CORB LUND READY TO SHINE
SOUTHERN ALBERTAN U L ON STAGE AT OF MUSIC FEST
Dallas Smith and Washboard Union also part of 50th anniversary celebration
Corb Lund is ready to help the University of Lethbridge celebrate its 50th anniversary. The award-winning country musician is one of several artists who will hit the stage Sept. 2 at the University of Lethbridge stadium to help the school celebrate its history in style.
The southern Alberta native, who grew up on his family’s properties near Taber, Rosemary and Cardston, studied anthropology and history at the university after high school before heading north to study music at what was then known as Grant MacEwan Community College, now a university in its own right.
In Edmonton, Lund co-founded the indie rock group the smalls before he turned to his country roots and embarked on a career which has earned him accolades and international acclaim.
During that career, he has been nominated for five Juno awards, winning once in 2006 for roots and traditional album of the year - solo for “Hair in My Eyes Like a Highland Steer.”
He has been nominated as an artist or group for eight Canadian Country Music Association awards, winning four, the first two in 2004 for roots artist or group of the year and independent group or duo of the year. In 2005, he repeated those wins.
Two of his albums have been certified gold — “Five Dollar Bill” in 2002 and “Hair in My Eyes Like a Highland Steer” in 2005.
After two decades living in Alberta’s capital, Lund returned to southern Alberta a couple of years ago, settling in a south Lethbridge neighbourhood rife with musical talent, including acclaimed musician and producer Leeroy Stagger and bassist bandmate Kurt Ciesla, who along with Taber’s Brady Valgardson on drums and Manitoban Grant Siemens on guitar and strings forms Corb Lund and the Hurtin’ Albertans.
Over the years, starting with his first country-themed recording “Modern Pain” in 1995, Lund and his band have released numerous memorable albums, the latest “Things That Can’t Be Undone” in 2015.
In 2013, Lund’s music was the focus of an exhibition at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary that was based upon nine of his songs and included artifacts from his family and the museum’s own collection.
Lund has made a career of crafting stories about the West, which is natural since both sides of his family — the Lunds and Ivins — were Utah Mormons who headed north to settle in southern Alberta.
Some homesteaded near Cardston and they instilled in the former teenaged rodeo cowboy an appreciation for the western way of life.
His late father, D.C. Lund, was a renowned western artist in his own right.
The Lethbridge performance will be the band’s first here in awhile and in a recent interview, Lund said “I’m looking forward to it.”
The band’s had a busy year, playing Australia and Europe already.
With his latest album, Lund went in a somewhat new direction, creating a “mature set of songs that pairs Lund’s characteristically sharp songcraft with a bevy of new sounds, thrusting his mix of earnest Americana, rollicking honky tonk and rousing altcountry to new heights,” wrote CMT Canada in a review of the recording.
“Things That Can’t be Undone” was produced by Dave Cobb, who has worked with artists including Sturgill Simpson and Chris Stapleton in Nashville and is a compelling collection of musical stories.
Lund also recently contributed a song to a Stompin’ Tom Connors tribute album, one which viewers of CBC’s “Marketplace” will recognize. “The Consumer,” sung by Connors as that show’s original theme, is an instantly recognizable piece of Canadiana.
“Stompin’ Tom is very much an inspiration to those of us who write country music.
“He’s one of the people who blazed the trail in terms of singing country songs about Canada and about your own culture, even if it isn’t a mainstream choice,” Lund writes on his website, corblund.com
During his set at the stadium, Lund plans to play a few new songs and and about 10 or 12 the band plays every night. But audiences can expect a unique show.
“I don’t use a set list anymore. I just call audibles all night,” he said last week.
Other artists on the bill include Millz Skillz, a deejay who press material says has “a versatile mix history, dishing out a balance between nostalgia and new age fire.”
Also hitting the stage is The Washboard Union, which won five Canadian Country Music Awards last year, and closing the night is Dallas Smith, both a Juno and CCMA winner for his country music.
Smith, the former frontman for rock outfit Default, wowed a huge crowd at the Enmax Centre last year at the PBR kickoff concert, performing not only his country tunes but also some classic Default material.
The festival will also feature a 20-minute fireworks display staged by the Canadian National Fireworks Team.
Tickets for the Shine On Summer Fest, which starts at 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 2, are $49.50 for youth, $75 adults and $125 for the VIP area and are available at the Ticket Centre, 403-329-7328.