The Legendary Ian Tyson in Victoria

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Thursday, June 26th, 2014
7:30 PM

Canada�s iconic singer and songwriter� turned 80 in September 2013, but his energy remains undimmed. He is also celebrating the complete recovery of his voice, badly damaged six years ago. Ian was forced to learn, with courage and craftsmanship, to sing with what he called �my new voice.�

Two superb albums, Yellowhead to Yellowstone (2008) and Raven Singer (2012), saw a wide range of new songs presented in an intimate, arresting and heart-to-heart voice. Late in 2012, after polyp surgery by throat specialist Tom Gillis, and vocal therapy with Katherine Ardo, Ian's voice is as golden as ever. He continues to supervise his working ranch in southern Alberta as he reflects on a five-decade musical career which has produced some of the most beloved modern cowboy songs. Meanwhile, the songs and stories keep coming and they remain as true as a well-worn saddle. His newest collection is All the Good �Uns Vol 2. www.iantyson.com

Ian Tyson walks, stiff-legged, to the centre of the stage. This is a cowboy�s gait; this is the walk of a man who has sustained his share of falls from horses large and small and who knows that the rancher�s life is not the glamorous myth of the old-fashioned western movies.
This is also a preamble to a performance of songs, new ones and old ones, for another audience who reveres an artist who has become an icon � a timeless singer with a bruised voice who tells stories with the unvarnished luster of truth.

That Ian Tyson, at 80, leads two busy, vigorous lives is remarkable enough. Yes, there�s the ranch south of Calgary, in the foothills of the Rockies, with fences to mend, quarter horses to train, cattle to move, land to conserve. And, yes, there are concert stages � from Elko, Nevada to Billings, Montana, from San Francisco to Toronto to New York to Winnipeg and Edmonton and Los Angles and � in any given year � another 30 or 40 cities.

That would seem enough for any one man, but in the first dozen years of the 21st century, he�s released five albums, filmed a music documentary for Canada�s Bravo! television channel (which has earned two international film and television awards), and issued This is My Sky, a two-DVD concert video. Two years ago, he penned a surprising autobiography, The Long Trail: My Life in the West, which continues as a best-seller� it�s sold close to 30,000, copies so far. And he also collaborated with the author of a major book on his early career as half of Canada�s first folk superstar duo, Ian & Sylvia.

Tickets at: http://www.rmts.bc.ca/tickets/production.aspx?performanceNumber=8491