Smalls make big comeback
For Corb Lund, making the transition from playing his own brand of alt-country back to being bass player in the re-united smalls, if only temporarily, was just another hurdle to get over. The fact the band’s first gigs together in 13 years were in front of pretty big crowds at late-summer festivals in Calgary and their hometown of Edmonton just made it more of a challenge.
“It was pretty intense,” said Lund. “To go from zero to 60 like that after 13 years at a 20,000-person festival was pretty crazy. It would have been easier to play the clubs first. “But it went well … we didn’t screw up.” With a legendary, almost cult-like following across Western Canada, the fact the smalls are back together after some 13 years is cause for celebration for many.
The Slight Return reunion tour, which will bring the band to Flashbacks in Kelowna for a show on Nov. 5 is a chance for many to break out their old smalls T-shirts for a night. For Lund, however, it’s also an opportunity to spend some time with his old buddies.
Shifting gears from playing his own alt-country material with the Corb Lund Band to re-learning his musical parts in the high-energy punk/pop fusion of the smalls has made him and the band hit the woodshed.
“It’s kind of musical whiplash,” said the straight-talking Juno award-winner. “The first rehearsals were a little rough after 13 years. But it was actually better than we expected. We thought they were going to be brutal, but they weren’t so bad.
“It’s actually been more relaxing than I remember it, probably because I’ve been playing all these years. It’s actually kind of fun because (I’ve got) less responsibility.”
Lund, along with guitarist Dug Bevans, drummer Terry Johnson and singer Mike Caldwell met while attending Grant MacEwan College and formed the band in 1989. They soon developed a following that grew far beyond Edmonton with the release of their self-titled debut disc — actually a cassette — in 1990. Over the course of the next 10 years and three more albums, they developed an incredibly loyal and devoted fan base drawn to their energetic, punk-heavy sound and legendary live shows.
Although they never signed a major label record deal, they released their third album, Waste and Tragedy on Cargo Records, and looked to be headed on to bigger things. And despite following it up with My Dear Little Angle in 1999, soon after, the group disbanded and went their separate ways.
“We just didn’t feel like we were doing too much anymore,” said Lund of the split. “We figured we’d maybe leave at the top of our game.”
Which they did. But they left an impression — over the course of its 11-year run, the band of rural Alberta boys sold some 35,000 albums.
Lund of course went on to launch a successful career as an alt-country artist, releasing eight albums and winning a Juno award in 2006 for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year — Solo for Hair in My Eyes Like a Highland Steer. He continues to keep busy with the Corb Lund Band, but has put it on the back burner for the moment for this tour at least.
While some reports have said Lund was the one who initiated the idea of reuniting, he said it was rather more of a collective realization that just evolved among the former band members over the past few years.
“We all sort of had the idea,” he said. “I had one of the more hectic schedules I think, but we all kind of came to the idea it might be fun to do it again. It just seemed like now was the time to do it.”
While the smalls reunion tour will offer its many fans a chance to see them doing what they always did best, play live, they had best get their tickets to the show sooner, rather than later.
According to Lund there aren’t any plans for the band beyond this tour, so this time it might really be it for the smalls. Although that won’t be what their fans want to hear, in the meantime, there’s music to be made, and they’re WHO: The smalls live in concert on its reunion tour with guests Royal Tusk. WHERE: Flashbacks Niteclub, 1268 Ellis St., Kelowna WHEN: Wednesday, Nov. 5. Doors open at 9 p.m. TICKETS: $25 in person at Leo’s Video and Milkcrate Records or $30 online at . Note this is a 19+ show, with two pieces of ID required. more than ready to do that.
“If there wasn’t anybody going to come, we probably wouldn’t do it,” he said. “But people have really encouraged us to do this, so that’s pretty cool.”