The First Press Release
The first official press release for my music has gone out into the world. Just typing those words makes me shake my head a little bit and smile. A press release? About me? About my songs? How on earth did that happen?
If you had told me ten years ago that someone would be writing up a professional announcement about my music journey, my recordings, my songs and sending it out to newspapers, radio stations and music folks, I would have thought you were talking about someone else entirely.
But here we are.
Funny thing about these Dream List items is that many of them are things you never even think are possible. They sit way in the back corners of your mind because they seem too far away, too big, too unreachable. Like recording in Nashville. Like hearing people talk about your songs in serious musical conversations. Like standing on stage performing your own original music. Or now… seeing your own press release sent out into the universe.
I don’t think people realize how emotional these little moments can be.
When I first saw the finished press release sitting there on the screen, I just stared at it for a while. Read it once. Read it again. Then I laughed to myself thinking, “Well I’ll be darned.”
This whole music journey has been one surprise after another.
I still feel like the same fellow who picked up a guitar later in life just hoping to learn a few songs and maybe sing around a campfire or at a local gathering. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine all of this could unfold the way it has.
And yet, the universe keeps opening doors.
What I feel most through all of this is gratitude. Gratitude for the people helping me along the way. Gratitude for the musicians, the recording folks, the friends, the listeners and the supporters who keep encouraging me to keep going. Gratitude that I listened to that little voice inside me years ago that said, “Go ahead… try.”
Because one little step somehow became another.
A guitar became songs.
Songs became recordings.
Recordings became releases.
And now releases have become press announcements.
It still feels unbelievable some days.
But I think that is part of the joy of following a dream. You never fully get used to it. Each new experience still feels magical.
And honestly? I hope it always does.
So today, I sit here smiling, grateful and a little stunned, knowing another Dream List item has quietly come true.
JR AND THE BAD OX BAND RELEASE NEW
SINGLE “HIGHWAY LIFE”
JUNO Award-Winning Producer Steve Dawson and an All-Star Nashville Band Bring Canadian Singer-Songwriter John Rewers’ Road-Spun Vision to Life on Second Single from the Upcoming “Nashville Sessions”
MP3s, WAVs, Photos, Bio, and All Assets Here
“Highway Life” YouTube and Spotify
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VICTORIA, BC — JR and the Bad OX Band, the heartfelt country project of Canadian singer-songwriter John Rewers, today releases “Highway Life,” a sun-drenched, rolling ode to the open road and the love that pulls a man home. Available now on all major streaming platforms, the track is the second single from Rewers’ “Nashville Sessions” — a suite of recordings made at the legendary Hen House Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, produced by JUNO Award-winning artist and producer Steve Dawson.
“Highway Life” arrives with the easy, sun-warm confidence of a country song that has been lived rather than written. Built on the playful push-pull of the road and home, the track crackles with warmth from the opening bars. Rewers’ acoustic rhythm anchors a band firing on all cylinders: Steve Dawson weaves steel and electric guitar into the groove while bassist David Jacques, keyboardist Jen Gunderman, and drummer Justin Amaral lock into a pocket that feels both classic and alive. The production honours the golden lineage of traditional country while leaving plenty of open sky for Rewers’ voice to breathe.
The song’s central tension is irresistible: a trucker in love with every mile of asphalt beneath him, equally in love with the woman waiting at the end of the drive. “Driving down the highway, rollin’ down the byway / Gonna see my baby tonite,” Rewers sings, his voice carrying the kind of easy certainty that only real feeling can produce. The hook circles back with jubilant momentum — “Cause the highway life is the only life for me / But at home is the place I should be” — landing the song’s emotional core with a smile rather than a sigh. It is the sort of lyric that sticks immediately, the kind country radio was built to carry.
The Nashville Sessions represent a milestone that Rewers has been building toward for decades. A lifelong lover of classic country and traditional songwriting, he made his way to Tennessee with a collection of songs drawn from real moments, close observations, and a philosophy that every well-lived life deserves its own soundtrack. Working at Hen House Studios with Steve Dawson — celebrated for his acclaimed productions with Jim Byrnes, Kelly Joe Phelps, Old Man Luedecke, The Sojourners, and The Deep Dark Woods — Rewers found a creative collaborator who understood exactly how to frame those stories. The result is a body of work that sounds rooted, warm, and entirely itself.
Raised in Kitimat, BC and now based in Victoria, Rewers spent his professional life as a public accountant before allowing himself to fully embrace the calling that had been with him since his teenage years. “Music is a source of wellness, beauty and life,” he says. “Once I picked up my guitar and started on this journey, I found the music to be full of positive energy that filled up my cup of life. Why would I not want this?” That philosophy infuses every note of “Highway Life” — a song that carries the joy of a man doing exactly what he was meant to do. His first single, “My Love,” released in February 2025, introduced the Bad OX Band to audiences hungry for country music rooted in sincerity and craft, and the response has been warmly enthusiastic.
The momentum behind JR and the Bad OX Band continues to build. Rewers has earned a nomination for the prestigious Gaylord Wood Traditional Country Artist Award, recognition from the country music community that underscores the authenticity at the heart of his songwriting. “Dreams are never too old to be achieved,” says Rewers, who is three-quarters of a century old and adding to his bucket list at a steady pace. His sights are set on the Grand Ole Opry stage — and with records like “Highway Life” in his catalogue, the journey there is compelling listening.
The full “Nashville Sessions” album, “Changing Lanes,” is forthcoming. JR and the Bad OX Band continue to write, record, and perform — proof that the most resonant music is often the kind that has had a lifetime to find its voice.
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