One of country music’s greatest legends will be honoured in an upcoming show at the Mae Wilson Theatre on Sept. 21. The show is called ‘The Gift’ and serves as a tribute to the esteemed career of singer-songwriter Ian Tyson.
Peter North is the producer of The Gift, and he helped start the show 20 years ago.
“A lot of tribute shows are after the fact… we wanted to pay tribute to Ian while he was still with us,” North said.
The show wasn’t expected to last. After a snowstorm closed the roads for one of the first performances, Tyson couldn’t make it and the show seemed to be at its end.
A demanding audience changed that, however, as requests started to come in. “The shows were very well received, and so we planned another one for Calgary a few months later,” said North.
Tyson could now attend, and his impression of the show was very positive.
“Ian was able to make that, and he loved it. He actually got up on stage and sang a few tunes at the end of the night with the house band,” North recalled.
Since then, promoters kept the phones ringing with new requests. “We just kept motoring along.”
Ever since, names like John Wort Hannam, Corb Lund, Blue Rodeo, Gordon Lightfoot, and Jennifer Warnes have made guest contributions on the show.
The Gift captures everything in Tyson’s career from the 60s right up to his passing. “This is the most complete overview of his songbook that you’ll ever hear,” said North.
Inspiration
The show was inspired by Tyson’s impressive career. “I think that was the inspiration — we just wanted to salute him,” said North.
“(H)e meant so much to us. He taught so many musicians the art of songwriting in this province… he had major hits and Four Strong Winds was an anthem already,” North explained.
“I really love the imagery in the song we named the show after, The Gift,” North explained. “He can put you in a place really quickly, whether it’s a bar in the east side of Vancouver in 1970, or back on the wide-open prairie in the 1800s. His imagery always blew me away.
“What I love about him is that it wasn’t about him. He was always writing about great people in Western culture, or from a historical perspective…
“You can learn something from any Ian Tyson song, and then the musical component is so beautiful. They are impactful pieces — all of them.”
Ian Tyson
Ian Tyson was a complex individual. Driven and always on the move, his life was a balance between being a cowboy and a songwriter.
“He was great to work with. He was a consummate professional. He understood that hits were hits for a reason… (and) he was one of the best singers we’ve ever heard,” recalled North.
“He was always just there urging everyone on to do the best they could. He could be a taskmaster, but Cindy Church who was in his band… said working with Ian was like taking a master’s program in music.”
Tyson had deep roots, but one of his noteworthy inspirations was Bing Crosby. “If you listen on his last live album, Live at Longview, he closes with a beautiful version of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow,’” North said.
Another inspiration of note was Bob Dylan, who Tyson worked with during his stay in New York in the 60s. “The singer-songwriter thing took a big shift when they started writing,” explained North.
Tyson wrote and performed for six decades, and his creative muse continued up to his final months.
Tyson’s Legacy
Tyson’s passing will doubtlessly resonate across the music scene, but his impact remains to be felt. “The music is still there, and I think that’s what matters the most,” said North. “Eighty-nine years is a good run,” he added.
The show’s format hasn’t changed, but the players have gained a new appreciation knowing that Tyson won’t be in attendance.
“I think all the players just dug a little bit deeper after Ian’s passing. There was something about him not being here anymore, and he’s not out there doing his tunes anymore and we’re the ones doing it,” North said.
“I found it very interesting when we did our first four shows after he passed. Something just took it up to another level… we all believe that Ian would be really proud of where the show is at right now.”
“I think his lasting impact will be as a consummate writer. I think he was right up there with Neil Young, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot, those top Canadian writers of that era,” said North.
“With all the musicians he mentored, and made them better players and better writers themselves, that was really a big gift to the Alberta roots music scene — not just the country scene…,” said North. “He set the bar so high it’s hard to reach that level of artistry.”
Ian Tyson country
Moose Jaw was chosen as the show’s next venue after local promoters reached out, and it’s no wonder they agreed to it.
“Farm country, ranch country, and agriculture country is Ian Tyson country,” said North.
“I’m always amazed when we get those rural crowds, how you can watch everybody mouth the words to almost every tune… They just know the music intimately. That’s his crowd, for sure.”
Guests of the upcoming show in Moose Jaw will also witness the first performance with the group’s new fiddler, Calvin Vollrath, who is arguably the best fiddle player in Canada.
Vollrath played on Ian’s show, three of his albums, and even wrote half the music for the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Olympics. “The guy is an absolute monster,” North said.
“Anyone who is an Ian Tyson fan won’t be disappointed — I guarantee it,” North said with confidence.
The show is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 21, and starts at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are available on the Cultural Centre’s website at MooseJawCulture.ca.
The Moose Jaw Cultural Centre Inc. is located at 217 Main Street North.
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