Country music is notoriously hard to define. And the question of who is allowed to make country music is a fraught one; it arguably fuels the majority of today’s debates about the genre. But one thing seems taken almost for granted: Country Music is American music, specifically (and somewhat paradoxically) Southern, Appalachian, Cowboy(?), American music—but most certainly not Canadian, right?
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What if I told you that some of the most influential voices in the history of country music actually came from up North? I mean, way up North—North of the border?
Anyone who’s been to Saskatchewan will tell you: it is country as all get-out. While the musicological basis of country music is a lot more complicated than the answer to the question, “Do cows live there?”, the fact of the matter is, people from Canada have been responsible for some of the best and most influential country music of all time, and continue the tradition to this day.
Let’s take a look at some of the Canadian country singers of the past century who made significant contributions to the development of country music as we know it today, plus a few who are keeping the traditions of country music alive (with a distinctly Northern flavor).
George Wade
The origins of country music go way back in history, to a time before recording technology existed and the concept of a music business had yet to come along and box folk music into distinct, saleable genres. One tendril of Country’s roots is in the Anglo-Scotch-Irish folk ballads that settlers brought with them to the New World as early as the 17th century. Those people didn’t just make a beeline for Appalachia and call it a day. Nope, tons of the very same settlers went North—to Canada.
So by the time recording technology came along, there were Canadian string bands making music that sounded remarkably similar to the music emanating from the Appalachian hollers and Western dancehalls around the same time.
George Wade and his string band, the Corn Huskers, played a brand of music that combined traditional fiddle reels with a banjo-fueled ragtime beat that sounds a lot like the music Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys would dub Western Swing just a couple of years after Wade made his only known recordings.
Vocally, though, Wade’s nasal, rapid-fire square-dance call uncannily presages a much more famous Canuck crooner who would come to follow in his footsteps, bringing (let’s call it Northern Swing) into the Honky Tonk era a few years later: Hank Snow.
Hank Snow
Hear what I mean? Snow’s vocals on hits like “The Golden Rocket,” “I’ve Been Everywhere,” and “I’m Moving On” are a dead ringer for Wade’s delivery (Snow is also known to have idolized “The Singing Brakeman” Jimmie Rodgers, which partially explains his railroad fixation).
Snow was influential musically, to be sure (Johnny Cash had a hit with a cover of “I’ve Been Everywhere,” and Elvis Presley was known to be a great admirer), but one of his biggest contributions to the world of country music might have been what he didn’t do. Which was, of course, quitting the management partnership that he formed with Colonel Tom Parker for the up-and-coming Presley just before he hit the big time, an episode that was partially dramatized in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis film.
Ian Tyson (Ian and Sylvia)
Everything changed after Presley hit the scene, with or without Hank Snow. And one response to the perceived collapse of rock ‘n’ roll that occurred when Elvis joined the army was the folk music revival scene that picked up in the late 1950s.
While not strictly a country act at the time, Ian and Sylvia had a hit in 1962 with the folk ballad “Four Strong Winds,” a song that resonated specifically with a young future folksinger by the name of Neil Young. Young stated on Conan O’Brien’s podcast in 2023 that “It was a beautiful song. For some reason, it really got to me. I could feel the magic of the music.” Young recorded the song on his album “Comes a Time,” and Johnny Cash has recorded it too (see? Country).
Ian and Sylvia recorded 13 albums of folk and country music, and Tyson would later go on to devote his career entirely to country and cowboy music, even hosting a country music television show on CTV.
k.d. lang
Like all things, country music evolves over time, and the definition of what a country singer looks like broadens. k.d. lang encompasses a lot of identity markers a country singer simply could not be in prior generations: gay, vegetarian, Buddhist, and (perhaps according to some) Canadian!
But despite her punky presentation, lang’s sound owes much to the standout sirens of classic country like Loretta Lynn and Patsy Cline, making her among the most influential members of the neotraditional and alt-country scenes of the 1980s. Alongside contemporaries like Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakam, and Rosanne Cash, lang presented old-school country torch songs that reflected just how much traditional country music continued to speak to people from all walks of life.
Colter Wall
We might have the ‘80s neotraditionalists to thank for inspiring a contingent of musicians and fans dedicated to keeping classic country sounds and traditions alive, even as pop-country radio steers the genre in an increasingly unrecognizable direction. (There’s one notable Canadian ‘90s country pop star who I left off this list—don’t @ me.)
Loosely aggregated under the term “Americana,” this brand of roots-inspired music can encompass a wide range of American traditions—but generally, it often leans closer to traditional country music than what you’ll typically hear on the radio. And one of this “movement’s” preeminent voices (and what a voice) is a young Canadian country singer/songwriter by the name of Colter Wall.
Wall wears his national identity on his sleeve, with tracks bearing such titles as “Manitoba Man,” “Saskatchewan in 1881,” and “Calgary Roundup.” A real cowboy who spends his time cattle ranching when he’s not on the road, Wall’s gravelly bass/baritone voice is a dead ringer for a much older Johnny Cash (Wall himself is shy of 30 years old at the time of writing). Telling honest tales of working folks, singing the praises of his home country, all to the strains of acoustic guitar and fiddle—tell me that ain’t country.
(Featured Image via Boris Spremo/Toronto Star in addition to Getty Images)
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