Corb Lund takes "El Viejo" to Europe

In Corb Lund’s world, the card tables are hot, the stakes are high, the boots are dirty, and the drinks are stiff. Listening to El Viejo, the Canadian country singer stalwart’s latest, is like cracking open a dusty, leather-bound book about the Old West, populated by rough-around-the-edges characters at the end of their ropes. Dedicated to Lund’s dear friend, the late musician Ian Tyson — who earned the nickname “El Viejo” — this record is a celebration of simplicity, emphasizing acoustic arrangements and solid storytelling. It embodies the feeling of a warm gathering of players having some laughs and trading tales of ruthless grit and glory days gone by as they strum and pluck.

Straight from the opener this album feels like it actually is musician friends sat around having a great time. Recorded completely at home in Lethbridge, Alberta in his living room with the band “The Hurtin’ Albertans”, Lund has put together a quality collection of songs. As Lund himself said “It was just a few of us in my house. No studio. No outside producer. No adults in the room. No stress.” The common theme throughout the album is one of the outlaw gambler. The collection is all acoustic with some of the songs captured in one take. Lund says “There’s not a single electric instrument on the whole thing, just acoustic sounds and singing. In terms of having a vision, this is a record I’ve had in my sights for a while and it came out exactly how I’d hoped. We cut all the songs live in the same room with lots of bleed. A bunch of the songs we captured in one take, first time through.”

El Viejo is particularly interested in the flaws and quirks that make a living, breathing whole person out of what would otherwise be considered an archetype. In Lund’s songs, cowboys aren’t just shadowy figures working on a ranch and wrangling horses. They’re shaded in with the pain of unrealized dreams and, even when they lose everything on an unlucky bet, they keep searching and coming back for more to both dark and humorous ends. El Viejo’s instrumentals by The Hurtin’ Albertans and Lund’s vocals border on rowdy, even when they’re moseying like on “Old Familiar Drunken Feeling.”

Corb Lund and the Hurtin Albertans will opening for the Dead South. A few headline shows have been added, some solo some with the Albertans. Check his tour dates here:

28/05: Amsterdam, NL - Tolhuistuin Zonzij - SOLD OUT
29/05: Groningen, NL - Der Aa- Theater - SOLD OUT
30/05: Hamburg, DE - Freilichtbühne im Stadtpark^
01/06: Berlin, DE - Zitadelle Spandau^
02/06: Leipzig, DE - Clara-Zetkin-Park^
04/06: Prague, CZ - Zlute Lazne ^
05/06: Bratislava, SK - Stars Auditorium^
06/06: Budapest, HU - Budapest Park^
07/06: Kalsdorf, AT - Kulturkeller
08/06: Linz, AT - Posthof^ - SOLD OUT
09/06: Stuttgart, DE - Wagenhallen^
11/06: Cologne, DE - Palladium^
12/06: Wiesbaden, DE - Schlachthof^
13/06: Munich, DE - Zenith^
15/06: Saarbrücken, DE - Garage^
16/06: Tilburg, NL - 013^ - SOLD OUT
17/06: Brussels, BE - Ancienne Belgique^ - SOLD OUT
18/06: Paris, FR - Salle Pleyel^
19/06: London, UK - Lower Third - SOLD OUT
20/06: Manchester, UK - Gullivers*
21/06: Birkenhead, UK - Future Yard*
22/06: Dublin, IRL - The Cobblestone*
23/06: Kilkenny, IRL - Cleere's Bar & Theatre*

^ with The Dead South
* solo shows