Country roots musician Corb Lund is not only glad to be back home in Lethbridge, but is excited to play a long awaited, rare local gig at the Shine On music festival, Sept. 2.
He keeps a low profile when gets back home to music row in Lethbridge, aka 7th ave where his neighbours include well known local musicians like Leeroy Stagger, John Wort Hannam, Trevor Panczak and Dave McCann.
Lund keeps a low profile when he gets off the road.
“I just like to t
ake time to hang out with friends. And my parents still have a ranch near Taber and Cardston, so I like to visit them,” Lund said, fresh off the road from tour dates all over Canada and the U.S. and up for a quick visit at the Owl Acoustic Lounge.
“ It has been two or three years since I played a local show,” he observed.
“When life is so crazy , it’s nice to just come home and relax and visit with friends, I don’t even think of playing local shows, I don’t know why. A few months ago, I sat around with Dave, John and Leeroy just trading songs, which was fun and I recorded some demos in Leeroy’s studio, which is amazing. And something you wouldn’t expect to see in Lethbridge,” he said.
He is starting work on new music.
“I think the last album came out two or three years ago, so I’ve been trying to carve out time to write,” he said.
Playing the Shine On music festival is especially special, since he went to the University of Lethbridge and lived in residence before moving to Edmonton to study music at Grant MacEwan College to study music, where he formed popular alternative rock band the smalls, which toured all over Canada before disbanding, which lead to Lund embarking on a successful solo country and roots career.
“I don’t know what I’ll be playing yet. I don’t use a set list. We‘ll wing it,” he said, noting he will be joined by long time band mates, bassist Kurt Ciesla, drummer Brady Valgardson and lead guitarist Grant Siemens, who are also on his albums.
“They’ve been on my albums as long as I’ve been playing with them. We’ve been playing so long together we have ESP. They’re from Lethbridge, except Grant, who’s from Winnipeg, but they’re better than anyone else out there, so that’s cool,” Lund enthused.
Lund has been lucky enough to work with one of his idols Ian Tyson.
Lund got a sponsorship from Budweiser beer to help tour this year.
“Nobody makes money selling records anymore,” he observed.
“It’s interesting, my audience is split between people who drink craft beers, but the other half are cowboys, so they relate to that,” he said.
Lund has had several highlights on the road this year.
“I played the National Finals (NFR ) rodeo in Las Vegas. There were cowboys from everywhere, Montana, Oregon, Idaho, Texas, all over the Western U.S. and Canada, Alberta and B.C.,” he observed.
He is at home in cowboy culture, which is no surprise, growing up on a ranch near Taber and used to compete in rodeos as a teenager.
“I used to ride steers when I was a teenager. But I started to get interested in music at that time and quit just in time,” he said.
Another highlight this year was playing some shows with Miranda Lambert.
“I got to drink some beers with her. She’s a very down to earth person. And even though she’s more mainstream than I am, she knew my music and all of my friends’ music in my scene and all of the people I know in Texas,” he said.
He is trying to write new music for a new album he hopes to have completed by next year.
“I have a song about baling hay and another one about opening and closing gates. I’ve always written about Western Canada. I believe in the regionalization of music for songwriting. I call my style of music Agriculture tragic or AgTag,“ he chuckled.
He is looking forward to the rest of his gigs this year.
“I’m looking forward to this one and playing with Ian Tyson in Ottawa.
“We’re on second last (at Shine On) at 7:15 p.m. right before Dallas (Smith).” I promise it won’t be so long until the next one,” said Lund, who was looking forward to going to Taber Cornfest to see his cousin Fallon Nelson’s band perform.
Corb Lund plays the Shine On Music Festival, Sept. 2 around 7 p.m.
