Preview
CORB LUND
Saturday, December 20
Bowness Community Hall
Before we take yet another swipe at the popularized form of country music best known as "new country," let's first acknowledge that it's become a too-common target for music writers – especially when they're celebrating the authenticity of artists relegated to the general vicinity of the alt-country vein.
Artists like Corb Lund for example, a tall strapping country boy from Taber, whose songs, populated by horses, whiskey traders, prairie grass and lonely cowboys, draw deep from the rancher’s life he was raised in. The vivid lyrics and well-crafted storylines of Lund's songs are such a welcome contrast to the stuff on modern country radio, it would be far too easy to bash the vacuous tunes usually topping the charts. So let's not do that. Instead, we'll let Lund do it.
"The stuff I hear on mainstream radio is a bunch of people sitting in a room trying to write love songs," spits Lund. "It's like... fuck. If you've got a couple real ones, put 'em in with your other tunes, but to just sit down and make up shit with love in the title over and over and over... Jesus Christ, man," he says before falling into an exasperated pause. "It's a lot more fun to make up songs about oil rigs and card playing and stuff."
The previous rant may seem a tad vitriolic to those familiar with the generally easygoing singer-guitarist, but hey, it’s the early afternoon after a gig in Canmore and Lund, also a tournament-winning card shark, was up until 7 a.m. shooting dice with a bunch of other musicians. Besides, given the reaction to his 2002 disc, Five Dollar Bill, the guy might just know a thing or two about what makes for good country music and what doesn't.
Heavily praised in a raft of best of 2002 lists, including the Globe and Mail's, his album spurred nominations for two Canadian Country Music Association awards, a Juno, a Canadian Independent Music Award and two Western Canadian Music Awards. That meant his three-piece band (recently made a four-piece with the inclusion of guitarist Grant Siemans) often had to drop what they were doing to attend and/or perform at awards ceremonies.
"It's all cool and everything but I'm not really into it," says Lund. "I mean it's a compliment, but I prefer playing in the bar."
No worries there. In the past 18 months, the Corb Lund Band has hit more than their fair share of bars. They've done two tours across England and Scotland and made a couple of circles from New York to Texas and then over California and back up. Needless to say, they've also traveled back and forth across Canada more times than they can count. Among those gigs are folk fests, big community hall shows and hip scenester bars in Canada's major metropolitan centers. But Lund particularly enjoys the small-town gigs, saying that big-city crowds often spend the duration of his show discussing "whether to decide if you're cool or not."
"You have to play the hip Toronto bars for your career, right?" asks Lund. "But I'm kind of into people from the small towns because it subverts the normal chain of command – going to Edson or Olds, you're going to reach people who will like your music, only they haven't had a chance to hear it."
A few such listeners will soon get their chance. Now a Lund tradition, he and his band are embarking on their Christmas tour, which means staying close to home for the season. Lund is also celebrating the re-release of his Modern Pain EP, currently available only at his performances. And if you don't plan on being at oh, say, the Brooks Hotel on Boxing Day, don't worry. The Corb Lund band will likely visit your neck of the woods soon enough, be it big city or small town.
"I don't really distinguish," says Lund. "Wherever there's a gig to be had, I'll go play it."
CELEB TOP FIVE
Top 5 metal albums according to Corb Lund, in no particular order:
1. '74 Jailbreak by AC/DC
2. Reign in Blood by Slayer
3. Diver Down by Van Halen
4. Dimension Hatross by Voivod
5. Sad Wings of Destiny by Judas Priest |
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