Although his music might not have reflected it early in his career, these days Jake Ian may as well be marinated in rural Alberta.
The country boy styles himself as 鈥淎lberta鈥檚 country road troubadour,鈥� and spends most weekends trucking to small-town bars across western Canada to sing his country music songs.
Ian grew up in northern Alberta, on a farm outside Warspite: a small hamlet of less than 50 people. Eight kilometres from his nearest neighbor, Ian learned early in life how to entertain himself.
鈥淥h, I鈥檇 do all sorts of weird things: dig holes,鈥� he says, and after a lengthy pause, 鈥渂uild forts.鈥�
When he was a boy, he remembers tromping through the woods trapping pocket gophers and collecting their tails, because the county office would pay him for each one he brought in.
鈥淚 remember I had this little cigarette tin full of probably 50 of these bloody mole tails,鈥� he says with a chuckle, adding that he鈥檇 hoard them until he had enough to buy a Ninja Turtle toy.
鈥淲hen you have that sort of upbringing you become sort of self-sufficient. You learn to entertain yourself, that鈥檚 for sure. Which is good if you鈥檙e going to be a solo singer/songwriter. That鈥檚 why you鈥檙e doing it; to entertain yourself.鈥�
His first memorable brushes with music were an obsession with dance grooves in elementary school, and a disappointing Bon Jovi concert in middle school.
In his early teens, he started playing bass guitar, which eventually led to a seven-year run with punk band PiND in his late teens and early twenties.
But northern Alberta sticks in the blood, and eventually Ian found himself picking up an acoustic guitar and becoming captivated by its versatility and 鈥渞awness.鈥� That discovery mirrored his waning interest in punk music, and before long he left his band.
鈥淚 just got tired of the loud screaming, not being able to go to sleep after a gig because your ears are ringing so terribly,鈥� he remembers.
Shortly after, Ian struck out on his own and put together a stripped-down solo album, seeped in acoustic folk and country sounds.
Drawing from his childhood experiences in rural Alberta, Ian started writing long, lyrical songs telling stories of rural underdogs and blue-collar struggles.
鈥淚鈥檝e always kind of been attracted to the type of guy who鈥檚 had a little bit of a rough life. Kind of like the working-class down-and-out sort of guy. I like writing songs about those kinds of characters,鈥� he says, adding that there were a few of those characters who, early in his life, had an impact on him.
Since then Ian鈥檚 put out four albums, and is working on a fifth. Although he鈥檚 slowly worked his way from a mostly acoustic sound to a full band, his strongest songs are still the stripped-down ones that weave the narratives of life in rural Alberta.
He says songs that tell stories are his favourite, because it鈥檚 almost impossible to run dry on material.
鈥淪tories are essentially endless,鈥� he says.
Trevor Nichols
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