Interview with Blake Reid
Cremona, Alberta's Blake Reid's new album Rust showcases his status status as a true workingman\u2019s poet, following in the footsteps of Merle Haggard and Tom T. Hall. At the same time, he is no traditionalist. The album\u2019s first single, \u201cSounds Like A Song,\u201d is the kind of hard-edged, instantly memorable track perfectly suited for a Saturday night play list, or as something to sing along with to make that long drive go a little bit faster. And as a testament to the power of songcraft, it\u2019s also a reflection of the only real musical education Blake ever had, listening to AM radios installed in the trucks, tractors and combines he commandeered throughout his youth.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve always written songs, but during the years while performing in the club and rodeo circuits, we had to limit the amount of original material we were playing. In 2011 I decided to take a break from the band and really concentrate on writing songs that spoke to who I was, and to just be me without apology. I discovered right away how much people appreciated that, and I started building a new following. Getting a standing ovation the first time I played Big Valley Jamboree really confirmed it all for me, and since then I can\u2019t see any way to do things other than just be who I am.\u201d\n\nAnd while much of the material on Rust is rooted in the Alberta soil that five generations of his family has farmed for over a century, the themes at the heart of the songs are universally relatable. For instance, many people have had the same fantasy captured in \u201cCowboys Were Kings\u201d of somehow escaping fast-paced modern life and waking up in a \u2018tumbleweed town\u2019 or, as on the powerful \u201cGhosts,\u201d been in their favourite bar and had the full weight of its history, and the people who used to drink there, suddenly come to light.