Tag: Corb Lund

GC 5+5: Noeline Hofmann

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Noeline Hofmann
Hometown: Bow Island, Alberta, Canada
Latest Album: Purple Gas EP

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

It’s nearly impossible to narrow down, but one of my favorite memories from the stage happened this October while on tour with Colter Wall. For the better part of the tour, Corb Lund – a fellow Western Canadian (like Colter and I) – was also on the road with us. I grew up listening to Corb on the radio back home and later discovered Colter as a teenager. Their songwriting resonated with and influenced me deeply as a young writer and continues to today.

Colter kindly invited us to join him in singing “Summer Wages” by Albertan cowboy legend, Ian Tyson, for his encore during tour. The first night that Corb joined us on stage, he took me by the arm for a two-step during the instrumental – much to mine and the crowd’s surprise. (Sorry about scuffing up your boots with my two left feet, Corb.) It was such a wonderful, full circle moment to be on stage beside two artists from home who had such a huge impact on me and singing a song together by a late legend from home who has impacted all of us.

Further, Patrick Lyons, the producer of my EP, Purple Gas, plays guitar in Colter’s band. Another reason that made these memories of singing “Summer Wages” special was it being the first time(s) I was lucky enough to share a stage with Pat as well as all of the other boys in the band, who I’ve come to know and love not only as musicians, but as friends.

Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with and how do those impact your work?

I love to spend time out on the prairie. It has an understated beauty that with every passing year becomes more and more striking to me. It is unforgiving. Seemingly never-ending. In tune and knowing. It’s seen my own blood, sweat, and tears and that of generations of people that I love, alike. I’ve never felt closer to God than I have out there, all alone. Being raised in a prairie town, around prairie people, the landscape and all that results due in part to it, has defined my life experience thus far in an immeasurable way – and consequently, impacted my work just as deeply.

What’s the most difficult creative transformation you’ve ever undertaken?

While I’ve been feeling incredibly inspired to write in the wake of releasing my first recording project, I think I am simultaneously in the midst of one of the most difficult creative transformations I’ve faced so far.

All of the songs on my debut EP were written during a very different time in my life; before I’d ever been on tour, or set foot in a studio, or before the music industry began revealing itself to me behind the thick veil of mystery that once clouded it from my gaze. I was working blue- and pink-collar jobs such as bartending and doing farm labor before eventually putting all of my cards on the table and giving a career in music an all-or-nothing go, starting with the regional music scene in Alberta. Those years, age 18 to 20, were raw and electric, reckless, trial by fire. I was full of piss and vinegar, stubbornly tuning out the expectations others had of me and striking out into the world for the very first times to try forging a path towards something more for myself in life. I confronted some shocking losses and also experienced those first great formative loves you do at that age. Environments and emotions that are natural recipes for songs.

My day-to-day life has pulled a complete 180 since those songs were written. I have a lot of writing to do from my new pair of boots. I haven’t been able to take them for many test drives behind the pencil while on tour this spring and summer and am waiting with bated breath for the winter, when I’ll get to sit down and really dig into writing and processing the last year. It’s in my nature to always want to step above the bar I last set for myself – it’s as nerve-wracking as it is exciting to be starting to write for the next project. Especially now that most of the surroundings and life circumstances that inspired the songs on my first project are no longer part of my daily life on the road and there is now a recorded precedent set that didn’t exist at the time I wrote the songs on my first body of work.

What is a genre, album, artist, musician, or song that you adore that would surprise people?

“Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan (of course!)

If you didn’t work in music, what would you do instead?

I would probably be a ranch hand. Ranching is humbling, creative, and requires your all – mind, body, and soul. You have to live and breathe it. I can’t do anything halfway. For two jobs that, on the outside, look as though they couldn’t be any more different from each other, I’ve found a surprising number of parallels between my experiences working on a ranch to working as an artist.

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Photo Credit: Christian Heckle

You Gotta Hear This: New Music From Tray Wellington, Corb Lund, and More

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

We love a week absolutely filled to the brim with music – and we don’t just mean because we’re attending Folk Alliance International and hosting a private showcase room in Kansas City this week!

This week, there were just too many exciting releases and new songs to feature, so buckle up for seven excellent premieres – cause You Gotta Hear This! From a John Hiatt cover by modernist banjo player Tray Wellington to a brand new music video from country neo-traditionalist Corb Lund, from Amelia White to the Roe Family Singers, there’s something for every taste and from every style of American roots music.

Tray Wellington, “Lift Up Every Stone”

Artist: Tray Wellington
Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina
Song: “Lift Up Every Stone”
Release Date: February 23, 2024
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “For me, ‘Lift Up Every Stone’ encompasses a sense of encouragement to fight through the hard times in life. When I first heard the John Hiatt version of this song, I loved the use of imagery to convey the lifting atmosphere. It was also a chance to try something new musically, which for anything I record, I want to be challenged more and more — and this was the perfect way to step outside of my comfort zone.” – Tray Wellington

Track Credits:
Tray Wellington – Banjo, lead vocal
Drew Matulich – Guitar, electric guitar
Katelynn Bohn – Bass
Josiah Nelson – Mandolin, fiddle
DaShawn Hickman – Pedal steel guitar
Wendy Hickman – Lead vocal, harmony vocal

Corb Lund, “El Viejo (For Ian)”

Artist: Corb Lund
Hometown: Alberta, Canada
Song: “El Viejo (For Ian)”
Album: El Viejo
Release Date: February 23, 2024
Label: New West Records

In Their Words: “We dedicated the record to our late friend, Ian Tyson, and the title track is a tribute to him. ‘El Viejo’ was our friendly nickname for him and it means ‘the old man.’ I’m pretty proud of the song, and the video, which uses a lot of cool old stock footage of him. Hope the record is as satisfying to listen to as it was for us to make. I left it all on the field for this one.” – Corb Lund

Video Credits:
Noah Fallis – Director, Director of Photography
Jamie Campbell – Producer
Brendan Schmidt – Camera Operator, Editor
Ethan Wournell – First A/C
Blair Bourque – Key Grip
Alyssa Howland – Gaffer
Archival footage of Ian Tyson courtesy of Neil McGonagle

Amelia White, “Love I Swore”

Artist: Amelia White
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Love I Swore”
Album: Love I Swore
Release Date: February 23, 2024
Label: Thirty One Tigers

In Their Words: “The title track of Love I Swore is a dark and stormy love letter. I wrote it on the streets of Glasgow and Edinburgh in deep summer on tour when the sky stayed light until midnight. The ghosts of what I wished a love was and how it seemed to be slipping away were talking, and I wondered if a bird that had left the cage would be happy coming back? Kim Richey (producer) called in Eamon McLoughlin to slay our hearts with violin as the track builds. This honestly is one of my favorite guitar lines that has ever come out of me, and I hope all you troubled lovers find some strange comfort here.“ – Amelia White

Stephanie Sammons, “Faithless”

Artist: Stephanie Sammons
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
Song: “Faithless”
Album: Time and Evolution
Release Date: May 3, 2024

In Their Words: “What inspired this song was an old friend from high school who died from suicide in 2022. I kept up with her on social media. She would post pictures of her dog and her kids. Her posts seemed joyful and even funny from time to time. How could I have known she was suffering so immensely? If only I would have known! It was heartbreaking. I felt so helpless.

“And then there are the painful feelings with regards to my younger sister, who has had a rough time just doing ‘life’ in general. Even though we’re only 14 months apart, I was absent and oblivious to what she was going through during her darkest days. I’ve wondered, why does she continue to battle demons and dark places and I don’t? And why did it take me so long to realize how her anger was pain turned inward? I have guilt about not being there for my sibling.

“Because of the pain I have seen others endure and I have felt, this song explores my deep questions about faith. I’m asking myself, what do I have faith in? ‘Faithless’ is reflecting on the indiscriminate nature of suffering, generational trauma, and what ultimately happens to our souls when we depart this world.” – Stephanie Sammons

Track Credits:
Written and published by Stephanie Sammons

Stephanie Sammons – Vocals, acoustic guitar
Mary Bragg (producer) – Background vocals
Josh Kaler – Guitars and pedal steel
Jordan Perlson – Drums, percussion
Jon Estes– Bass, piano, organ

The Roe Family Singers, “Little Trouble”

Artist: The Roe Family Singers
Hometown: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Song: “Little Trouble”
Album: Sisters And Brothers
Release Date: February 2, 2024
Label: Bonfire Music Group

In Their Words: “I’ve long been interested in the folk process; specifically, the idea that newer folk songs borrow melodies and lyrics from earlier songs and repurpose them. ‘Little Trouble’ started life by borrowing part of the melody from the traditional song ‘Little Birdy,’ and reimagines some of the lyrics, too, updating them to deal with modern concerns like urban versus rural, social media, political scare-mongering and manufactured moral panics, and a culture held together through pharmacology.” – Quillan Roe

Wolf Jett, “Tavira”

Artist: Wolf Jett
Hometown: Santa Cruz Mountains
Song: “Tavira”
Album: Time Will Finally Come
Release Date: February 23, 2024

In Their Words: “Imagine leaving your cushy pharma job and rent-controlled apartment in SF to travel by bicycle and busk through southern Spain for a year. One day, you lose your wallet skinny-dipping near the Portuguese border and then you come upon the village of Tavira. Upon first glance, the cobblestone streets and whitewashed buildings seem unremarkable, until you cross the Roman bridge over the canal, break open your guitar case, and start playing. Next thing you know, a large crowd gathers around, dancing and cheering, and you make more tips than you’ve seen all month. A French expat offers for you to stay on his farm to help with the fig harvest, and next thing you know you’re closer to Eden than ever. This is a love song to Portugal and the wonderful times I spent there.” – Chris Jones, lead singer and songwriter

Pi Jacobs, “Coyote”

Artist: Pi Jacobs
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “Coyote”
Album: Soldier On
Release Date: April 26, 2024
Label: Blackbird Record Label

In Their Words: “The song began one day when a coyote stalked my dog on a walk, following us home, and even jumping our fence that night. It was a terrifying experience, but the metaphor it brought to mind was even more menacing. My best friend had been fighting cancer and every time we thought it was gone, it would spring back up, just like this dang coyote. The image was so powerful, that when I told the story to my co-writer, Ted Russell Kamp, the song just about wrote itself! But even with this bleak backstory, the song sounds ‘happy,’ and I’m happy to report that both my dog and my friend are alive and well. Take that coyote!” – Pi Jacobs

Track Credits: Written by Lisa Marie Jacobs and Ted Russell Kamp

Recorded in Los Angeles at Carriage House & Forty Below Records
Eric Corne & Pi Jacobs – Producers
Eric Corne – Engineer
Mark Chalecki – Mastering engineer
Pi Jacobs – Guitar, lead vocal, backing vocal
Adam Hall – Dobro, banjo
Zack Hall – Upright bass
Butch Norton – Drums, percussion
Philip Glen – Mandolin

Video Credit: Taylor Hungerford, Director / Silver Spark Printworks

Photo Credit: Tray Wellington by Heidi Holloway; Corb Lund by Noah Fallis.

LISTEN: Corb Lund, “Highway 87” (Hayes Carll Cover)

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Corb Lund
Hometown: Rural Southern Alberta, Canada
Song: “Highway 87” (Hayes Carll cover)
Album: Songs My Friends Wrote
Release Date: April 29, 2022
Label: New West Records

In Their Words: “I’ve known Hayes forever. We met at a card game in Dauphin, Manitoba, many moons ago and we both lost all our money to my ex, Debbie. Hayes and I have toured together, written together, drank together and he’s one of my best friends in music. This song is one of his that’s older and not as widely known, but my guys and I have been playing it for years. I love it.

“Songs My Friends Wrote is an album I’ve been threatening to make for years. It’s a bunch of tracks that are my versions of a bunch of…songs my friends wrote. I’m fortunate to count a lot of world-class songwriters as good pals and I wanted to shine a little light on some of my favourite examples of their work. In most cases I’ve picked relatively obscure songs that have always spoken to me, even though many of them won’t be so familiar to people. There’s a pretty good chance of a Volume Two, Three and Four eventually, because there were a lot of friends and a lot of songs to choose from. The best part about recording all these tunes was that they reminded me of all the people who I haven’t been able to hang out with for the past two years because of the plague we’ve all been dealing with. All of these tunes bring a smile to my face and I hope they do the same for you.” — Corb Lund

Photo Credit: Noah Fallis

The String – Corb Lund

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

With ten albums and 20 years under his belt, Alberta’s Corb Lund is one of the finest and wittiest songwriters working the Western end of country music. The singer is now on his way to legendary status in Rocky Mountain cowboy-inspired songwriting.


LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS

His newest is Agricultural Tragic, a 13-song collection that evokes the characters and colors of his home region. Also in the hour, Henry Hicks talks about Black Music Month and Black Lives Matter. Hicks is the CEO of the National Museum of African American Music, opening this fall in Nashville.

BGS 5+5: Corb Lund

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Corb Lund
Hometown: Taber, Alberta, Canada
Latest Album: Agricultural Tragic (June 26, 2020)
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): My full name is Corby. My outfit sometimes calls me ‘El Presidente’. Ian Tyson calls me ‘Corbo.’

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc — inform your music?

I read a lot and that seeps in for sure. At a pretty granular level, but it definitely has a big impact. I’m a history nut also. When I was younger I used to draw and paint quite a lot, but there’s no time for that stuff anymore, too busy touring. I’d also like to try live theatre. Some other lifetime, probably.

What’s the toughest time you ever had writing a song?

It took me about five years to write “Bible on the Dash.” I had to recruit my old buddy Hayes [Carll] to help me finish it. I had a verse and chorus FOREVER and I was stuck. When Hayes got hold of it we wrapped up the rest in a couple hours.

What rituals do you have, either in the studio or before a show?

The few hours between soundcheck and the show are pretty important to me. The venue and the green room are empty because everyone is out eating, so that’s my only real time on the road to work on my voice or new songs or guitar playing. I jealously guard it. And I don’t really eat food anyway and dislike restaurants.

If you had to write a mission statement for your career, what would it be?

Two things. First, I’ve always been very committed to doing my own thing musically. I’ve always wanted to be able to look back at a solid body of unique work and be proud of it. It’s important to me to get my voice and perspective and culture into my music at all levels. Secondly, to just roll up my sleeves and do things myself. I have plenty of excellent help now, but in the earlier, leaner part of my career I swore that I’d never wait around on the music industry. I just made my own records and booked my own tours and printed my own T-shirts and fixed up my own van. Unless you win the record deal lottery at 22, no one’s going to do that stuff for you. There’s a grand tradition of that, from SNFU to Chris LeDoux.

Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with and how do those impact your work?

I spend as much time as I can on our family ranch in foothills of the Alberta Rockies. My great grandfather homesteaded there in 1898 and it’s a huge part of my psyche and my art. That area comes up pretty often in my songs. It’s pretty country.

Photo credit: Scott Slusher

Kacy & Clayton, ‘Brunswick Stew’

Posted on by Editor

There's something happening north of the border these days. From Corb Lund's dreary Albertan cowboy to the serene melodies of Toronto's Doug Paisley, Canadians are currently pumping out some of our strongest, most mood-evocative roots music — which is rather humorous, being that the genre we're really talking about here is "Americana." Turns out, you don't have to be American at all to have a master grasp on the folk tradition. Actually, if you look at Lund, Paisley, Lindi Ortega, Whitehorse, Daniel Romano, and now, Kacy & Clayton, it's almost better if you're not.

A duo of second cousins from a remote region in Saskatchewan, Kacy Anderson and Clayton Linthicum grew up five hours away from the nearest record store — but that didn't stop them from becoming students of the great blues and country storytellers like the Carter Family and Lead Belly, even if it required prying copies from their neighbors or enduring numerous long drives. Strange Country, their first release for New West, is a set of murder ballads, eerie exploits, and haunting snippets in time, driven by Kacy's high, pristine quiver and Clayton's fast and fertile plucks which render the need for bigger orchestration utterly useless. Like Simon & Garfunkel's "Sounds of Silence," their folk songs always hover on the line of beauty and unease, a lullaby to the dawn of one day but a precursor to an uncertain future lingering right on the horizon.

One of their most compelling tracks is "Brunswick Stew," a jauntier version of their melodic palate, which is not the least bit jaunty in subject matter: It's about a girl who hid her pregnancy from her parents and dumps the resulting newborn in the river. Cautionary tales of small-town scandal have made a bit of a comeback lately, thanks to the likes of Kacey Musgraves or Brandy Clark's brilliant "Big Day in a Small Town" (a song which, coincidentally, also tells of a growing belly that turned out not to be a bunch of donuts, but a baby). Many new interpreters of folk get caught up in the urge to confess — the intimacy of voice and guitar bends well to that, and it's a tempting place to land. But Kacy & Clayton aren’t interested in making a musical diary; they prefer to dig deep into their imaginations, not their memories, for material. The result is Americana magic, regardless of their passport.

CONVERSATIONS WITH… Corb Lund

Posted on by Editor

Corb Lund sings songs about cows, cowgirls, whiskey and ranch life. If you’d assumed his honky tonk-based music is a product of growing up in the west, you’d be right. But it isn’t western America, it’s western Canada. Alberta to be precise. And Lund is proudly Canadian. His backing trio is the Hurtin’ Albertans and his song catalog includes tunes like “Alberta Says Hello,” “Long Gone To Saskatchewan” and “Chinook Wind.”

North of the border, Lund is a big star, racking up a JUNO award (Canada’s Grammy equivalent), 11 Canadian Country Music Associations awards and a pair of Canadian Gold albums. Americans are still getting to know Lund. His recent Los Angeles appearance at a crowded Mint, however, suggests that Lund is gaining a following since New West Records has released his last two albums, 2009’s Losin’ Lately Gambler and this year’s Cabin Fever.

Performing songs going back at least a half dozen years, the lanky Lund wore more than just a cowboy hat – musically speaking. His set included numbers like the hard country rockin’ “Counterfeiter’s Blues,” the Western (Canadian) Swing-y “Cows Around,” the rockabilly rave-up “The Gothic Girl I Know” and the military ballad “Horse Soldier, Horse Soldier” as well as a cover of Merle Haggard’s “Ramblin’ Fever” into which he injected “Jackson” and “Oh Canada.” Lund and his band (guitarist Grant Siemens, bassist Kurt Ciesta and subbing drummer Falcon Valdez) delivered a wonderfully diverse set, packed with plenty of heart and humor, that showed that their twangy tunes about bars and farms, girls and gravediggers erases any differences the 49th Parallel might create.

Lund’s skill at mixing wit and wisdom recalls such Americana singer-songwriters like Robbie Fulks, Todd Snider and Hayes Carll. The Carll comparison is particularly apt as Carll and Lund have toured together and collaborated on the terrific Cabin Fever tune, Bible On The Dash.” The two also are part of the joke-y “vanity” project, The Ego Brothers. At the Mint, Lund played a couple Ego Bros tunes – “Ain’t Enough of Me” and “I Wonder What All The Ugly People Are Doing Tonight” – which made one hope that a full set of comically egotistical ditties can be done.

Lund recently took the time to answer some questions for Michael Berick about his songwriting, performing live and hockey.

Cabin Fever has a rather eclectic range of styles, was that something you did on purpose or just how things turned out?

LUND: Well, I get bored easily. Also, I’ve always admired writers whose records didn’t sound the same start to finish. I’m a believer in dynamics on an album scale, as well as within a song. The same things that can be achieved within a song using volume, tempo and arrangement can be accomplished within an album using sequence, stylistic variety and things like that. My favorite artists have eclectic records and I’m very fortunate to have a versatile and talented band that can go anywhere I take them stylistically.

How did the time you spent traveling to Austin, New York and Las Vegas affect how this album turned out?

LUND: Well, “September” is pretty obviously about a girl in New York, so that was a pretty specific correlation. I’m not sure about the rest, other than to say that all that drifting might have made me more apt to spend time secluded in my cabin afterward, which is where some of the stuff got written. I’m lucky in that if I’m in writing mode, my ‘job’ allows me to travel or live pretty much wherever I want. Although in this case it may have been a bit more wander-y than deliberate.

Is there a particular song that you are proud of how it turned out or just one that you especially look forward to playing?

LUND: Yeah, “Gettin’ Down on the Mountain” was a nice surprise and it’s super fun to play live. You just never know how they’re going to turn out. From where it started on acoustic guitar and where it ended up, produced all raw, with Grant (Siemens)’s gnarly baritone riff was a pretty unexpected journey. It’s one of those songs that continues to try to teach me the lesson that you should always be brave and give everything a shot when it’s recording time, even if you’re not sure they’re any good. This one, and “September” were ones I didn’t expect to use, and they turned out to be some of my favorites. And the audiences’ also, so far.

You are known for doing a lot of touring. Do you prefer playing live to recording or do you enjoy doing both?

LUND: I much prefer playing live. Making records is a necessary diversion, although sometimes it’s fun and interesting. Mostly I got into this racket to sing for people in bars, that’s my favorite thing. In fact, the actual art for me is the 90-minute interaction between me and the audience. The records and the shows wouldn’t happen without that. I make records so I can tour, not the other way around, which is the reverse approach in the music biz often.

Your music reminded me of Hayes Carll’s even before I learned of your collaboration with him. Since you grew up in Canadian ranch country, do you feel a kindred spirit with Texas and Texas singer-songwriters?

LUND: Sort of, but when I first started going down there, I expected to see and hear Western music on every street corner. I grew up as a cowboy kid in the Rockies and I was shocked to find that Western music is pretty rare these days in Texas. My buddy Doug Moreland restored my faith in that. But yeah, I feel pretty comfortable in Texas. And Hayes has become a really good friend. We’ve toured together a ton, in the States and in Canada. I believe we’re plotting a British Invasion soon, too. He’s been a big help. I’ve had a lot of Texan buddies help me out in the US. I’m grateful that they’ve sort of adopted us into their scene down there. It’s a great thing.

Are there other musicians who you would like to collaborate with?

LUND: I’d like to at least meet Kristofferson at some point. And I’d kinda like to try to write something with the Dresden Dolls.

Now that you have had two albums out on New West, have you seen a change in your audience reception in America?

LUND: For sure, the label has helped a lot in getting our name on people’s lips. The last record felt like it was our first knock on the door, and Cabin Fever seems like it’s walking into their living rooms a little bit. Funny, since those are our sixth and seventh albums. I keep telling people if I’m not careful I’m going to win the ‘Oldest Newest Artist’ award. But definitely, I can tell from reading the audiences that they’re more familiar with these last two than our older material. It’s the opposite in Canada.

Do you find many differences between audiences in Canada and America?

LUND: I find greater differences between Eastern and Western Canada than I do between Canadian and American western audiences, and that’s the area in the States we’ve been playing most the last couple years. It’s the cowboy underground. The difference is just that we’re better known in Canada, because we’ve been playing there longer. That and the health care options…

Are you working on any other projects now?  

LUND: I’ve got a bunch of things vying for space on the front burner. I have a tribute album called Songs My Friends Wrote that I want to cut, made up of all my buddies’ best tunes. And Hayes, John Evans and I have a side band called the Ego Brothers that we want to get to work on. All we do is write about how awesome we think we are. I’ve also been toying with a bunch of songs about combat journalism and war correspondents but I’m not sure if that will end up being one song or eight at this point. No one steal my idea, please. It’s all designed to woo Christiane Amanpour, who I have a celebrity crush on. And the ‘Next Album’ never really goes away, so yeah, I have lots to think about.

And lastly, on a different note, if the NHL season doesn’t happen this year, what do you think Canadians will do to fill this void?

LUND: I don’t know. It’s going to make me go away, that’s for sure. I’ll find other things to do. It’s gross; it happened ten years ago, and they don’t seem to learn.  Rich people fighting with rich people. I personally hope it causes US interest in hockey to wane, leading to a contraction of the league and an improvement in the talent pool. I don’t think anyone really cares if there’s hockey in Florida.