Artist Spotlight: Corb Lund

Country music and Canada go together more than what most people think, and when Canada resident Corb Lund played the Hooey party in Las Vegas, I couldn’t wait to catch a moment with him. 

We got to the site a bit early as Corb was finishing up soundcheck in the fantastic venue called Brooklyn Bowl and were then escorted up to a room that was eclectic in nature and Corb was sitting on the couch, 4-H cloverleaf t-shirt on, with his leather and cowhide encased guitar picking away. It couldn’t have been more fitting.

We started talking about how running into people that were not generally in the country scene were calling him a new artist, as many people don’t know that he has 9 albums under his belt already. Corb said,

“It’s funny, cause, I mean it’s a slow burn which is kind of cool in a way because it’s a real organic build our career our audience isn’t really based on a bunch of media overload and just based on playing for people and word of mouth. It’s very organic. It’s kind of DIY. Its kind of like Chris Ledoux did it, I think.”

To that, we talked about some of the songs on his albums. I said how my first introduction to Corb’s music was his song “Bible on the Dash” with Hayes Carll. And Corb had a funny story about how that song came about.

“I write songs slowly. Some guys sit on it one afternoon I just they’re very slow. It’s a very slow process for me. So I had the verse and chorus for years and I couldn’t. I was stumped. And then Hayes and I were just drinking beer when I showed him, and he said well we just do this. and I was like, yeah, why don’t I just do that, (chuckling) and then we finished it in an hour.” 

And with a song like that I just had to know, where do you get your inspiration? Or does it just come out of the blue? To which Corb replied, “I mean probably two-thirds of my stuff is sort of family history western stuff, and the other third is off the wall stuff.” Depending on if you see him with a full band or acoustic show determines if you get to hear the stories behind those songs. He elaborated,

“People seem to like to hear the stories behind the songs, and how you write them, and why you wrote them. Especially when a lot of my stuff is of family history and ancestry stuff. So there’s lots to talk about. So both shows are good.” He concurred.

(photo credit: Trish Badger)

Which lead us into talking about just how he got into this country music scene “when I was a teenager I got into the Rock and Roll music so when I was in my 20s I had a heavy rock band.” Corb said. “We had almost a cult following. I think that kind of permanently affected my songwriting because. I’m sort of a blend of traditional western stuff mixed with kind of quirky, weird stuff…keeping Western weird.” he chuckled.

(photo credit facebook)

Corb just wrapped up his “No Rest for the West” tour, and no matter what setting you are in when you see a Corb Lund show you will know that he is having a great time. Which is excellent because his stops have been really gaining momentum. That isn’t the only thing gaining momentum though; Corb Lund is set to release Cover Your Tracks on September 13th via New West Records. The 8-song EP is a collection of unexpected cover songs previously recorded by AC/DC, Nancy Sinatra, Billy Joel, Marty Robbins, Bob Dylan, The Eagles, Willie Nelson & Ray Charles, and Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show.  It was produced by Lund and John Evans, and features guest appearances from the critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Hayes Carll and Canadian Western music legend Ian Tyson alongside Lund’s band The Hurtin Albertans: Kurt Ciesla, Grant Siemens, and Brady Valgardson. 

Lund states, “Earlier this year I recorded a bunch of cover songs by some of my favourite artists and writers from various periods in my life, mostly for fun and to get them out of my system.” He says, “Many of the songs we’ve been playing live for years. Being re-inspired by this stuff and getting back in the studio to cut it was a great warm-up for making another record of my own songs, which I’m working hard on writing as we speak. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy listening to these old favourites as much as we enjoyed recording them.”

Corb Lund’s Cover Your Tracks will be available on compact disc and across digital retailers and is available for pre-order now via New West Records. Lund is entering the studio this summer to record his forthcoming full-length record featuring the singer’s signature brand of “agriculturally tragic” wit and Western themes. The album will be released in 2020. 

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