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FYI

Early Days When Cowboys Found KD Lang A Bit Too Strange

Kathryn Dawn Lang, OC wasn't always the perfect singer and the toast of Music City. In fact, in her backyard in early days she was a force to reckon with, and some of the forces she had to reckon with weren't warm to her punked-up hillbilly persona. Ross Perlmutter explains.

Early Days When Cowboys Found KD Lang A Bit Too Strange

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Ross Perlmutter Facebook


“I have a very special board tape of kd getting fired, by the crowd, onstage at the Ranchman’s in Calgary.

The short story is that Neil McGonnigal and I booked her into the Ranchman’s for her Calgary debut. The place was packed with cowboys and local music people, and the first set went swimmingly. Halfway through the second set, some drunk cowboys thought: ‘Hey, waitaminute. This woman is a gawdamn punk rocker, and she’s making fun of our music!’ And they approached the stage. On the tape, you can clearly hear them say ‘you have to leave!’, and kd responds by saying ‘OK, we’ll just finish this set...’

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‘No, NOW!’

“Kd apologized with an ‘OK, buckaroos and buckarettes’ and that was it. We pulled her from the Ranchman’s and booked her right next door at another club called Longhorns, and that was the start of her rise to fame. That tape remains one of my most prized possessions.”

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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Diwang Valdez for Billboard.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

FYI

Music News Digest: NBA Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Is Now Part-Owner of Hamilton's TD Coliseum

Also this week: The Canadian Country Music Association announces a new board of directors, the beloved Steve's Music Store closes all of its stores except one.

Canadian basketball star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has now heavily invested in his hometown of Hamilton, purchasing an ownership stake in that city's downtown arena, the recently rejuvenated TD Coliseum. The facility's developer, U.S. company Oak View Group (OVG), announced the investment Monday (Feb. 9) but did not reveal any financial terms. The 18,000-seat TD Coliseum, originally Copps Coliseum and FirstOntario Centre, was renamed last year after a $300-million renovation and reopened as a music-first venue. Next month it will host the 2026 Juno Awards.

The NBA's reigning most valuable player and this week's Billboard Sports Issue cover star, the 27-year-old Gilgeous-Alexander plays for the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder. His investment is made through his charitable organization, the SGA Foundation, and the partnership includes naming the Ares Atrium inside the venue, as a tribute to his son.

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