by Sheldon Birnie
It’s no secret here on the Hillbilly Highway that Corb Lund is one of our favourite acts out there today…
We eagerly anticipated his latest album, Cabin Fever, and enjoyed the end product when it finally arrived. Through Corb’s tunes and shows, we’ve been introduced to other great roots artists cruising the Highway, like Hayes Carll and Tim Hus. So it was a great pleasure to get the chance to interview the fellow for an upcoming online feature in advance of his December 3rd gig here in Winnipeg, which we’ll post later in November.
Our conversation touched on a lot of things, from his new record and touring, to working with Ian Tyson, and the differences between touring Winnipeg with the Smalls and now with the Hurtin’ Albertans, and the transition from punk to country. From our conversation:
“Doing the Smalls thing for ten years permanently altered my songwriting … There actually is a lot of crossover, more than you’d think. I’ve gotten older, and a lot of the people who used to come see us in the Smalls have gotten older too and, you know, just about every punk rocker that starts getting old starts liking Johnny Cash and shit like that right. In western Canada, no matter how urban or goth or whatever, chances are that your dad, or your uncles have country music in there.”
We also talked about one of my favourite bands, and a big influence of the small early on, SNFU. Corb’s favourite SNFU tunes? “Snapping Turtle” or “Seeing Life Through The Bottom of a Bottle.” My own? “Joni Mitchell Tapes” or “Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump.”