Respecting roots
Colter Wall pays homage to native Saskatchewan on new album
Colter Wall is on a mission to make a change.
Through his music, the singersongwriter tells stories.
His latest, “Songs of the Plains,” is a glimpse into his life of growing up in Swift Current, a province in Saskatchewan, Canada.
“One thing I’ve noticed over the last few years, in the United States and playing in Europe, is that people all over the world really don’t know much about Canada at all,” he says in an interview. “When you talk about Saskatchewan, people really have no idea. Part of it is because there are so few people there. It’s an empty place — it makes sense that people don’t know much about it. But that’s my home, so naturally I’m passionate about it. With this record, I really wanted people to look at our Western heritage and our culture.”
Wall burst onto the music scene with his 2017 debut album.
After two years of touring around the world, he wanted to make an album about home for his follow-up.
He joined forces with producer Dave Cobb in Nashville, Tenn.
In the studio, the pair focused on minimal production and Wall’s baritone.
Wall says he spent the past three to four years trying to get better as a singer.
His range is now far more dynamic and expressive. He describes the vocal development as “less gravel, without losing the baritone that I’ve developed over the years.”
As a folk singer, Wall places equal importance on crafting songs and carrying older songs into the present day.
“To me, a folk singer is somebody who sings folk songs — and it’s also someone who is writing their own music, while taking something from traditional folk songs,” he says. “It’s somebody who sings those songs and is aware of passing down the traditions, whether it’s from their own version of the song or taking those old tunes and reinventing them.”
The hard work in the studio paid off for Wall; he created an album he’s proud of.
“I went into the studio and knew exactly the story I wanted to tell,” Colter says of the album. “That made it easier on a sonic level and a musical level, to be able to tell Dave that it’s a record about my home. That changes it at the roots level, because it’s like having a mission statement, saying, ‘All right, let’s make a Western album.’”