Corb Lund column June 21, 2007

Corb Lund is currently one of the heavyweights of the Canadian music scene, capturing “Roots Artist of the Year” and “Album of the Year” awards at last year’s Canadian Country Music Awards. Getting his start with popular indie rock band, the Smalls, he describes his current sound as scruffy country, dissident country and subversive country. He is currently on tour in England and I had a chance to talk to him on his second stop at the Musician in Leicester on his way to his first appearance at Glastonbury.

This is your second gig on your England tour, what do you think of England so far?It’s fun because people listen here. It’s gratifying as a writer that people pay attention here. At home it’s more rowdy. I’ve been here five or six times and I’ve noticed that people really pay attention to the lyric, back home it’s more of a gong show.

First show was in Glasgow last night, how did that go?Wicked. The Scots like to drink, we should play up there more. Ireland is fun, too.

Your latest album is called “Hair in my eyes like a Highland Steer”. What is your connection to cattle and farming in general?Both sides of my family have been raising cows for a century or so. It was cool when we played that song in Scotland because that is where that breed is from. They [highland steer] are like the woolly mammoths of cattle. My grandfather raised them and I was fascinated with them as a kid, so it’s sort of an homage to that. That and it’s kind of like a nod to my rock and roll past.

That kind of leads me to my one and only Smalls question. Metal to Country, how did that happen?It was more the other way around for me because I grew up around ranching and rodeo people in Alberta. When I was 15, I got a guitar and got into Black Sabbath, Voivod, a good Canadian band and Slayer. My new record is all about cavalry and horse soldier stuff. I’m gonna remake an old Smalls song called “My saddle horse has died”, but give it a more cuban feel.

When does the new album come out?November, hopefully.

How does the new record compare to Highland Steer or Five Dollar Bill?It’s a little darker than Highland Steer because Highland Steer is more light-hearted than my other records. It’s the most kinda country party record I’ve ever done. The new one is back to my normal thing, a lot of historical stuff. There is still a lot of country on it, but it’s darker.

So, we’re not gonna hear a “The truck got stuck” kind of song on this one?There’s one called “Family reunion” that’s kinda like that. We’re also doing a remake of an old one called “Lament for Lester Cousins” from our very first record that nobody knows. Nobody except for the hardcore fans even know it exists.

You won a couple of Canadian Country Music Awards this year. Is it nice to be recognised? Is that sort of thing important to you?It’s not my goal, really, but it’s nice to be recognised by your peers. We’d won the Roots artist of the year two years running, but not only that, they gave us album of the year. Not just roots album, but album album. Kinda blew me away actually, not because I don’t think the record is good, but because the style of it is kinda out there. For them to say “That’s our album of the year” is progressive of them, I think.

Do you think Country music has a chance in England?Well, they have really good taste in country music here. There’s not much of a market for Tim McGraw and that kind of thing. The country music they tend to go for over here is the tasteful stuff, Like Willie, and Johnny Cash and the newer stuff like Sadies who were just over here from Toronto, Tom Russell and Neko Case. There is a whole underground country scene here which is pretty cool.

Glastonbury. Are you excited?Yeah. I’m kinda dumb, I didn’t even know about it. I didn’t know the significance of it. It’s big, eh?

Massive. It’s the biggest festival in the world.That’s what I hear, yeah.

You start out on the Avalon stage, then do a stint on the main stage?I think the early slot is on the main stage and the full show later on the smaller stage.

How did the main stage gig come about?I dunno, I have no fuckin’ idea [laughs]. Maybe my agent. I guess. Bob Patterson has done a good job for us.

You’ve played festivals before, do you have a favourite festival story?I got really drunk and played a festival in northern Alberta and played “Okie from the Skokie” twice. We were supposed to play at one, but it got backed up so we didn’t play until 3 and I was drinking whiskey. People the next day asked me why I played it twice and I don’t even remember playing it once.

Because this is England, I have to ask, Do you follow football at all?No, I don’t have much time to watch sports. We toured Australia a number of times and they’re crazy for cricket down there. I just can’t watch it. It’s like 32 runs, 45 scores, 69 wickets, 59 goals… and those five-day games, fuck. [laughs]

Corb Lund is in Tingewick tonight, the Blues on the Farm festival in Chicester on the 23^rd and two shows at Glastonbury on the 24^th.

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