All George Canyon wanted to be when he was a youngster was a pilot.

He dreamed of it, he longed for it — and, at age 14, the dream came to an end when his doctor told him the juvenile diabetes he had just been diagnosed with meant he’d never be in charge in the cockpit.

So Canyon, who had been studying music since he was five, decided the future might be found in his guitar and singing voice.

He’d already performed onstage at his school in Grade 5 — singing The Rose and A Hard Day’s Night — and at his high-school talent show, where he performed Randy Travis’s Forever and Ever.

Thinking “Wow, this is a lot of fun,” Canyon said a high-school band was the obvious next step.

That led to his role as lead guitar in Rin Tin and the Finger Puppets, a band that played covers of everything from Simon and Garfunkel to Jesus and the Mary Chain.

Music was always with him as he entered adult life, this time as he taught guitar lessons.

His career path took him through a bunch of jobs — law enforcement, slaughterhouse inspector and record-studio owner — but Canyon was still driven by a dream, this time to become a professional musician.

Many people think he got his big break with Nashville Star 2 in 2004, Canyon said, but he started making a name for himself “doing the bar thing” for four years as he toured Canada aggressively, starting in 1990.

“I had a good, independent career,” he said, and he views those years as more than “paying my dues.”

They gave him a strong foundation he could build upon when he came in as the runner-up — and only Canadian — in the televised competition.

Canyon packed up his family and moved from Nova Scotia to Nashville for a year, determined to build the career the show had given a big boost, “but the condo life just wasn’t for us.”

Alberta called and is now home to the Canyon family.

His career took off, with Juno and Canadian Country Music awards following and now, as he prepares to tour

with country legend Alan Jackson, he’s also about to start his own tour next week and is working on a Christmas tour, as well.

A name change was required, however, Canyon said, claiming George as his real middle name but not being disposed to revealing his birth surname.

He explained his name was the same as another professional musician “and it would have been a nightmare with legal and marketing,” so he chose a decidedly country surname.

And Canyon has finally been able to bring his musical and airborne dreams together.

Determined to show the medical profession that quashed his hopes that it was wrong, Canyon now has a pilot’s licence and flies his own plane.

He saw in this reality a message he could share with other children coping with the disease — so The Sky is Not the Limit tour was born.

In June and July this year, after having made arrangments with Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation chapters in various communities, Canyon flew his plane into

a variety of airports across

the country, where families living with the disease were waiting.

“I’d land the plane, taxi in, get out and talk to the kids,

do a little show and just talk to them about diabetes and how important it is to deal with it.

“And I’d talk to the parents about the things that are missed by the health-care sector when they’re dealing with diabetes, like the psychological effects it has on kids,” Canyon said.

“And you know, all of a sudden, you’ve got teens who want to take care of themselves.

“And I’m finally making

a difference.”

He also shares his message on his website, georgecanyon.com/bio.html, talking about how he’s using a new insulin pump that has freed up his life and sharing how diabetes didn’t stop his dreams.

Right now, though, Canyon said he’s feeling the stress of preparing a trio of tours —

so much so that, when he gets into his car, he’s popping

a classical music CD in to relax.

“I feel like my head is so convoluted with music right now,” he said.

He’s also listening to fellow Pictou County, N.S. son Dave Gunning, who recently released We’re All Leaving Now.

“Yeah, I listen to him a lot.”

He’s also recently released a new album, What I Do, a compilation of vintage Canyon songs like Betty’s Buns (the double entendre is deliberate), If I was Jesus (“I’d forgive you and adore you while I was hanging on your cross”) and Pretty Drunk Out Tonight (streel-guitar driven two-stepper).

Canyon’s thrilled to be doing such an extensive tour with Jackson, with whom he has performed before “but nothing like this,” although the touring life really isn’t something he considers the highlight of his career.

It’s tough being away from his wife, son and daughter, he said, although that time on the stage every night remains magical.

The Jackson/Canyon tour hits Kamloops on Nov. 15

at Interior Savings Centre,

but has been sold out for weeks, said promoter Bill Jaswal.