Lessons from the master: Ian Tyson shares experiences in music with fellow songwriters
Ian Tyson has inspired countless younger musicians to tell stories through songs — among them Neil Young, Paul Brandt, Judy Collins and Emmylou Harris.
Now the legendary Alberta singer is preparing to share the nuts and bolts of his craft at the next Songwriter’s Circle in Red Deer.
Tyson, along with Red Deer folk singer Donna Durand, and Brett Nelson, of the Medicine Hat-area, are the featured Three Generations of Prairie Singer Songwriters who will take turns performing their original compositions on Wednesday, March 25, in Red Deer.
Event organizer Durand, who first met Tyson on the Roots on Rail moving music festival on a train between Vancouver and Winnipeg last fall, is thrilled the veteran performer accepted her invitation to join the circle.
“This is right up there with having beautiful children,” said Durand, who is also admittedly a little surprised Tyson agreed to the intimate gig.
She noted the musician, who’s already sold half a million copies of 2008 CD, Yellowhead to Yellowstone and other Love Stories, could obviously fill much larger venues than the 110-seat Matchbox theatre.
But Durand was told Tyson took up the offer because he believes in sharing his knowledge and experience with younger generations of songwriters — which is a sentiment she wholeheartedly supports and respects.
“I think it’s extremely important to preserve our history through song,” said Durand. And few Canadians have done this more successfully than the 75-year-old songwriter. His Four Strong Winds (which was voted by CBC Radio 1 listeners as the greatest ever Canadian song), The Gift, Someday Soon, Springtime in Alberta and other tunes have helped immortalize the West as a land of hardship and hope.
Durand, a multi-talented guitar, piano, ukelele and banjo player, is among the many musicians Tyson has inspired.
She admires his story-telling abilities and his way of weaving wrenching emotions into his lyrics. For instance, his Yellowhead to Yellowstone song, seems to be about wolves and a vanishing wilderness, but Durand thinks the tune is really about disappointment.
“Ian Tyson might go, ‘You’re crazy,’ but I think it’s about when you have a career and a life and, in the end, things don’t turn out the way you thought they were going to.”
Durand was so affected by Tyson’s performance of this song during Roots on Rails “that I had to leave the railcar.”
In response, she wrote a tune about resilience called Reverence for the Muse. It was sparked by a disheartened woman she met on the same train ride, who confided she could no longer find joy in life. “Reverence for the Muse is about how we, all of us, have to heal and get better so we can pay attention to the muse.”
Nelson, an avant guarde folk artist from Redcliff, represents the youngest generation of songwriters in the circle. And Durand, who described Nelson as poetic, well-read and introspective, believes this is the most important link. “I think it’s all about the youth. People want to hear the younger voice” — which is often shaped by the voice of experience.
“I love doing these kind of inter-generational things,” Durand added. “They are truly reflective of the community.”
Tickets to the 7:30 p.m. Songwriter’s Circle (doors open at 7 p.m.) are $30 from The Matchbox box office.
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