Canada’s legendary songwriter, Ian Tyson, may be 78, but he’s not slowing down. He still runs his working ranch in the foothills of the Rockies south of Calgary, he still performs some 40 shows each year, and now he’s released a new album of sparkling new songs.
Raven Singer, his first album in four years, will be released internationally on May 29; it’s his 14th collection of songs for Stony Plain, the Edmonton-based international roots music label. The new album comes on the heels of the announcement that his 1996 “Best-Of” compilation, All the Good ’Uns, has earned gold record status, indicating sales of more than 50,000 copies.
Tyson, always remembered for classic songs such as ‘Four Strong Winds,’ ‘Navajo Rug,’ ‘Someday Soon’ and ‘Summer Wages,’ recorded the music over a three-year period, as he wrote the new songs.
Ian Tyson’s songs always have the ring of truth, and his travels have provided the background for two of the new songs; ‘Under African Skies’ and ‘Back to Baja.’ The first is partly travelogue and partly a story of “running from the memories” of a broken relationship. The latter has a distinctly southern Californian feel and is a song that Jimmy Buffett would feel at home singing. And of course an Ian Tyson album has to include a couple of western-themed songs, ‘Charles Goodnight’s Grave’ and ‘Saddle Bronc Girl’ are warmly-observed songs of the real West, not the romanticized version shared by weekend cowboys and many of today’s country stars. Here’s Ian Tyson performing ‘Saddle Bronc Girl.’
One of the most moving songs on the collection is a new version of ‘The Circle is Through’ which he originally recorded almost 20 years ago with country star Suzy Bogguss. The Nashville singer had a hit with Ian’s song ‘Someday Soon’ in the early 90’s.
Tyson himself says the record is a collection of songs built around the road back from the much-publicized loss of his voice in 2006. “I think I’ve learned how to make my ‘new voice’ work,” he says, and the new record seems to bear out this assertion. Tyson’s voice is less ‘grainy’ that it was on his last album, Yellowhead to Yellowstone, but it carries an emotional punch that suits the new songs he has written.
Ian Tyson will join singer and songwriter Corb Lund on stage for five shows — July 9, 10, 11, 14 & 15 —at Calgary’s Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts. The concerts will celebrate 100 Years of Calgary Cowboys, and part of the annual Calgary Stampede celebrations. The two artists are close friends who have performed on each others’ albums. It’s not a stretch to say Corb is a protege of Ian’s.
