Edmonton singer-songwriter Stewart MacDougall is imminently qualified to spearhead a musical tribute to a foothills music legend.
In the past MacDougall has written, toured and recorded with celebrated country star Ian Tyson who has written such iconic songs as “Four Strong Winds” and “Someday Soon”.
The piano player and vocalist is a driving force behind The Gift: A Tribute to Ian Tyson coming to the Beneath the Arch concert series in Turner Valley April 17. The touring concert experience began 10 years ago as a group of Alberta roots musicians assembled to pay tribute to the talents of Tyson in what was originally to be just three Edmonton area shows.
A decade and many performances later the show continues to attract enthusiastic audiences and is far from old hat to MacDougall.
“The poetry in Ian’s songs is great,” he said. “I never get tired of singing these songs. It’s not like there’s always something new to discover in them but I am always motivated to sing them.”
To MacDougall the songs are stories that can never be told too many times. But there’s more than just Tyson’s words that keeps him retuning to the artist’s catalogue. The Edmonton musician said Tyson, long regarded as a premiere cowboy poet, doesn’t get enough credit for the melodies he’s created.
“There is more to his songwriting than just the lyric writing,” MacDougall said. “He’s a good composer as well. His versions of the songs he’s written are the definitive ones to me. There’s as much for me in the music as there is in the lyrics. ”
Tyson remains a legend to many in the music community for continuing to pen songs even now, in the latter part of his seventies. MacDougall said he sees him as a songsmith who is constantly evolving his craft. He offered evidence by recounting a long ago collaboration between the pair.
“We were doing some songwriting together in 1998 I think it was,” MacDougall said. “He was writing for “Lost Herd” which is still one of my favourite albums of his. We wrote a song together that didn’t make it on the album and I finally sent him the demo many years later and he said, ‘this is a smash. This would have been my next single 10 years ago. But I am not there anymore.’”
MacDougall said what the experience demonstrated to him was he was working from a songwriting template Tyson had long since abandoned.
Also part of the band for The Gift show in Turner Valley will be drummer Thom Moon and fiddle player/vocalist Myran Szott. Like MacDougall both performers were part of Tyson’s band earlier in their music careers. Rounding out the lineup are bass player Ron Rault, who’s been a part of every Gift performance since the show’s inception, and award-winning guitarist and singer Bobby Cameron.
MacDougall explained this quintet is the ongoing heart of The Gift experience.
“The five of us have been the core of the show since we resurrected it again a couple of years ago,” he said.
Also joining the group for a few songs Sunday will be female vocalist Tracy Millar of Edmonton.
Doors open for the concert at the Flare ‘n’ Derrick at 7 p.m. with the show at 7:30 p.m. For ticket information go to www.beneaththearch.org
