Back in March, Nashville based Canadian country star Tebey released a snippet of a country version of The Weeknd's Blinding Lights; within a week the song had gone viral and he released a full version due to the explosive fan demand. Since then, the song has had over 4 million global streams and charted on Apple Music in 88 countries! With the demand, Tebey has delighted European fans by announcing a return to the UK and Germany in August, with a headline show in London on August 21st at Omeara presented by Live Nation, and in Germany at Sound of Nashville’s Open Air Festival in Cologne on August 25th. We caught up with Tebey this past week to find out more about the release and the upcoming European shows.
Hey Tebey, good to see you again.
Hey, good to see you too man.
How are you?
I’m great. Having a day of UK press and then Australia tonight!
I’ve got to start off by saying how exciting it is to know you have a London headline show this summer, I know it’s something you’ve been working towards for a long time.
Yeah, we hit London in August which is going to be great, and we’ve teamed up with Live Nation which is huge for us. Tickets went on sale last week; I haven’t had a look yet to see how sales are going, but I hope we can sell it out nice and quick and really this is a stepping stone for me to come back and do a full headline tour around the country later in the year - around November time.
I love O’Meara as a venue and it’s definitely one of my favourites in London. It’s also a good size one too for you to start out in.
It’s a 350-cap venue. My team actually said it might be too big as obviously we don’t know our market there for this kind of show. We know we can do that here (in Nashville) or back home in Canada, but it is an unknown there. They were worried it may not sell well but I’m confident we can do it.
And you’re coming over now off the back off this crazy viral hit that you’ve had with your cover in Blinding Lights
That has just been huge man. The original idea behind it was just to make some bits for socials to try and improve outreach and our numbers and it just went off. We had only recorded a snippet, so we didn’t even have the whole song – I hadn’t even learnt it! We were actually about to go on a family holiday to the Netherlands and Belgium and I woke up to see the numbers were going crazy just in one night, so I quickly rang my producer Danick and got him in the studio on a Sunday so we could lay something down and I was even doing some editing on the plane to Europe!
Did the kids have to act as cameramen for then?
They got away without having to do that! I actually got my social media guy from Toronto, who is a genius at all this, to fly over for 48 hours to record some stuff for me. He flew in; jumped on a train; met up with me; we recorded; and he flew home!
What was it like just watching it go up and up?
The numbers on it are crazy and even the Weekend shared it on his socials. It has something like 21 million views now, which is more than any of his posts have and that still sounds crazy to say. My social numbers were just jumping in the thousands overnight. It was making me feel a bit like Justin Bieber!
Hey Tebey, good to see you again.
Hey, good to see you too man.
How are you?
I’m great. Having a day of UK press and then Australia tonight!
I’ve got to start off by saying how exciting it is to know you have a London headline show this summer, I know it’s something you’ve been working towards for a long time.
Yeah, we hit London in August which is going to be great, and we’ve teamed up with Live Nation which is huge for us. Tickets went on sale last week; I haven’t had a look yet to see how sales are going, but I hope we can sell it out nice and quick and really this is a stepping stone for me to come back and do a full headline tour around the country later in the year - around November time.
I love O’Meara as a venue and it’s definitely one of my favourites in London. It’s also a good size one too for you to start out in.
It’s a 350-cap venue. My team actually said it might be too big as obviously we don’t know our market there for this kind of show. We know we can do that here (in Nashville) or back home in Canada, but it is an unknown there. They were worried it may not sell well but I’m confident we can do it.
And you’re coming over now off the back off this crazy viral hit that you’ve had with your cover in Blinding Lights
That has just been huge man. The original idea behind it was just to make some bits for socials to try and improve outreach and our numbers and it just went off. We had only recorded a snippet, so we didn’t even have the whole song – I hadn’t even learnt it! We were actually about to go on a family holiday to the Netherlands and Belgium and I woke up to see the numbers were going crazy just in one night, so I quickly rang my producer Danick and got him in the studio on a Sunday so we could lay something down and I was even doing some editing on the plane to Europe!
Did the kids have to act as cameramen for then?
They got away without having to do that! I actually got my social media guy from Toronto, who is a genius at all this, to fly over for 48 hours to record some stuff for me. He flew in; jumped on a train; met up with me; we recorded; and he flew home!
What was it like just watching it go up and up?
The numbers on it are crazy and even the Weekend shared it on his socials. It has something like 21 million views now, which is more than any of his posts have and that still sounds crazy to say. My social numbers were just jumping in the thousands overnight. It was making me feel a bit like Justin Bieber!
This all followed the release of a new track at the start of this year too.
Yeah, Hold Your Horses. It’s weird as that was beginning to climb and now this version of Blinding Lights has just taken over! Especially now it has been sent to radio and it’s climbing. It’s also doing really well in Australia too, which is cool to see.
I’m sure it’s now going to be a song people will be listening out for when you’re over here, but it’s not just England as you are also doing a show in Germany during the visit.
Yeah, I’m looking forward to heading to Cologne. I understand that it is their first ever outdoor country festival which is quite cool. It’s a great city, it has an amazing cathedral, and I love the German people. Tim Hicks is going to be playing it too and I’m hoping we will be able to get him on the London show.
I need to start costing up some flights I think!
You should come it’s going to be a blast.
Having seen you play in Germany before at C2C Berlin in 2020, it must be good to be able to keep building that fan base all across Europe?
Yeah, I’ve been a couple of times now. We had that C2C in Berlin and I supported Scotty McCreery out there too. It’s been a few years now, so it will be good to get back there. We’ll also be heading to Scandinavia to do some press this time around too. Norway is actually one of my biggest markets.
Yeah, Hold Your Horses. It’s weird as that was beginning to climb and now this version of Blinding Lights has just taken over! Especially now it has been sent to radio and it’s climbing. It’s also doing really well in Australia too, which is cool to see.
I’m sure it’s now going to be a song people will be listening out for when you’re over here, but it’s not just England as you are also doing a show in Germany during the visit.
Yeah, I’m looking forward to heading to Cologne. I understand that it is their first ever outdoor country festival which is quite cool. It’s a great city, it has an amazing cathedral, and I love the German people. Tim Hicks is going to be playing it too and I’m hoping we will be able to get him on the London show.
I need to start costing up some flights I think!
You should come it’s going to be a blast.
Having seen you play in Germany before at C2C Berlin in 2020, it must be good to be able to keep building that fan base all across Europe?
Yeah, I’ve been a couple of times now. We had that C2C in Berlin and I supported Scotty McCreery out there too. It’s been a few years now, so it will be good to get back there. We’ll also be heading to Scandinavia to do some press this time around too. Norway is actually one of my biggest markets.
I don’t know how much you’ve followed Harry Kane since he left Spurs for Germany, but it hasn’t gone to plan!
Some guys just don’t have the luck when it comes to winning!
With the season coming to a close, you have timed it well to come just as the new season kicks off in August.
Haha, that’s true. Are the fixtures out yet?
No not yet. There’s two weeks left now I think and then it’s about 3 or 4 weeks after the season ends next seasons will be out
Ah cool, I’ll keep an eye out. I actually had someone DM me the other day saying they were coming to the show and I saw who they supported (Arsenal), so I had to reply to say thanks for buying tickets but I won’t tell you who I support with a winky face!
Got to love the north London rivalry! But Spurs do have a cup final this weekend as the women’s team are in the FA Cup Final
Oh that’s cool, is that at Wembley?
Yeah, should be a good day out.
I’ve been there once before and love that stadium.
Hopefully we can find a game or two to get you to while you’re here!
Haha, maybe for the November tour I’ll be planning the whole thing around football fixtures! I’m hoping I’ll be able to get a game in while I’m there. I actually have a buddy who works for the Predators and they have links with Spurs and he’s actually going to be over in London working with Spurs at the same time as the London show so he said he will sort me out a box ticket!
Some guys just don’t have the luck when it comes to winning!
With the season coming to a close, you have timed it well to come just as the new season kicks off in August.
Haha, that’s true. Are the fixtures out yet?
No not yet. There’s two weeks left now I think and then it’s about 3 or 4 weeks after the season ends next seasons will be out
Ah cool, I’ll keep an eye out. I actually had someone DM me the other day saying they were coming to the show and I saw who they supported (Arsenal), so I had to reply to say thanks for buying tickets but I won’t tell you who I support with a winky face!
Got to love the north London rivalry! But Spurs do have a cup final this weekend as the women’s team are in the FA Cup Final
Oh that’s cool, is that at Wembley?
Yeah, should be a good day out.
I’ve been there once before and love that stadium.
Hopefully we can find a game or two to get you to while you’re here!
Haha, maybe for the November tour I’ll be planning the whole thing around football fixtures! I’m hoping I’ll be able to get a game in while I’m there. I actually have a buddy who works for the Predators and they have links with Spurs and he’s actually going to be over in London working with Spurs at the same time as the London show so he said he will sort me out a box ticket!
Hopefully the fixtures work, and if not I know you love just going to the lower league grounds too.
I love the small grounds. I’ve done Cheltenham and another one about an hour from London I think it was. It’s so great going to those grounds where you are so close to the action. You walk in the bar round the corner from the ground and as soon as you speak, everyone turns to look at you as they know you aren’t from around there! Maybe I need to change my allegiance, I think Wrexham just got promoted again so I should look at supporting one of the smaller teams too but I’m sure Spurs will win something in my lifetime!
You can dream! Thank you so much for your time, it’s always great to catch up and looking forward to having a beer again in London in a few month time.
Definitely, we will be in town for about a week, so we’ll have to do that. Looking forward to getting back over there and playing again.
Thanks Tebey.
Thanks Ian, bye.
I love the small grounds. I’ve done Cheltenham and another one about an hour from London I think it was. It’s so great going to those grounds where you are so close to the action. You walk in the bar round the corner from the ground and as soon as you speak, everyone turns to look at you as they know you aren’t from around there! Maybe I need to change my allegiance, I think Wrexham just got promoted again so I should look at supporting one of the smaller teams too but I’m sure Spurs will win something in my lifetime!
You can dream! Thank you so much for your time, it’s always great to catch up and looking forward to having a beer again in London in a few month time.
Definitely, we will be in town for about a week, so we’ll have to do that. Looking forward to getting back over there and playing again.
Thanks Tebey.
Thanks Ian, bye.
