Canadian singer-songwriter Tim Hus will be performing at the MTM Community Hall on Friday Sept. 27. Here he speaks to the Leader about his musical journey.
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It was at a logging camp that Tim Hus first believed he could have a career as travelling cowboy.
Deep in the forests of B.C., the high school graduate would take out his guitar and begin singing to campmates.
The songs were in the storytelling tradition of legendary singer-songwriters like Ian Tyson, Stompin’ Tom Connors and Woody Guthrie.
The reaction? Well, it was hard to be sure whether the plaudits were genuine or inspired by relief from the din of chainsaws. One matter, however, was indisputable: the young Hus had a captive audience.
“I used to joke to them that they had nowhere to run to escape me,” he laughed. “We were in such a remote camp.”
Nevertheless, Kootenay-raised Hus was encouraged enough to pursue his passion. It led to him moving to Calgary to increase his opportunities and search for bandmates.
Meanwhile, he worked at song-writing, inspired by real-life experiences, observations and jobs he has done – brewery worker, fruit picker, fisherman, pine cone picker, salmon farmer, furniture mover, beer truck driver and sawhand. And these are by no means all.
An autobiography is written into Hus’s songs. Sometimes he will do research to ensure historical references in his music are accurate.
Hus received a huge boost when Stompin’ Tom Connors, impressed by his songs, invited him to go on tour. Canada’s Stompin’ Tom would later write of Hus: “I’ve been looking for 30 years for a young guy who’s proud to write songs about our country. I’m passing the torch to Tim Hus.”
As his career took off, Hus was chosen to perform for the Alberta Centennial celebrations at the Smithsonian Institution’s Folklife Festival in Washington. D.C., sharing the bill with friend Corb Lund and Tyson.
He has spent the last decade travelling coast to coast in Canada, USA and overseas, playing in halls, festivals and every truck stop in between.
“I perform close to 200 concert a year,” he said.
He now has an established Canadiana travellin’ band featuring Billy MacInnis on fiddle and lead guitar and Riley Tubbs on upright bass.
MacInnis, from the Maritimes provinces, played fiddle for Stompin’ Tom for many years, while Rocky Mountain House’s Tubbs has been said to lay down “the finest rhythm in the west.”
This month Hus’s latest album, Western Star, came out to rave reviews – and to celebrate the release he and his band are performing in the Barrhead area.
“I’ve played once before in Tiger Lily,” he said. “It went really well and people have been asking when I will be coming back. I had a great time here. I really hope people will come out to pack the hall.”
The concert at MTM Community Hall, Tiger Lily, starts at 8 p.m. and will probably last about two hours. Hus plans to do two sets of songs. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets bought in advance cost $15; at the door they cost $20. Children under 12 get in half price.
Western Star was released Sept. 10 on Stony Plain Records/Warner Music, just a couple of days after Hus’s performance in Country Music Week.
Recorded with award-winning producer Harry Stinson, the CD covers everything from Okanagan fruit picking, politics and fishing to potash mining and pheasant hunting.
The tracks are: Western Star, Master Caster, Pheasant Huntin’ Day, Church of Country Music, Halifax Blues, Hardcore Apple Picker, Inside Passage, Forgotten Sailor, Marietta Miner, Madaswaska River, Short Go Shuffle, and Wild Rose Waltz.
Stinson is a Grammy nominated artist who has worked with such stars as Earl Scruggs, Elton John, Dolly Parton, Lyle Lovett, Bob Seger and George Jones, to name just a few.
As well as producing, Stinson also played drums on Hus’s new album.
Special guests were chosen to add certain touches to the songs. Among them were Kenny Vaughan, Hank Singer, Wanda Vick, Chris Scruggs, Glen Duncan, Tim Graves, and Kayton Roberts.
Hus’s accolades include winning the Calgary Folk Festival Songwriting Contest and two nominations at the Canadian Folk Music Awards.
He has also been featured on Cowboy Country Television and recently kicked off the CBC Sports broadcast of the rodeo championships at the 2013 Calgary Stampede. Two of his songs appeared on the soundtrack of the movie Hank Williams First Nations that won “Best Music in a Feature Film” at the Nashville Film Festival.
For information and tickets contact Elaine at 780-785-4155 or Margaret at 780-785-3194.
