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Interview with Holger Petersen....continued He has been involved in the transformation of at least three major music scenes – going back to when he was a singer song writer with Ian and Sylvia. The Great Speckled Bird which was an electric country band that almost introduced alternative country along with a couple of other people in their day in the 1960’s. Ian was largely responsible for the resurgence of interest in cowboy culture in the mid 1980’s and that was pretty much a universal movement. It was recognized and continues to be all over the US, also in far off places like Germany and England. Ian's material has been about Alberta and cowboy life and the twisted wrist of the hoolihan throw and coulees and all kinds of cowboy culture that he draws upon. He certainly spread that word and I think nowadays Corb Lund is doing the same thing with the kind of writing that he’s doing about Southern Alberta and Northern Alberta and the kind of people and the characters that we have in this province. I think I’ve been really lucky to have been exposed through CKUA to so many different kinds of music. When I started hanging out there I was still a student – then I had an opportunity to do some programs on CKUA. Started doing the natural blues program but for me what was a real education was the library at CKUA. To be working there on weekends and be surrounded by rooms full of vinyl and to be able to pick out a Louie Jordan album from 1956 and listen to it or whoever – the records were there. CKUA played all kinds of music and still does – its record library reflects that. Most radio stations will be one format – you know pop or country or jazz – that’s all they will have – CKUA is totally eclectic so for anybody to be around there and have the opportunity to learn about music – you couldn’t ask for a better environment. Plus you have all these amazing knowledgeable people who are there for the love of the music and that really comes across on the radio station. I think good music is
universal and especially roots music like blues. Its been the foundation
for so many kinds of popular music and so is folk music. To me its not
unusual to see blues and folk music and singer song writer music everywhere.
There is a very common touch to it for one thing.
There is an honesty to it that you don’t find in most pop music
nowadays. I think when you get to a
certain age or certain place where you want that kind of realism in your life
– blues and singer song writer and roots music is the place to go.
I think we have a lot of that in this province.
That is why you see the festivals being so successful here as well.
People gravitate towards that kind of music – you kind of educate
yourself. You find this stuff that is not always necessarily apparent because
you don’t hear it on the top forty radio or see that much of it on TV for
example. I think when you do find
it it’s a very strong personal connection to find music that really touches
your soul.
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