Steven Page joins Symphony N.B. for Halifax show

Former Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page will join forces with Symphony New Brunswick for a show at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium in Halifax next month. 

Page – who will be joined by Kevin Fox on cello and Craig Northey on guitar – can’t wait to get things going.

“We’re going to feature solo stuff, stuff from my new albums Heal Thyself part one and two, and old Barenaked Ladies stuff,” said Page.

The show will also be a micro BNL reunion, with former bandmate Andy Creeggan, whose brother Jim remains involved with the Canadian quartet, conducting the symphony.

“Andy and I haven’t played together since he left the band in 1996, but we loved working together,” he said.

Page has had his fair share of Halifax tour dates since his departure from Barenaked Ladies in 2009.

“We’ve done a couple at The Carleton, and I remember one epic three-and-a-half hour show in Halifax that was non-stop hilarity,” he said.

But he hasn’t been at the Cohn since the mid-90s on the Born On A Pirate Ship tour.

“Now Andy and I get to work together in an intimate setting like the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium,” he said.

“It’s going to be amazing with him conducting, and being able to do this intensive project with him will be awesome. The arrangements that are done are really inventive and imaginative.”

Though he’s excited, Page is also a little nervous about playing with the orchestra.

“It’s slightly daunting, given I’m a rock guy. But I have to sing with these real musicians and make sure I don’t blow it,” jokes Page.

“We’ll be doing everything from the most recent stuff to old stuff. It creates a sense of nostalgia.”

He says singing songs like Brian Wilson, which he wrote 30 years ago, often makes him reflect on his career and life.

“I consider how things have changed, and how my perspective has changed. To pull off these songs I need to feel a special way about them, and I’m lucky enough to still feel that,” he said.

 “I also think about the audience, who have been listening as long as I’ve been playing in some cases, and I think it’s incredible.”

 Page said going solo was originally a huge learning curve, given his decades of involvement with the band.

 “I had been in that band since I was 18, and it was my identity. I only knew how to live as a member of that band. And suddenly, it was just me,” he said.

“It required a major shake-up, but it allowed me the opportunity to say ‘yes’ to so many things. … I’ve gotten to do so much. I’ve learned from all my experiences, and the biggest thing I learned was that being solo doesn’t mean you have to go it alone.”

Steven Page and Symphony New Brunswick will perform on Feb. 4, 2019, at 8 p.m. at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, within the Dalhousie University Arts Centre.

Ticket information can be found online.