Tim Hus draws comparisons to Stompin’ Tom Connors for a good reason, as he showed at a special Movember fundraising concert at the Owl Acoustic Lounge, Nov. 15. Hus was a part of a big event featuring a silent auction and prizes which raised money for prostate cancer in honour of Movember
Hus not only spreads the gospel of Canadiana all over the world, but also sounds uncannily like Stompin’ Tom.
The newly moustached Calgary country musician, backed by his stand-up bassist Riley J Tubbs and his lead guitarist/ fiddle player Billy MacInnis sang an array of songs about characters from all over the country.
He sang about cowboys, oilfield workers and long distance truckers, though much of his songs were about Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Some highlights were “Hamilton Steel,” and “Portage and Main,” before which Hus joked whoever called that Winnipeg intersection (Portage and Main) being the windiest spot in Canada had never been to Lethbridge.
Billy MacInnis showed his prowess on the fiddle on a couple upbeat reels and jigs including a very brief and fast Louis Riel reel.
Hus played a couple new songs, including a catchy song about a small town hotel/ saloon, which included a couple lines about Ian Tyson's Navaho Road playing on a jukebox.
After prizes were given out for best moustache, best attempt at a moustache as well as for Man and Woman of Movember, for the participant who raised the most money for prostate cancer. Hus and his band took the stage for a second set which was even more upbeat than the first and which attracted several dancers to the floor in front of the stage.
He included a couple classic country songs from people like Merle Haggard as well as more of his own material.
In addition to his song about Saskatchewan, his “hat trick ” of hockey songs, which wound down the show were also highlights.
His hat trick included “Hockey Town, his ode to hockey moms and an outstanding version of Stompin’ Tom’s “The Hockey Song,” in which he added a verse about the NHL strike including the line “just play the god damn game.”