With the '90S Came a Decade of Signings, Success and Vibrancy In

C2 FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2016 CALGARY HERALD YOU CALGARY 2016: YEAR MUSIC SCENE OF MUSIC COMES OF AGE With the ’90s came a decade of signings, success and vibrancy in the city’s sounds Jann Arden, pictured here in 1994, could be the biggest star so far produced by the Calgary music scene. HERALD ARCHIVE who was as at home in the city’s pair of biker bars as he was at Ranchman’s, and would tour with acts such as Merle Haggard and the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. The Black Diamond-born musician, who scored with the MIKE BELL hit High Rider and would earn Juno Nominations for Country If the end of the ’70s marked Male Vocalist of the Year in ’83 the close of the Calgary music and ’84, was part of a group of scene’s early days, the ’80s could true C&W originals at that time. be described as its awkward teen They included: Danny Mack years and the ’90s something of a and his band Alberta Crude; Ian coming-of-age tale. Tyson, who relocated to this part It sought, explored and found of the world in the late ’70s; and itself and its many identities — Cochrane’s George Fox, who was rock, pop, country, folk, blues, scooped up by major label War- jazz, dance and, perhaps most ner Music Canada. notably in the indie rock realm — So, yes, western music was and in doing so eventually arrived being made and consumed in at a more prominent place on Calgary, but not more so than, the national and, in some cases, say, folk, which, in the late ’80s international stage. would produce James Keelaghan There were signings, there and Insensitive songwriter were success stories and there Anne Loree; blues, which saw was vibrancy. transplanted talent such as The reasons are many and var- Forbidden Dimension unleashes its riffs. ARIF ANSARI Tim Williams, Amos Garrett, ied, but can probably be summed Johnny V and Ellen McIlwaine up neatly by two words: infra- gigging regularly; the growing structure and geography. say, Jann Arden would in the next SPECIAL case include scene staples Tom punk movement and acts such as The latter has usually been decade, they came few and far SERIES Bagley and Al Charlton, both Beyond Possession; or the hard viewed as less of positive than between.” of whom were in the seminal rock scene and successful groups, an obstacle to overcome — the Veitch points to early ’80s Thursday: Calgary’s place Calgary act Color Me Psycho, such as Boulevard (or BLVD). idea that we’re separated from rock and punk bands such as the in music history with Bagley still performing with No, it wasn’t country that Vancouver by the Rockies and Hot Nasties, Riot 303, the Rip Today: A local scene his band Forbidden Dimension. helped to define Calgary and set from the centre of the universe Chords, Now Feeling, Tau Ceti, comes of age Charlton’s resume also includes it up for greater attention in the by 3,500 kilometres of prairie the Golden Calgarians and local Saturday: Where are we Sturgeons, Riot 303, Curse of coming years, it was something and Canadian Shield. synth pioneer Tona Walt Ohama now?/ Classical hotbed Horseflesh and, still to this day, else that speaks to the second idea But there’s an argument to be (still active), artists with a DIY Next Week: 20 for 2016 the Von Zippers. from above, the infrastructure. made that being left alone and to mentality who plied their trade Up-and-coming artists, and The same was going on in other “What put Calgary on the map their own devices, local musi- and crafted their sounds in rough influential industry insiders segments of the music scene in was that we were the western cians were allowed to experiment rooms such as The National the ’80s, although insistences Canadian centre for the record and discover something special. Hotel and The Calgarian or arts that this is when the city was tru- industry,” says MacGonigill, who “There were really great bands hive 10 Foot Henry’s. Society, which documents almost ly establishing itself as a country worked for A&M Records in the throughout the ’80s, and a large “Sure, there were influences,” exclusively the ’80s and ’90s local and western music mecca aren’t ’70s before stepping away just to chunk of them were just fabu- he says. rock scene of the city, produced entirely accurate, says manager become a manager. lous,” says David Veitch, who was “But at the same time their something of an “incubator men- Neil MacGonigill. “All the companies had ware- the music writer for the Calgary music was really their own and tality” among the musicians who “I don’t think the country scene houses here and they all had Sun from 1985 to 2000, and wrote you never got a hint of compro- stayed here. was more prevalent than the rock large staffs, they had as much as extensively on the scene. mise. And that’s inspiring. That’s They fed off of each other, while and roll scene,” says MacGonigill, 20 people working for them,” he “But I think there was a belief inspiring to write about, that’s creating something unique. who would go on to manage argu- says, explaining that the local back then that, ‘No one is ever inspiring to see, and if you’re a “People who develop their ably the biggest star this city has warehouses would then ship to going to pay us any attention.’ musician, that must be inspir- thing and find their own identity produced, the aforementioned everywhere else. And generally, I think they were ing to say, ‘Hey, let’s do our own independent of others — that’s Arden. It also meant there were rela- right. thing.’ ” amazing,” Ansari says. “And I At this time, though, he was tionships to be had with local “There was a vibrant scene but That, says Arif Ansari, who think it’s probably harder to do fairly steeped in that side of the record reps that could, eventual- the amount of acts that would runs the online resource the that in a larger centre.” scene, working with beloved ly, “start a little fire burning with gain any sort of attention like, Calgary Cassette Preservation Some of those who make that musician Diamond Joe White, the head office” back in Toronto. YOU FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2016 CALGARY HERALD C3 That’s something MacGoni- So, yeah, you don’t need to leave gill used to good effect when he Calgary to be that big.” started working with a young MacGonigill puts it in a more Jann Richards in the mid-’80s, tangible perspective, recalling eventually getting her signed to being on a music industry panel A&M in the early ’90s. during an event that was happen- Record labels aside, the ing in the city. infrastructure of the Calgary “We had just been notified the music scene was also nurtured day before … just received a gold by a number of other factors, and record for Time for Mercy,” he people who wanted to see it suc- says. ceed, creating a pretty positive “And I got to say to the audi- musical ecosystem. ence, ‘We started in Calgary That included a supportive with nothing and we have a gold local media, with writers at both record as of yesterday. daily newspapers, Veitch at the “ ‘It shows that you can do it in Sun, and the late, great James Calgary without leaving Calgary.’ Muretich at the Herald, using “Paul Brandt was in the audi- their positions to spotlight the ence, and at the end of that he thriving scene in the ’80s and came up to me, introduced him- ’90s. self and gave me a cassette of his “It wasn’t charity,” asserts stuff, and I went home that night Veitch noting the two fed off of and listened to it. I sat up that one another, as well as other night thinking how early is too outlets such as: the cable-TV early to call him,” says MacGoni- show FM Moving Pictures, which gill who would later help Brandt was hosted by Mike Bezzeg and in his deal with Warner. Muretich; campus and communi- Red Autumn Fall were among the bands that had the city saying ‘We could be the next Seattle.’ CALGARY HERALD “You don’t have to go to Toron- ty radio station CJSW along with to or New York or wherever. its monthly music publication them open for larger touring git, Huevos Rancheros, Zuck- “mythology” of having to leave to “If you have determination and VOX; and later, the city’s recently acts or appear on festival bills erbaby, The Primrods and Tegan make it big on a national level. you have the goods, you can do shuttered weekly Fast Forward. alongside say, The Ramones and and Sara. “In the Canadian music scene it from Calgary easy. The road “James loved this music, I loved the Violent Femmes, in the case True, things slowed down a you can only get so big. I mean, is paved with people that went this music, I think other people of 1993’s In-Fest. little as the decade was coming ‘Oh, you’re going to be Wide to Toronto, thinking it would be who wrote about it loved this With this coinciding, too, with to a close, in part because the Mouth Mason big.’ Great,” he easier. music. So it wasn’t an obligation the boom in the entire Canadian industry, itself, was about to “go says sarcastically.

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