember myself wanting to have those opportunities and as a female artist it can be a little bit hard to come by those opportunities. I kept hearing her name around town, so I just reached out on Instagram and she responded right away,” said McCullough.

Nora Joy is no stranger to performing locally. She was invited to join Ron Sexsmith for the Sexsmith at 60 birthday celebration show here in Stratford. Additionally, she will be familiar to the many who attended the Rotary Stratford Dragon Boat Festival in the past.

“I hope that it will be a great show and the audience will have a great time. I hope that they will be able to fit in all their feelings, the high ones and the low ones, the in-between ones. I hope they will love the music and have a great time. I think at this point we never take for granted that we can get people together in a room and play music for them. It’s a celebration, being a hometown show as a hometown girl with people I’ve known since I was a little girl,” said McCullough.

The concert takes place Saturday, Nov. 29 and tickets can be purchased online at https:ticketscene.ca/events/57207/. See also www.revival.house/events-calendar for more information. Tickets are $30 each plus tax and fees.