Corb Lund Brings Canadian Western to Nashville
Standing about 6 feet 5 inches and with a curly mop of hair sticking out from under his well-kept Stetson, Corb Lund is an authentic cowboy singer. The native Albertan and reigning CCMA roots artist of the year still has family working their small ranch back home and with a veterinarian for a dad, he knows more about livestock than most of us would ever want to. That knowledge and a love of card playing and drinking rye whisky, come through on his first American album, Losin' Lately Gambler. He was in town Thursday night (Oct. 1) to play a set in the always-intimate Basement, and it was a real treat to hear traditional Western tunes sung from his unique perspective. They're not from Tennessee, not from Texas, not even from California, and they paint vivid pictures of his Canadian prairie home.
Singing in his plain-spoken manner, it almost felt like Lund time-traveled to the gig. When he sang about selling rye whisky to Yanks during prohibition and fending off oil companies that want a pipeline through his land, I didn't have to try at all to believe him. One of my favorite songs on Gambler, "Talkin' Veterinarian Blues," wasn't played, but quite a few others were, like "Long Gone to Saskatchewan," kind of a love letter to the most picked-on province in Canada, and "Devil's Best Dress," a Marty Robbins-esque ballad full of flowery Spanish guitar licks. And I loved the older songs like "Five Dollar Bill" and "(Gonna) Shine Up My Boots," which come from his five previous Canadian releases. He and his band, the Hurtin' Albertans, are just now gaining momentum in the States but now that they're on New West Records, hopefully they'll be standing tall in the U.S. for quite some time.
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David says:
Big Corb Lund fan for a while now! This guy puts them Nashville boys to shame. Texas? Well, he’s in the same league as a few.
solongsowrong says:
He lists influences such as Marty Robbins, Waylon Jennings, and Johnny Horton.
Now, where’s that group of Mainstreamers, who keep saying that all of today’s Country music is too “pop” sounding? Oh yeah, probably still on the latest Taylor Swift blog complaining, instead of checking artists like this one out.
Florent Dufour says:
I met Corb in France to Equiblues festival , and oh ! yeah ! What a great guy and a great show ! He won the French Country Music Awards of the FACM (French Association of Country Music)as best newcomer some years before. Too great !
Sarah says:
Saw Corb & the Hurtin Albertans open for Robert Earl Keene last year and, must say, in my mind the opening act could’ve gone on all night (sorry Robert Earl!) — after that night, I was hooked. Just saw them again last night in Easton, MD at a tiny place called the NightCat — although I think Corb deserves a bigger venue, it was a great show… and the band ROCKED as if there were 50,000 in the crowd instead of just the maybe 50 or so that were really there. Corb’s songwriting is on par with Dylan, the band’s talent is topnotch in every way. I wish they played more venues around the Northeast of the US, I’d love to see them more often… but, if necessary, I’ll drive 4 hours one way to see them if I have to (I did last night)! GO BUY THEIR CD, NOW — any of them! You won’t regret it!