Stew's News

Ian Tyson, shown at his stone cottage, is the subject of the tribute The Gift.

The tribute by musician Stewart MacDougall returns to Calgary on Friday.

Photograph by: Grant Black, Calgary Herald

It is the gift that keeps on giving for Stewart MacDougall.

The music of Alberta country icon Ian Tyson, that is.

And that’s why the musician is once again mounting his tribute to Tyson, The Gift, which returns to Calgary Friday in a more stripped-down form for the first time since a star-studded version hit the Jack Singer in 2002.

MacDougall, who has written with Tyson and performed in his touring and recording band, considers it a fitting show of respect to a man whom he considers a friend, and a wonderful way to keep the country star’s work in the spotlight.

“But most of all it’s the love of the music,” he says. “It’s definitely among my favourite music. There’s not a song in the program that I’m not always pumped to play.”

The current show, which hits the Ironwood Friday, will feature MacDougall and the core band of fellow Tyson players Thom Moon, Myran Szott and Ron Rault along with guitarist-vocalist Bobby Cameron, and guest vocalists John Wort Hannam and Tracy Millar.

They’ll work their way through Tyson’s catalogue, performing everything from his earliest material recorded with wife Sylvia and the Great Speckled Bird right up to his most recent album Yellowhead to Yellowstone and Other Love Stories — although MacDougall notes they’ll have to update the program as a result of Tyson’s recent EP release Songs from the Stone House.

But then again, the program has been constantly morphing since its first shows almost a decade ago, which featured musicians such as The McDades, Cindy Church and Corb Lund and would later go on to be performed in Ottawa for the 2005 Alberta Scene event.

It also spawned a 2007 album, which featured such musical heavyweights as Gordon Lightfoot, Blue Rodeo, The Good Brothers and Chris Hillman performing Tyson’s material.

For MacDougall, other than his own personal connection and affection for the songs, it’s not difficult to understand why the music keeps inspiring, as he notes that Tyson has created his own genre of western music throughout his four decade career.

“It relates to the place I live, it relates to the culture that still survives from the people that opened this territory, and it’s really good poetry,” he says of the appeal, especially for musicians. “They’re also challenging. . . . The songs sound deceptively simple but they’re not easy to sing, and they’re not that easy to play.”

And as for whether or not Ironwood patrons might also get to hear from the man, the legend, himself, during the local show, as the audience did during that first Calgary performance of The Gift, MacDougall, of course, certainly wouldn’t discourage the guest appearance.

“If he’s around, I’m hoping he might,” he says. “And if he turns up, his wish is our command.”

The Gift: A Tribute to Ian Tyson is Friday at the Ironwood Stage and Grill.

mbell@calgaryherald.com Follow on Twitter mrbell_23

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Apr 16, 2024	with The Gift	Shell Theatre	Fort Saskatchewan AB, Canada
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with Amos and Peter North, co-producer of the project. The recordings made on this session were engineered by Barry Allen and also featured Jeff Bradshaw, Thom Moon, Mike Lent, and David Wilkie.
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