Ian Tyson
Background:
Ian Tyson has long been one of Canada's most respected singer-songwriters. A pioneer who began his career in the early days of the first folk boom in the 60's, he was one of the first Canadians to break into the American popular music market. In the years that followed he hosted his own TV show, recorded some of the best "folk" albums ever made, quit the music business, and became - after years of backbreaking work - a rodeo rider and a successful rancher.His songs were covered over the years by Neil Young, Judy Collins, Suzy Bogguss, Gordon Lightfoot, Bobby Bare and Ramblin' Jack Elliott among many others, and after a break he returned to making music with a vengeance in the mid-80's. At that point he found it a challenge to combine his two separate lives in new songs that explained the reality of "western culture" and the mindset of a cowboy in a sometimes-alien world. It was during this time his acclaimed "Cowboyography" series of albums for Stony Plain Records, brought him his first JUNO Award.
Tyson's career began at the age of 24, when he left behind the itinerant logging and rodeo life of British Columbia and hitchhiked to Toronto. Caught up in the folk music revival, he formed, along with a very young Sylvia Fricker, the legendary singing duo of Ian and Sylvia.
The duo eventually married in 1964. The two had formed what was to become one of the most influential country acts both in Canada and abroad, and they recorded over a dozen timeless albums. The hits Four Strong Winds and Someday Soon from Ian, and You Were On My Mind from Sylvia have been covered many, many times over the years.
The British Invasion period found the duo at the forefront of the country-rock sound and their band, Great Speckled Bird was as well known as The Byrds. Great Speckled Bird is recognized as one of the leaders of a movement that saw the creation of a modern country sound leading to the new traditionalists' sound, much later on.
After hosting a popular, national Canadian television show from 1970 to 1975, and the marriage with Ian and Sylvia ended, and Tyson followed his dream to return to the Canadian West to farm and train horses in Southern Alberta.
Ian Tyson is a recipient of the Order of Canada and in 2005 CBC Radio One listeners chose his song "Four Strong Winds" as the greatest Canadian song of all time, during a radio series titled 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version.
Ian Tyson continues to live and work on his ranch in Alberta' Rocky Mountains. For more information on his current activities please visit www.iantyson.com.
