9 albums: Canadian style
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!!LEONARD COHEN WAS SO OBVIOUS I FORGOT TO INCLUDE HIM!!
This is a culmination of two trains of thoughts inspired by all y'alls discussions & posts: the first is what our parents listened to and how it informed us; and the inclusions of certain Canadian artists that I'm like HOT DAMN YEAH! . . . I've been unable to stop thinking about both, so to calm my brain I'm makin' another set.
We didn't have a t.v. growing up, and what filled that space were tremendous amounts of books and music. My parents did not have a very large vinyl collection - I got the sense that Something Had Happened to their music collection, but never knew what - but the first 4 on this list were all a part of it and played A LOT. (They loved Ian & Sylvia and Ian Tyson solo, who I also adore, so I just picked one.) My dad loved playing music in the barn in particular, and Hank Snow and Gordon Lightfoot ringing from the barn as he worked on a tractor or played a song to "call in the cows" are an essential part of my childhood.
The second train: I've been wanting to make an "international version" of this list, because later in life I came around to so much elsewhere and I'm still growing, but an essential bridge from younger days to now has been music from Canada, and oh! how much I love it. I've worked quite a bit in Canada and always made a point of seeing local shows when I could, whether it was a good size venue in Calgary or a tiny little bar on Cape Breton (NS), and those wonderful Canadian artists have never disappointed.
Canada produces so much Good Shit. So shout out to Canada!
Honorable mentions:
Tegan & Sara
Great Lake Swimmers
Basia Bulat
The Band
The Weather Station
Be Good Tanyas
This is a culmination of two trains of thoughts inspired by all y'alls discussions & posts: the first is what our parents listened to and how it informed us; and the inclusions of certain Canadian artists that I'm like HOT DAMN YEAH! . . . I've been unable to stop thinking about both, so to calm my brain I'm makin' another set.
We didn't have a t.v. growing up, and what filled that space were tremendous amounts of books and music. My parents did not have a very large vinyl collection - I got the sense that Something Had Happened to their music collection, but never knew what - but the first 4 on this list were all a part of it and played A LOT. (They loved Ian & Sylvia and Ian Tyson solo, who I also adore, so I just picked one.) My dad loved playing music in the barn in particular, and Hank Snow and Gordon Lightfoot ringing from the barn as he worked on a tractor or played a song to "call in the cows" are an essential part of my childhood.
The second train: I've been wanting to make an "international version" of this list, because later in life I came around to so much elsewhere and I'm still growing, but an essential bridge from younger days to now has been music from Canada, and oh! how much I love it. I've worked quite a bit in Canada and always made a point of seeing local shows when I could, whether it was a good size venue in Calgary or a tiny little bar on Cape Breton (NS), and those wonderful Canadian artists have never disappointed.
Canada produces so much Good Shit. So shout out to Canada!
Honorable mentions:
Tegan & Sara
Great Lake Swimmers
Basia Bulat
The Band
The Weather Station
Be Good Tanyas
ROLL ON, ROLL ON, SASKATCHEWAN!