fimanda fikman
OP Contributor

Morrissey once sang, "I thought that if you
had an acoustic guitar, that it meant that you
were a protest singer". These days it would
mean that you were an Alt-Country singer.
Whether they are saddled with the country
label or pegged as folk or roots, the results
are truly impressive and there is certainly
riothing "Alt" about the Corb Lund Band's
brand of country music. Playing to an
over- Capacity crowd, suspiciously stocked
with Albertans, the band chose the Railway
Club in Vancouver to launch the release of
their new CD, Five Dollar Bill, on May 17th.

The evening's festivities got underway with
the help of openers Anselmo and Old
Reliable. The former was an inconsequential
blur of half-baked love songs, but to be fair
| may have stopped paying attention when |
saw the ponytail of the lead singer. Old
Reliable was a definite improvement, offering
up a string of country-fried dreamscapes a la
Giant Sand. Two opening bands is a lot to ask
of any crowd though, especially one with a
high alcohol/cowboy hat ratio, and the

"other press >>> CULTURE
Dreaming of Guitar Lessons

 

Corb Lund on stage.

natives were beginning to get a bit restless
as the evening wore on.

It was past midnight when former Smalls
bass player, Corb Lund, and his band finally
took the stage. Opening with the title track,
“Five Dollar Bill", a full on country foot
stomper, the tone was set for the evening. As
the "Yee Haws" bounced off of the promi-
nently displayed Albertan flag and Edmonton
Oilers banner, the band progressed into the
Spanish-tinged songs of their Unforgiving
Mistress album and the diverse yet well
received covers "Okee from Muskogee" and
“These boots were made for walking’.
Eeking out my fraction of floor space in the
sweaty overcrowded club, these vast yet
intimate songs had me thinking ahead to an
impending road trip. As sparse as they are
lush, as dramatic as they are simple, as
country as they are western these are the
kinds of inspiring songs that make you
wish you had taken guitar instead of
German lessons.