Country Music - International - Canada

Canada

Outside of the US, Canada has the largest country music fan and artist base. Mainstream country music is culturally ingrained in the prairie provinces and to a lesser extent in Atlantic Canada: areas with large numbers of rural residents. Celtic traditional music developed in Atlantic Canada in the form of Scottish, Acadian and Irish folk music popular amongst Irish, French and Scottish immigrants to Canada's Atlantic Provinces (Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island). Like the southern United States and Appalachia, all four regions are of heavy British Isles stock and rural; as such, the development of traditional music in the Maritimes somewhat mirrored the development of country music in the US south and Appalachia. Country and Western never really developed separately in Canada, however, after its introduction to Canada, following the spread of radio, it developed quite quickly out of the Atlantic Canadian traditional scene. While true Atlantic Canadian traditional music is very Celtic or "sea shanty" in nature, even today, the lines have often been blurred. Certain areas often are viewed as embracing one strain or the other more openly. For example, in Newfoundland the traditional music remains very unique and Irish in nature, whereas traditional musicians in other parts of the region may play both genres interchangeably. There is also a thriving country community in the province of Quebec.

Don Messer's Jubilee was a Halifax, Nova Scotia based country/folk variety television show that was broadcast nationally from 1957 to 1969. In Canada it out-performed The Ed Sullivan Show broadcast from the United States, and became the top-rated television show throughout much of the 1960s. Don Messer's Jubilee followed a consistent format throughout its years, beginning with a tune named "Goin' to the Barndance Tonight", followed by fiddle tunes by Messer, songs from some of his "Islanders" including singers Marg Osburne and Charlie Chamberlain, the featured guest performance, and a closing hymn. It ended with "Till We Meet Again".

The guest performance slot gave national exposure to numerous Canadian folk musicians, including Stompin' Tom Connors and Catherine McKinnon. Some Maritime country performers went on to further fame beyond Canada. Hank Snow, Wilf Carter (also known as Montana Slim), and Anne Murray are the three most notable.

The cancellation of the show by the public broadcaster in 1969 caused a nationwide protest, including the raising of questions in the Parliament of Canada.

The Prairie provinces, due to their western cowboy and agrarian nature are the true heartland of Canadian country music. While the Prairies never developed a traditional music culture anything like the Maritimes, the folk music of the Prairies often reflected the cultural origins of the settlers, who were a mix of Scottish, Ukrainian, German and others. For these reasons Polkas and Western music were always popular in the region and with the introduction of the radio, mainstream country music flourished. As the culture of the region is western and frontier in nature, the specific genre of country and western is more popular today in the Prairies than in any other part of the country. No other area of the country embraces all aspects of the culture, from two step dancing, to the cowboy dress, to rodeos, to the music itself, like the Prairies does. That being said, the Atlantic Provinces produce far more traditional musicians, however, they are not usually specifically country in nature, usually bordering more on the folk or Celtic genres.

Many traditional country artists are present in Eastern and Western Canada. They make common use of fiddle and pedal steel guitar styles. Some notable English Canadian country artists include: Shania Twain, Blue Rodeo, Marg Osburne, Hank Snow, Johnny Mooring, Don Messer, Doc Walker, Emerson Drive, Paul Brandt, The Wilkinsons, Wilf Carter, Michelle Wright, Corb Lund and the Hurtin' Albertans, Stompin' Tom Connors, Terri Clark, Crystal Shawanda, Dean Brody, Shane Yellowbird, Gord Bamford, Chad Brownlee, The Road Hammers, Anne Murray, Prairie Oyster, The Higgins and Gordon Lightfoot.