advertisement
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

By External Source

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...’

advertisement

‘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.”

advertisement
Ron Sexsmith at NMC
Jarrett Edmund

Ron Sexsmith at NMC

Music News

National Music Centre Turns 10, Announces New Exhibits, Programs and Performances

The Calgary-based non-profit houses four of Canada’s national music halls of fame, and it will celebrate its milestone anniversary with new exhibits, programs and events.

The National Music Centre (NMC) is turning 10, and to celebrate the Calgary-based National Music Centre will present many special events and exhibits over the coming year.

Things kicked off yesterday (April 9) with a launch party headlined by internationally renowned Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith. He performed for media, partners and supporters and was joined by Métis Canadian folk singer-songwriter Andrina Turenne and drum group Eya-Hey Nakoda. The latter played the ceremonial first sound in Studio Bell when it officially opened 10 years ago.

keep readingShow less
advertisement