2020 is the year of the pandemic with all its limitations and restrictions, but for Dean Brody, 2020 is turning out to be a year of renewal. New concert, new single, new home, new beer and a new haircut. The award-winning singer/songwriter dropped his new single, “Canadian Summer,” yesterday, an upbeat ode to one of the greatest times of the year. Part nostalgic and part party anthem, the song will be on a lot of playlists over the next few months.

Talking on the phone with Dean this week, here are highlights of some of the topics we discussed:

-on the July 1 “Live at the Drive-In” concert set for the Markham (Ont.) Fairgrounds: “To actually do a show for Canada Day at a massive drive-in…it’s gonna be a good time.” Like many performers, Brody is anxious to get back on a stage in front of a live audience. With at least three months having gone by without any live concerts, Dean admits he can’t remember his last live show. “I don’t know,” he says before he jokes, “I can’t remember what I did last week.” I’m not surprised. I believe a lot of us have fading memories of life pre-Covid;

-on Andrew Hyatt, who’ll also be performing on that July 1 show: “His new song is so killer, ‘I Needed That.’ It’s like one of my favourite songs this year. And Andrew, of course, is a super cool dude;”

-on his haircut this past weekend: “I look like I could go to boot camp right now;”

-on the crazy people out there, and we’ve all seen a few: “Dudes will wear their masks but their nose will be hanging out. What are you doing? It’s like when you put a bathing suit on you don’t pull it up only halfway;”

-on his new beer, Hucklejack: “We tried to come up with a recipe that was Canadian and representative of home to me.” Dean’s lived in many parts of this country and this beer’s ingredients reflect that;

-on his dog, Huck (short for Huckleberry – and coincidentally, NOT the inspiration for the name of the beer): “He’s a sweetheart….He’s a rescue.” Huck, BTW, features prominently in the video of Dean’s new single;

-on The Reklaws, with whom Dean share’s his most recent #1 hit, “Can’t Help Myself:” “They’re sweethearts. They’ve got a picture of me like years ago. We were all babies, but they especially were babies and they’d come backstage for a meet ‘n’ greet and they pulled out this picture and there’s young Stu, young Jenna and young Dean all sitting there backstage. Pretty cute.”

During this strange time away from what used to be normal, you might expect Dean to be doing a lot of songwriting, given how we all have a lot of extra time on our hands. But you’d be wrong. Brody has been doing a lot of renovations since moving into a new house just about a month ago.

And that’s the message Dean may be subconsciously sending out to everyone. Yes, things are different now and probably won’t ever be the same as they once were, but there’s still a lot of life to live, to experience and to cherish.

Listen to the full interview below….