Jojo Mason exudes joy singing country pop music

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I can’t stand modern pop country, but Vancouver based Jojo Mason always puts a smile on my face, as he did for an enthusiastic crowd consisting most of screaming young women at Average Joes, Thursday, May 16.
 Mason has been to Lethbridge several times with Gord Bamford and the James Patrick band, but was excited to play his first headlining show at Average Joes. I wish I could be half as happy as he looks on JoJo Mason singing his heart out at Average Joes, Thursday, May 16. Photo by Richard Amery. stage. He couldn’t stop thanking his fans enough, noting he was excited to meet each and every one of them.


 I missed opening act Lauren Mayell, who had Lethbridge’s Mike Gnandt as part of her band, but was in time for a hit powered, 60 minute set from Jojo Mason. He was in the middle of his latest hit “The Future,” beaming beneath a baseball hat pulled low over his eyes. He eventually dropped the hat and mopped the sweat off his sweaty brow with a white towel in between raving about how happy he was to be there.


 He sang in a liquid, velvety tenor voice  seamlessly blending pop, R and B and soul with barely a touch of country music.


His tight band played plenty of subtly saccharine riffs to go with his gorgeous voice. He worked his way through his popular hits like Red Dress and “Edge of the Night,” and “It’s All Good,” which featured a freestyle rap breakdown in the middle of it, and had the enthusiastic audience singing along with the rest of it. A lot of them remembered him from his last show with Gord Bamford, including me. I was glad to see him break out on his own, adding a few pop covers as well which I didn’t recognize, but which had the audience singing along.


He road tested the upcoming single “Better On You.” which got a lot of applause as he raved about working with songwriter Mitchell Tenpenny, who also wrote “the Future.”
 As did “Good Kind of love,” one of his earlier cuts.
His voice reminded me a lot of ’80s pop stars the Fine Young Cannibals.
He ended his set with “It’s All Good.”

— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 22 May 2019 10:24 )