January 23rd

 

 On January 23rd, 2015 I got free tickets from my boss at the time for the Tim Hus and 100 Mile House show at the St. Basil's Cultural Centre here in Edmonton. Tim Hus is a folk/country artist from Calgary with Edmonton duo 100 Mile House opening.

Tim Hus Live in Edmonton Jan.23rd 2015

Last night I went to the Tim Hus and 100 Mile House concert put on by the Full Moon Folk Club at the St. Basil's Cultural Centre. This was my first time seeing both bands.

The evening started with the Edmonton band 100 Mile House. They are a three piece band led by husband and wife couple Denise MacKay and Peter Stone and rounded out with fiddle player Scott Zubot. Peter is originaly from London, England which wasn't hard to tell with his thick English accent. Their music is definitelly folk music, but I just couldn't get in to them. The harmonies between Peter and Denise were really good. Other then that, not my cup of tea.

100 Mile House.

Headliner of the night was Calgary based singer/songwriter Tim Hus. I have been wanting to see Tim for a few years now and finally got my chance last night. When I first head Tim Hus years ago, he reminded me a lot of Stompin' Tom Connors, whom is one of my all time favorites. Well Tim toured with Stompin' for a couple of years in a row and I can see why Stompin' Tom passed the torch onto Tim to carry on singing about Canada after Stompin's passing. A great choice.

His show was a whole lot of Canadiana. Songs about picking Saskatoon berries (Talkin' Saskatoon Blues), the Canadian Pacific Railway (Canadian Pacific), Fort McMurray (A Hundred Grande), Hockey Mom's and the list goes on. His singing is a lot like STC and his between song banter was funny, and again a lot like STC. Tim even did "Bud The Spud". His music is very upbeat and full of great stories about Canadians. This show was even better then I was expecting. I would definitely go see him perform again. Good times!!!

Also a big shout out to MG for the free tickets.

Tim Hus.

T-shirt.

Tim Hus Album Review

This album from Calgary singer/songwriter Tim Hus is his 5th album. The album is called "Hockeytown" and was released a few weeks ago on Stony Plain Records. The album is the most Canadiana album I have heard since Stompin' Tom used to release albums on a consistent basis.

Speaking of Stompin', you can't help but compare Tim Hus to him. Tim's songs cover all kinds of Canadian subjects and his singing sounds a lot like Stompin' Tom. With song titles like "Canadian Pacific" about the CPR railway, "Hockeytown" which could be about any town or city in Canada. The title song is a great hockey song, there seems to be a few more songs being written about our national sport these days. It used to just be Stompin's Hockey Song, but now you have Mike Plumes "More Than A Game" song and now Tim's "Hockeytown" song, which is also a great song. Tim Hus covers a lot of Provines in his songs, like "Red River"(Manitoba), "Saskatchewan Son-Of-A-Gun" which is obvious with this hilarious opening line "The prairie is a place you can watch your dog run away for days" to this great chorus,

"I'm a Pilsner drinkin',whitetail huntin'
Purple burnin',stubble jumpin'
Slough boggin',prarie doggin'
Rod and reelin',snowmobilin'
Genuine big sky son-of-a-gun
From Saskatchewan"

Other songs about Provinces are the Newfie song "North Atlantic Trawler" about the atrocity of the fishing industry in said province, the Ontario song would be "Hamilton Steel" about of course the steel industry in Hamilton, the British Columbia song "Sasquatch Hunter" is another great song with a sense of humour about hunting for, well,Sasquatch of course. This verse in the song will give you an idea of how funny this song is,

"I tracked him up to the snowy peaks
Along the ridge and down to the creek
Beyond the fire lookout station
Right on through a marijuana plantation
I followed him to the Okanagan Lake
And I found the Ogopogo by mistake
The two of them were sittin' right there
Smokin' cigars and drinkin' my beer"

The Nova Scotia song would be "Home Of Hank Snow", The song "Country Music Lament" would be about the sorry state of country music, especially the shit they play on the radio. The album closes out with the Tom Wilson written song "Talkin' Saskatoon Blues" all and all a really good album. I would give this album an 8 out of 10. Good stuff!!!

In concert news... Tim Hus will be opening for Stompin' Tom Connors here in Edmonton on Tuesday August 31st at The Jubilee Auditorium. Tim has been touring with Stompin' for a while now, you can sure tell he has been hanging with him and his highly influenced Tim's song writing.