Music: Jeff Hemmings
Corb Lund – Canadian alt-country at its best
A bit of a misnomer, this term Americana. The Canadians have been producing some mighty fine ‘Americana’ for decades now, and the evocatively named, Alberta born and bred, Corb Lund is one of the very best, producing a stream of great records since the turn of the of the 90s, firstly with his band The Smalls, and then as a solo artist, along with his recording and touring band The Hurtin’ Albertans.
Nine albums later, and Lund continues to spread the alt-country gospel. His 2006 album – Hair in My Eyes Like a Highland Steer – won the Canadian equivalent of the Brits (The Junos), in the Roots & Traditional Album of the Year category, helping him to win a deal with New West Records (home to country heavyweights Kris Kristofferson, Steve Earle and Dwight Yoakam), to which he is still signed. Back in October last year he released Things That Can’t Be Undone, an album that combined his frontier country style with a more soul orientated sound. Produced by Dave Cobb, it’s a work that also recalls Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. Much of it harks back to the 60s and 70s, with its mix of country, rock and soul, while the album title can be found on opener Weight Of A Gun: “My hands are empty, but my mind is filled with things that can’t be undone”.
Elsewhere his acute and sardonic observations are employed in songs about rampant capitalism, war and personal relations. It’s all beautifully delivered by this master craftsman. He took time out to answer some questions for Latest 7.
Jeff Hemmings
New album Things Can’t be Undone has a soul feel in places, maybe some Northern Soul, how did that direction come about? After seven records I was pretty hungry for different ideas and different sounds. My band helped come up with some of the new feels; we did a lot of free form jamming before we recorded. And our producer, Dave Cobb was really helpful that way, and I was just much more open minded in general this album about trying new things. I got kind of bored with myself. It’s good to stretch.
Where are you based nowadays? I live in southern Alberta, Canada, near the American border, just above Montana. My family has been here for 120 years or so, and our ranch is nearby. I’m not home much, but that’s where I keep all my stuff.
For those who have little idea, tell us about Albertan life, and growing up there? Alberta has a very similar cowboy culture to the American West. It’s directly above Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, and Rocky Mountain cattle culture stretches way up into Alberta. Both sides of my family are ranchers from Utah and Nevada originally, and moved to Canada at the turn of the century to raise cows here. So I grew up in a very cowboy environment. Not everyone knows that we have that sort of thing in Canada, but we do out west. It’s very frontier-like still in many ways.
Does country music have a strong tradition in those parts? It does. Western music has an even stronger tradition. Cowboy balladry and oral history songs, that kind of thing. My grandfathers used to sing the old western ballads. They were on the tail end of a time when music was often a personal pastime and a way of transmitting oral history, rather than a career goal. It’s a folk tradition of storytelling.
You seemed to like jazz when growing up. Does this play any part in your life nowadays I didn’t actually like jazz when I grew up; I like it a lot more now. But I went to a jazz school out of high school since it was the only music school in our area. And as it turns out, the complex harmony that you study when you learn about jazz has been very useful in my writing process. I think I may have a few more chords in my repertoire than some traditional country/western/folk writers. I’m nowhere near a jazz player, but I have a basic grasp of jazz harmony. I wish I knew more.
As an aside, I am half Canadian, and my grandfather was the trumpeter of Mart Kenney & His Western Gentlemen back in the 30s, often playing in Albertan resorts… Does that name mean anything to you?!? That specific name doesn’t, but I’m aware that there was a demand for that kind of music in Western Canada at that time. And I’ve spent time in most of the old Canadian Pacific hotels in Alberta’s national parks. They were considered kind of upscale at the time and a lot of famous people visited in the old days. My drummer’s great uncles had a group called ‘Sons of the Saddle’ way back that used to tour the area.
What informs your songwriting? 40% family history, 40% western/cowboy stuff (Marty Robbins, Louis L’Amour, etc), 15% very random fringe topics that no one writes about. (card games, military history, religious inquiry, trades and occupations), 5% romance.
What does country music mean to you? Country music largely stems from Appalachian roots in the southern states. I consider myself more of a western songwriter. It’s different; more of a folk and storytelling tradition. But I certainly have some country music influencing my stuff. The definition of country music has drifted and evolved over time. When I think of country music I guess I think of Hank Williams, mostly.
Are you coming to the UK solo or with band? If band, tell me about them. Yes, my band, The Hurtin’ Albertans are coming with me. They’ve been with me for 12-16 years, depending on which member. We have musical ESP after all this time.. It’s me on acoustic and singing, Brady drumming, Kurt playing upright bass and Grant playing a ton of things. Steel, Telecaster, mandolin, baritone. They’re a tight unit. So we don’t use set lists anymore. I just give them hand signals all night and we improvise the set. Makes it more fun.
Is it mostly a life on the road for you now? How do you deal with that!? I think I’m home roughly 40% of the time. I like travelling but I guard my home time very jealously now. It’s important for me to have some kind of stable home base if I’m going to be creative. It’s hard on relationships, too. But I don’t think I could ever stop touring entirely. It’s in my blood, plus I have good friends scattered all over the world so I’d never get to see them otherwise. Touring in grander style would help, too. Van rides and economy flights become old after awhile.
Bleach, Wed 13 January, 8pm, £12
