It doesn't get more country than Calgary’s Tim Hus, who comes to the Geomatic Attic, March 21 with Steve Coffey and the Lokels.
Hus, who has taken up the torch of Canadiana country given to him by Stompin’ Tom Connors, who passed away in 2013, has traversed the country countless times sharing stories and songs of the road and of the people he meets.
Though he hadn’t planned it that way, he has forged a kinship with Alberta’s truckers who named him spokesman for the Alberta Motor Transport Association.
“I’ve had one or two trucking songs on each of my past six albums ,” he observed adding they came to him and asked if he’d like to be their spokesman.
“We both spend a lot of time of the road, away from our families, but at least I get to sing a couple songs at the end of the day,” said Hus.
“People just aren’t writing trucking songs anymore even though there’s more trucks on the road. there used to be whole albums of them from KTel,” he observed. He has no plans to do an album of trucking songs.
“ I’m always writing. This time I’m writing songs about the north because I thought I’d get an artist’s residency in the Yukon. I didn’t but I probably will next year,” he s aid.
“ So I started thinking about the north and reading books about the north and I’ve toured a lot up there. I didn’t get the residency, but started writing songs about the north anyway,” he continued.
He plans to record a new album later this year.
“ The last one came out in Fall 2013. It feels like a long time ago. It’s been 15-16 months and lots of people are asking me when there will be a new one,” he said.
“ Over the past dozen years of my career I’ve made the conscious decision not to repeat myself,” he said.
“Guys like George Strait will always release an album of 10 songs. There will be two honky tonk songs and two Western Swing songs and it’s always good, but that’s not my process,” Hus said, who always slows down his tour schedule in the winter.
“ My busy season is May to October. I usually just play weekends in the winter, so I’ve been fixing up an old house I bought in my spare time,” he said.
He always enjoys sharing a stage with Steve Coffey and the Lokels.
“ He’s got his own thing going and I have mine. We play a lot of the same places. So we’re good friends,” he said.
“Steve is a painter. I think that’s his main thing,” he continued.
He hasn’t played Lethbridge for a couple of years so he is excited to come back.
“ I’ve played a lot of different places in Lethbridge. There’s so many good memories. I just know you have to hold onto your hat because it could end up in Lundbreck,” he chuckled.
He will be joined by fiddle player and lead guitarist Billy MacInnis who played with Stompin’ Tom for a lot of years and upright bassist Riley Tubbs.
“We’re just playing as a three-piece. We have Billy for fiddle fans who will be playing a couple of fiddle songs. We’ll be playing a couple of new songs and songs from all six albums that people want to hear,” he said.
“ It will be a cross country tour of stories and songs. So there will be stories and songs from across the country,” he said. Tickets are $37.50. Doors open at 7 p.m. with the show beginning at 8 p.m.