‘Schitt’s Creek’ star Noah Reid to release new album as show wraps next year

TORONTO — Noah Reid already has a plan in place for his post-“Schitt’s Creek” life: to pursue his music career.

The Toronto actor-musician, who plays the partner to Daniel Levy’s character on the hit CBC series and made a splash with a season 4 serenade, says he’ll release a sophomore album of original songs next year.

The folk project “Gemini” will likely come out in the spring, as “Schitt’s Creek” winds down its sixth and final season, which debuts Jan. 7.

“I’m playing a bunch of shows and touring it a little bit in the States and trying to see what that feels like — to pretend to be a musician for a minute,” said Reid, whose showbiz career is peppered with music, film and TV gigs.

“It’s a part I have really not played, but it should be fun.”

On the TV comedy, Reid plays Patrick, the patient love interest to Levy’s high-maintenance character, David. The two also run a boutique in the small town David and his family moved to after losing their massive fortune.

Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara play David’s parents, alongside Annie Murphy as David’s sister.

In a season 4 episode last year called “Open Mic,” Patrick sang and performed an acoustic guitar cover of Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best” for David in the store, in front of their friends and family.

The episode had fans buzzing online and alerted the world to the musical skills of Reid, who also performed the song on the show’s live tour. The song also hit several streaming platforms.

Reid has straddled the acting and music worlds for much of his career.

He also starred in the musical comedy “Score: A Hockey Musical” about a pair of love-struck, crooning teens in 2010. And he earned a Canadian Screen Award nomination for best original song for the acoustic title track in the 2015 film “People Hold On,” in which he also starred.

Reid released his first music album, an intimate folk-roots project called “Songs From a Broken Chair,” independently in 2016.

Levy said Reid did all the arrangements himself for “Simply the Best,” which the New York Times called “one of the most romantic, adorable moments on TV” that year. “Schitt’s Creek” airs on Netflix and Pop TV in the United States.

“It broke me,” Levy said in a 2018 interview with The Canadian Press, referring to the first time he heard Reid’s version.

“It was a major moment in the show and an even bigger moment in my character’s trajectory.”

“Gemini” will feature 12 songs produced by Matt Barber, who also plays instruments throughout. Barber also produced “Songs From a Broken Chair.”

The new album was recorded in Toronto and will be available digitally on various platforms and physically through Reid’s website and Amazon.

Reid’s “First Time Out Tour” will stop in Vancouver on Feb. 11 and then move through the U.S.

“I asked if Noah would take me on tour. He said, ‘No,'” Murphy said with a laugh while seated beside Reid in Toronto for a recent CBC media day.

“I said I’d think about it,” jested Reid, who also appears in the Canadian film “Disappearance at Clifton Hill.”

Murphy said she plans to spend time in Los Angeles once “Schitt’s Creek” is done.

“Take a deep breath and see what happens, get a super-cool tan,” she said.

“Then I should probably get a job. I’m going to go live at Dan’s house. He doesn’t know it yet.”

Victoria Ahearn, The Canadian Press