Central Alberta cowboy singer-songwriter Ivan Daines is paying tribute to two free spirits on his latest CD — actor William Shatner ands a great bucking rodeo horse.
Shatner in Space is a tribute song Daines wrote for the actor best known for playing Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek series.
Shatner left the Earth for real as part of the Blue Origin’s NS-18 space flight in October. And any 90-year-old who’s willing to go up into the unknown is a hero in Daines’s books.
“I’ve always admired him,” admitted Daines, who considers Shatner a man of many talents — an actor, musician, television show host and advertising pitchman.
His other new tune, Descent is titled for a famous rodeo bucking horse that Daines rode while he was a champion saddle bronc rider in the 1970s, competing across the American Southwest.
“He bucked me off once — but then he threw everyone,” said Daines, who shared a poignant moment with the horse just after the animal was retired from the rodeo ring.
Daines said Descent looked at him as if he knew it was the last time they would ever cross paths.
The horse was inducted in the Rodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs.
Also on Daines’s new four-song CD is his latest holiday song, Lonely Hearts at Christmas. The Innisfail native, now based in Red Deer, said the thoughtful tune was inspired by some of the homeless folks he’s met over the years, and occasionally performed for at charitable events.
For more information about the CD, produced by Don Kletke of Calgary’s Encore Recordings, email dainesivan03@gmail.com.