GEORGE
FOX - PRESS PHOTOS
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In
1988, a young man set down a long rolling gravel road. In the distance
a small yellow farmhouse faded from view. Leaving the safety of his
home in the foothills of Southern Alberta, George Fox was about to
get the break he had long hoped for. On that clear spring day he could
never have imagined the amazing success story he was about to become.
It
is now more than a dozen years since that fateful drive. Fox has a
mantle of country music awards, he has recorded 8 albums and there
is a street named after him in his hometown. George has traveled the
world, opened for some of the biggest names in country music and headlined
sold out shows coast to coast. Growing up in Cochrane, Alberta, (pop.
4500), the son of cattle ranchers Bert and Gert Fox, George was like
a lot of rural kids he lived, breathed and worked the farm. One day
he arrived home from school and casually told his parents he was starting
a rock band. Little did anyone know that the seeds for the future
had been sown. In 1981, George went to Sweden on a farm exchange program.
The host farmer asked Fox to bring along some country albums and it
wasn't long before Fox also took to the music.
Upon
his return to Alberta, he decided he should devote another five years
to ranching but fate had other plans. Soon Fox was back playing music,
writing songs and a short while later with his life savings he went
into the recording studio. The end results were tapes he could sell
at local shows. In 1988, one of those recordings passed through a
series of hands, eventually landing on the desk of a Warner Music
executive. A short while later a phone call from the label took George
from the safety of the foothills and set the wheels in motion for
what was to become an extraordinary career. With the release of his
first self-titled album in 1988 country music fans discovered George
Fox. Debut singles, “Angelina” and “Goldmine”
were sent soaring up the country charts and in subsequent years, “No
Trespassing,” “Mustang Heart,” “I Give You
My Word,” “What's Holding Me” and “Breakfast
Alone,” to mention just a few, would join them in the Top 10
and become signature songs. Throughout the eighties George opened
for such country greats as Randy Travis, Dolly Parton, George Strait
and Willie Nelson. It wasn't long however before he was headlining
his own sold out shows from Canada to Australia. Fox's music has also
traveled him to Switzerland, Spain, Brazil and even Germany where
he entertained Canadian troops. George's charm was found not only
in his music but also in his ability to weave a story and engage the
listener.
Today
George lives in Southern Ontario on an expansive acreage that farms
winter wheat, soybean and corn. There was a turn of the century
farmhouse still standing on the land and George and Monica have
been painstakingly restoring and adding on to over the years. They
acquired Lucky, a large black lab, and in 2000, George's Dad, Bert,
sold the family ranch in the foothills of Alberta. But as they say,
when one door closes another opens. Memories of growing up in rural
Canada, his love of the land and his respect for the working man
have now taken George in a new direction. While continuing to write
songs and tour, George has taken pen in hand and begun work on a
book. While it is still a work in progress, you can be assured it
will hold what have affectionately become known as “George
- isms” to his legion of fans. From cattle rancher to Canadian
country music ambassador, taking the road less traveled has been
the hallmark of George Fox's life and career. To be sure, the road
you take to follow your dream, is also the road that brings you
back home.
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