Corb Lund

The Corb Lund Band has progressed into a blazing roots-country band fresh off record deals with revered labels Stony Plain Records of Canada and UK's Loose Music. The chameleonic Lund, who was for 12 years the leader of popular indie rock band The Smalls, is now a little bit country and a little bit rock 'n' roll. The band was recently nominated for a JUNO Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the year (Group) and for Folk Album of the Year at CMW's Canadian Independent Music Awards. Their new album, Five Dollar Bill, appeared on the Best of 2002 lists in Americana UK, Toronto's Exclaim! Magazine, Eye Magazine and The Globe and Mail, and was recently featured in Billboard Magazine.

About Corb:

Corb Lund is the singer and songwriter for the Corb Lund Band. As Corb puts it, he grew up 'in Southern Alberta, in the foothills of the Rockies.' Corb's music gives the style of a younger and maybe darker point of view than most contemporary country songwriters today. His music is influenced by his experiences riding horseback, chasing cattle and rodeoing in Southern Alberta and living on the family farm and ranches near Taber, Cardston and Rosemary. Coming from four generations of ranchers and cowboys, Corb left his hometown of Taber and moved to Edmonton where he attended Grant MacEwan Performing Arts School to study jazz guitar and bass.

Corb was a founding member of Western Canada's independent phenomena, The Smalls, who during their twelve-year career, sold over 35,000 of their four independently released CDs. Corb and the smalls toured extensively in Canada, the US and Europe including a stint in Bosnia, Slovenia and Czech Republic. The band recently retired in the fall of 2001.

Needing time to reflect on the next phase of his career, Corb went to live in Austin, Texas to write music for five months. Encouraged by the positive feedback he received from audiences in Austin, the band traveled to Nashville and recorded a few songs with producer Harry Stinson (Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett, Earl Scruggs). Often asked if he had returned from Austin with new songs about Texas, Corb replies that it had the opposite effect on him�the proud and friendly Texans made him even more aware of the region from which he came. Many of the songs on the new CD reflect the people and culture of Alberta's wild rose cattle country; the northern reaches of the American west; the plains and foothills of the Rockies.

About the band:

Kurt Ciesla, upright bass player for the Corb Lund Band, was raised in Lethbridge, Alberta. An extremely versatile musician, he is a former member of funk acts Blue Locutus and Bubba and is a familiar and respected musician in the Edmonton Jazz music scene. He has performed a number of times with the Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra, including a live concert on the MacIntyre Ranch. Kurt is all about the bass.

The very talented and capable Brady Valgardson of Taber, Alberta is the band's drummer. Brady comes from a family of drummers and has performed with several bands in southern Alberta where he currently lives and works on his family farm. Brady replaced original Corb Lund Band drummer, Ryan Vikedal, who now performs with Nickelback.