Rick A'd me something

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Dear Rick,

Great question. My wife is from Portland, OR and it’s funny how frequently I’ll drum up a reference from my childhood of which she’ll be completely unaware.

Canada receives most of American culture - we get your TV shows, your music, your films, your news and your politics. For better and for worse, we are just as inundated with it as you are.

By contrast, America is mostly aware only of our superstar exports -

Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Shania Twain, Celine Dion, Drake, The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Bryan Adams, Alanis Morissette, Nelly Furtado, Shawn Mendes, Daniel Caesar, Nickelback, Alessia Cara, Sarah McLachlan, RUSH, Arcade Fire, Michael Bublé, Avril Lavigne, Nelly Furtado, KD Lang, etc…

Canadians love nothing more than to publicly claim celebrities that are assumedly American. I joke that our favourite stadium chant is “we’re number #2!”

There is a long list of artists (and television shows) which have always been quintessentially Canadian. And there are many Canadian acts that were crucial for me, both as a kid and as an emerging songwriter in my teens and 20s. I’ll proceed chronologically.

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The Tragically Hip

They are/were Canada’s band. They taught me that music could be popular and intelligent at the same time. When I was 11, I could sing every word (and air guitar every lick) of 1992’s Fully Completely and 1994’s Day For Night. That said, I think these two songs from later in their career are a good introduction:

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Hayden

He’d been around for some time and had some hits in the 90s, but two albums by Hayden that completely altered my world as a songwriter were 2001’s Skyscraper National Park and 2004’s Elk Lade Serenade. I was in university and listened to these albums on repeat whilst riding the bus across Vancouver to UBC, or studying or writing papers.

He’s since become a dear friend, and we’ve even toured together. And he’s still one of my all time favourite songwriters. He’s put out some amazing records since that era, including last year’s Are We Good which is sublime and masterful - but I’ll link some of my faves from that early 2000s era out of respect to my nostalgia:

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The Aughts

I graduated from university at the end of 2005 and my first album came out that fall. I started touring. I drove back and forth across Canada over and over. I met so many amazing people and bands. Many of them remain my dear friends to this day. There were also lots of bands that I loved that I never became close with. Rather than go deep on one act, I’ll just post a bunch of great/influential Canadian songs from the 2000s that may not have been more widely known beyond our borders.

There’s a lot I’ve missed, and a lot of Canadian music SINCE the 2000s that is simply wonderful, but maybe I’ll leave that for another day.

Re travel advice for Canada? Don’t miss the rockies. Spectacular. And I’m biased to the west coast but get yourself on a BC Ferry and spend some time in the Gulf Islands. It’s such a vast country with a lot to offer, and I’ve found magic in every single province and territory. I’m so lucky to have spent so much time in a van, experiencing this magical bit of earth.

x
Dan