This spring, Corb Lund finds himself back on the trail for his Bottom of the Deck Tour, a celebration of the Albertan songwriter’s entire catalogue featuring “front-to-back” performances of some of his most beloved albums.
“We’re trying to take the songs back to their original form for these shows,” Lund explains in conversation with CKUA’s Joe Hartfeil. “It’s a bit like an archaeological dig of your own creativity.”
The Bottom of the Deck Tour will stop in cities across Western Canada between May 20 and June 6, and will feature Corb Lund playing Five Dollar Bill, Hair in My Eyes Like a Highland Steer, Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!, and Cabin Fever in their entirety. The tour itself commemorates the re-release of his entire catalogue on vinyl over the last year.
Lund says that it’s been a fun challenge pulling the live performances back in line with the records. “When you play thousands of shows over decades, it’s like the songs creep,” he says. “You go back and listen and think, ‘Oh, we play it way faster now,’ or ‘I changed that verse and forgot about it.’”
The Alberta dates (May 25-26 in Calgary, May 29-31 in Edmonton) give Lund an opportunity to revisit his own history in more ways than one. Both Edmonton’s Starlite Room and Calgary’s Ranchman’s hold special places in Lund’s memory.
“I’ve played the Starlite since 1990 — when it was the Bronx, then the Rev [Cabaret], then the Starlite,” Lund recalls. Even before his Western music and rise to national fame, Lund was a regular as both a patron and performer in the indie-metal group the smalls. “I’ve played there at every iteration of the bar and every iteration of my musical career.”
Ranchman’s, the iconic Calgary dancehall, is hallowed ground for multiple generations of the Lund family. “My father used to go there, my uncles for sure drank there…I had my wedding there,” Lund says. “All the rodeo community, it’s their spot.”
History aside, the Bottom of the Deck Tour isn’t about just a retrospective; it’s about reconnecting with the people and places that birthed the music. “I don’t care about awards, because it’s all committees that vote on it,” Lund says. “But I do take pride in gold records because it means actual people were listening to them.”
Learn more about Corb Lund’s Bottom of the Deck Tour here.
Listen to Corb Lund’s conversation with CKUA’s Joe Hartfeil on Alberta Morning:
Watch Corb Lund performing live at CKUA:
