Love for a Hurtin’ Albertan

Corb Lund’s “Truck got Stuck” was on a mix CD my friend Badger made for a road trip we took from Vancouver to Calgary a few years ago. I’d never heard of him before, but Badger, you should know, picks excellent music. (Magnetic Fields’ incomparable ukelele opus “Queen of the Savages” was also on this mix.) We were all Alberta bound, in the words of the immortal Gordon Lightfoot, trapped for endless hours on a narrowing road, in other words, talking about everything and nothing while the air got thinner and the Rockies got higher, and we happily listened to “Truck Got Stuck” about forty-three bazillion times.

This is so the music of my people. I don’t mean my family of origin is a bunch of country music lovers. Seriously, they aren’t. Well, there is that one cousin. I mean that the brilliant grasp of basic physics displayed by the guys in “Truck Got Stuck” is very much in evidence within my immediate kinship circle. Here is the video demonstration:

More reasons to love Corb with a love that’s true even if, like me, most of your soundtrack is resolutely Free of Twang:

Ponies! Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier! is a whole album about horses. And sometimes soldiers. You don’t want the ponies to feel lonely, do you?

Giggles Galore! And if the ponies laugh themselves sick at songs like “Talkin’ Veterinarian Blues,” on his next album, Losin’ Lately Gambler, you can roll around with them, kicking your virtual hooves in the air with joy. Because Corb Lund, my friends, is so very funny.

“Enough Frivolity! What about my achy breaky heart?” No problem. There’s plenty of sad to be had here. “Alberta says Hello” will make you cry, “Student Visas” will shake you to your core, and even “Especially a Paint” has more than twice your daily recommended allowance of musical woe.

If you grew up in the Prairies, you couldn’t buy a nicer trip down memory lane. Corb Lund and the Hurtin’ Albertans are excellent company; their albums have the same intimacy as that long car ride I mentioned. They’re a free-wheeling visit with the best possible version of some low-key rural guy. Corb is Prairie Man, dusted in just a tint of rose-colored glass. These songs run the gamut: there’s sober and thoughtful here, there’s chatty and witty, and there’s just a touch of the smelly realities of farm life.

And all that’s really just about his lyrics, so let me add: the music’s damned charming, too.

Alyx Dellamonica lives in Vancouver, B.C. and makes her living writing science fiction and fantasy. Her first novel, Indigo Springs was released in 2009 to rave reviews. She also reviews books and teaches writing online at the UCLA Extension Writers' Program.

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4 Responses to “Love for a Hurtin’ Albertan”

1. kormantic says:

   Jan 10, 2011 at 7:39 am

   He seems like someone you would definitely want with you at a barbecue. Or a bank heist.

   Reply
2. Alyx Dellamonica says:

   Jan 10, 2011 at 9:07 am

   Or a post bank-heist barbecue!

   Reply
3. Melodie says:

   Jan 10, 2011 at 12:18 pm

   I love this dude! They play his stuff on CBC Radio 3 all the damn time.

   Reply
4. Alyx Dellamonica says:

   Jan 10, 2011 at 3:28 pm

   Corb is entirely fantastic, in my opinion.

   Reply