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Outlaw country
11/22/03
BY
MARK WEBER
Express/Adviser
Known
for crafting picturesque, story-telling lyrics, Tim Harwill Pruden brings his
rugged musical sensibilities to The Vat this week.
The Manitoba native performs Nov. 27.
Harwill Pruden nails what’s known as outlaw country – the stuff first crafted by
guys like Cash, Nelson and Jennings some 30 years ago.
It was artists like these who decided commercially driven, polished country fare
wasn’t their thing.
Call it anti-establishment roots – minus the rock backbeat and glossy strings.
“It wasn’t the stuff you’d hear on the radio.”
The son of an Irish-Canadian World War II veteran and a woman of Cree descent,
Harwill Pruden was raised across the northwestern border from Manitoba’s Peguis
Indian Reserve.
He was deeply influenced by his heritage and the musical sensibilities of the
rugged Manitoba countryside.
“You might as well have been in another world,” he chuckles during a recent
chat.
“Music was something we did together – you’d be visiting, and the instruments
would come out. It just happened on its own,” he says. “Music was inclusive.”
These days, he’s marking the re-issue of his 1998 disc Harwill – Spinner of
Tales.
Harwill Pruden began to explore the songwriting craft shortly before his 27th
birthday.
As he neared the end of his third decade, his life-long passion for the art took
on a greater focus.
He’s never been happier.
“I’m playing lots of my favourite songs these days, the songs of the man in
black and the singing brakeman, the wolf and the wandering gypsy, outlaws and
their music, to be sure.
“I’ve also been playing a lot of my old tunes, and a few of my new ones, dancing
the night away in three-quarter time or howling the blues.”
Today, Harwill Pruden enjoys the peaceful setting of his home in Thorsby, about
10 minutes northwest of Pigeon Lake.
His passion for outlaw country is striking a chord.
“I’ve done about 100 shows since last May, across mostly rural communities,” he
says.
“People are digging this stuff. In roots rooms in Calgary, they’re digging it
and the west coast hippies are digging it.”
It says something about honest, down-to-earth, authentic tunes.
“Somebody has to keep this stuff alive.”
For more information about his Red Deer show, call 346-5636.
mweber@reddeer.greatwest.ca
© Red Deer Express, 2003
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