Time: 9 p.m.

Cover: by donation

http://www.quintonblair.com/home

AUTHENTIC STORYTELLING & PRAIRIE CAMARADERIE
QUINTON BLAIR PERFORMS @ ACOUSTIC OWL - MAY 9, 10PM.

Manitoba Country Music Association’s 2015 Roots Artist of the Year, Quinton Blair released his new EP Cash Crop on April 8, and is now heading west on a prairie release tour. He performs @ The Acoustic Owl on Monday, May 9 @ 10PM – no cover. The authenticity of Cash Crop shines through in many forms including Blair’s western lifestyle, his influences, and in the musical company he keeps.

Living in the longitudinal centre of Canada, Blair maintains a small hobby farm with some horses and hay. He will be the first to tell you of the beauty that most people see as nothingness. “It’s the silver-kissed wheat in the moonlight, the sweet aroma of mid summer canola, or the isolation that is the woods in winter,” he says. Blair loves to spend time on horseback, and admits that some of the best ways to blast out writer’s block is to put a foot in the leather, and spend some hours riding down a shaded trail. However, the reality is that there is only so much time in the summer months, and he spends most weekends on the road touring with his band. Fittingly his heart is torn between spending time on the road, or at home teaching his daughter the finer points of opening roping chutes, coiling rope, and building fences.


Influenced by the descriptive pen of western author Louis L’Amour, Blair often finds inspiration in painting a picture to tell the story of the characters that reside in his songs. Cash Crop’s “300,000 KMs” is a storyteller’s song about pain and redemption; its haunting lyrics speak about running from one’s past, and not being able to let go of what brought them there. Blair also gleans heavy western inspiration from Canadian troubadours like Ian Tyson, Corb Lund, Tim Hus, and Matt Robertson. 


Other songs on the album echo a generalized agricultural perspective, which Blair suggests is likely credited to the regionalization that is often the focus of his writing. Finding musicians who can appreciate and understand this perspective, and further, the spirit that pushes them down the open road, can lead to inspired collaboration. Blair’s co-write on “Followin’ Him Around” with fellow prairie musicians Del Barber and Blake Berglund reflects this notion perfectly.


“This kind of brotherhood is only formed through collective years of wrestling with the wandering heart uncontended in the city. All three of us have farming connections and the instinct to pen regionalized music. It’s hard to get all three of us in the same room for much time, but for a few hours it worked and the result is the anthemic song about century farming and the struggle of family farmers who have had a hard time keeping up with the increased corporate influence,” he explains.

To Blair, the process of rural living is secondary; it’s not about the farm or the horses, but about the collective experience. With the open spaces and fresh air, lifestyle, and camaraderie brings peace and the drive to create the songs featured here on Cash Crop.


Quinton Blair’s wide understanding of country music suits him perfectly to the task of working stages with the all-stars of both roots and mainstream country music in Canada. He has shared stages with Del Barber, Scarlett Jane, The Bros Landreth, and the likes of George Canyon, High Valley, Corb Lund, Emerson Drive, and more. He has showcased and performed at the CCMA’s, Folk Alliance, Manitoba Arts Network, Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Council, Dauphin’s Country Fest, and Festival du Voyageur. His debut album Blues Man (2013) was written in a hand built log cabin in La Broquerie MB, where he would go once a week to pen new tunes. You can almost hear the crackle of fire from the pot bellied stove build itself into the fabric of the record. Now, with Cash Crop, he’s ready to take on the road once again.


For more on Quinton Blair, visit: www.quintonblair.com   

Quinton Blair Cash Crop release tour – Monday, May 9 @ The Acoustic Owl (411 3 Ave S, Lethbridge, AB) 10PM. No cover.