FROM GUNS TO GUITAR
Soldier tries out folk singing
Tim Isberg has been everywhere, man.
He’s been to Kabul, Jerusalem, Kigali, Lebanon and Syria. He’s run a NATO literacy program in Afghanistan, served as a peacekeeper in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, worked as a negotiator for the United Nations in Palestine.
Now in his early 50s, Maj. Isberg relinquished his command two weeks ago and is staring down the final months of a three-decade military career, set to wrap up in six to nine months.
“Getting a paycheque every two weeks is a trap. It’s not a bad trap,” says Isberg. “But as I’ve hit my third decade of military service, I feel I’ve done my part.”
Isberg can’t just parachute into retirement — there was also an amicable divorce along the way — but the years of service give him enough leeway to dive into another perilous and challenging yet potentially rewarding career: folk musician.
On Sunday, he’ll celebrate his new deployment as a singer-songwriter with an album release party and concert at the Yardbird Suite. He’s trying to strategically leverage the album into radio play, gigs and sales, fully aware the whole enterprise sounds trickier than brokering peace in the Middle East.
Isberg contemplated life as a musician nearly 40 years ago, but ultimately packed his guitar away while settling into military life. The Fort Macleod native was actively pursuing his return to music two years ago when the flood hit southern Alberta, destroying his sister’s two High River properties.
Stuck in Kabul, Isberg felt helpless. So he wrote an anthem, Come Hell or High River. That effort connected him with Miles Wilkinson, the Edmonton-based producer who worked as sound engineer for Emmylou Harris’s Luxury Liner and Willie Nelson’s Stardust. Wilkinson agreed to help him work on his latest project, Tears Along the Road.
Q You must be pretty happy about getting to do this.
A It’s been a long time coming, so to speak. It’s not like it’s my first gig or anything, but it’s a special one.
Q How would you compare it to the excitement and pressure of being a soldier?
A The military side is just one side of your brain. This is the other side of your brain, more creative. It relies on more of your artistic imagination. Also, I’m a little bit out of the comfort zone, not so much for the music, but for the business. It’s getting up for the show, getting ready, getting the record, selling the record, marketing, all the social media stuff.
I’m finding out that I’m just not cool. I’m just too far behind on the social media stuff, apparently. I’m trying to be cool. I’m trying to really hurry up to be cool.
Q When did you first get the idea to make an album?
A The path I’ve been on has been long and twisty. I started playing, performing and writing when I was really quite young.
I went to college in Lethbridge, took environmental sciences thinking I was going to maybe try the fish-and-wildlife approach. I graduated in the mid ‘80s and there were no jobs. My student loan was $13,250, I remember that.
I had been encouraged to join the reserves in Lethbridge, and I kind of enjoyed that, so I thought “maybe I should give this a shot for real.” And I went off and saw the world. I didn’t know that 25 years later, I’d be still serving and looking for, “OK, now what do I do?”
About 10 years ago, I began picking up the guitar again. One day, I decided, “I really miss doing this, I really miss writing, I miss performing.”
Q You’ve previously recorded a basic solo demo album with the Edmonton-based musician, Carson Cole. How did that experience influence this one?
A We made a little record together and it was financially affordable. It was a learning experience, a stepping-stone. I learned a lot about the process of recording.
I was really lucky. Within a year or so, I got a few songs on the radio, just for fun. At the time, I was living and working in Wainwright on the base.
Paul Brandt came out to film a video for Convoy. I met George Canyon, Aaron Lines, Jason McCoy. I helped them do this video for the (2004) CCMAs, then I got invited to join Paul onstage. It was like, “Wow, this could be fun if I could do this.”
Then I deployed (laughs).
Q How did your new album come together?
A I put some money away the last 25 years to save up for this because grant money does not always come. And it did not come.
We sat down, I made a business plan, we got it together and made it happen. It was 10 years really, to make this record. In some ways I’m glad I didn’t rush into it, because it wouldn’t be as good as it is.
I’ve done a lot of things, learned a few languages, travelled the world, met some great people, learned a hell of a lot. Now it’s time to sort of come full circle, back to music. I really want to try this, whether it’s for one year or 10 years, I don’t care.
I just want to give this a whirl and have fun with it.