As a singer/songwriter in the folk and country music vein, you could do much worse than try to emulate Canadian icon Stompin' Tom Connors.
As a singer/songwriter in the folk and country music vein, you could do much worse than try to emulate Canadian icon Stompin' Tom Connors.
Born in New Brunswick, Connors was unapologetically pro-Canadian and penned many tunes over 20 albums about life in our great dominion. Connors was all about the minutiae (he likely wouldn't have liked the use of that word) of Canadian life and in 1979 he returned his six Juno Awards to protest the Americanization of a music industry which never really embraced his music.
Flash forward to the present day and Calgarian Tim Hus, who was invited by, and accompanied Connors on, his last music tour.
Hus is also a creator of Canadiana songs, which is what caught Connors' eye and ear. Like Connors, Hus's music spans the country and features the life and times of bush pilots, potash miners, apple pickers, cowboys, fishin' and huntin', oilfield workers, steelworkers, a Sasquatch hunter ... the list goes on.
Hus (guitar, vocals), along with Riley Tubbs (bass) and Jeff Bradshaw (pedal steel and guitar), plays Wild Bill's, Wednesday (Jan. 20) as part of his Never Ending Highways Tour - which never ends.
The Wild Bill's show is a winter feature for the Nelson, B.C. native who carefully plans his touring year around getting to all parts of Canada as he's found there's an upside to return visits from a business sense.
“It's the life of an entertainer,” he said. “You put out material, then tour that, then put out some more, then get back on the road.
“At this time of year, I like to be working on new songs and making just a few stops. Right now, we're working toward a new album and it's kind of a treat to do a show in early winter.
“When people get used to you returning regularly, it can become something of a tradition. I got the idea from Corb Lund a few years ago. At some point, he played Brooks on Boxing Day, and now it's an annual thing for him and the show sells out.
“It's a bit of a marketing strategy, but if you can get a tradition going, a show can book itself. That's why I've actively tried to maintain a bit of a routine.”
Part of the reason for a routine is that much of Hus's music has a very local flavour and people in certain locales want to hear it.
Unlike pop music, said Hus, “which appeals to everybody a bit, but nobody extremely, my music may not be for everybody, but those who do like it, really like it.”
For example, he said, because of his song “Bush Pilot Buckaroo,” an outfitter in Ontario ordered 1,000 CDs to give clients flying into his operation, with a bush pilot. In B.C.'s Okanagan, “Hardcore Apple Picker” is a local hit, while in northern Saskatchewan, “Marietta Miner” is a hit with the potash extraction crowd.
Hopefully, said Hus, some of his songs will gain the kind of traction Connors' “The Hockey Song” (1973 release) has had over the years and which is heard in arenas across the country.
“He told me an interesting story about ‘The Hockey Song,' ” said Hus. “He said he thought Canadians would really like that song. He recorded it in the ‘70s and thought he'd stumbled onto something good.
“But it only had a so-so reaction and he only sang it in concert a few times. He always had requests for other songs, but he had high hopes for it.
“But 16 years later, it was played at a Leafs and Ottawa (NHL) game where the announcers put it in for fun. But Pat Burns (Leafs coach) liked it and he requested it be played in Toronto and later, Tom said he made more money off that song than for his whole catalogue.
“I'm seeing some of my early songs come around again and I've gone from a greenhorn to a veteran of the Canadian music scene. I'm always writing new songs and trying out new material. I've been in this business for 14 years and I'm proud I've lasted this long and of having built a unique career. People have always supported us because they like the style of songs; they sometimes connect extremely strongly with a niche group of people.
“In any show we play, likely at some point in the course of an evening there will likely be something for everybody there.”
