Country Music News - COVER STORY - Sept 2008

COUNTRY MUSIC NEWS - AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2008

By Larry Delaney

Tim Hus…he’s different than most…certainly nothing like the bulk of today’s young country stars who rely on ‘Hollywood looks’ instead of the grit that real country music is built on. Tim Hus has carved out a rather unique career with his songs and his ability to capture an audience with the material. For sake of comparison, consider him the new millenium version of Stompin’ Tom Connors…without the ornery attitude; or perhaps a modern day storyteller, the ilk of a Gary Fjellgaard. Neat comparisons…and one’s that Tim Hus not only confirms to be reasonably accurate, but also something that he deams to be proud of, to have his name mentioned in the same breath as those Canadian icons who traveled down the same musical paths that Hus is following today.

“Yeah, I like both of those great storytellers” says Tim Hus. I can only dream that I will someday have touched people the way those guys have with their songs”.

Tim Hus is well on his way to doing just that. He already has four albums to his credit, filled with his own creative songs. Just a run through of the titles of his work will attest to the direction he takes with his music. Albums have been called Songs of West Canada, Alberta Crude, Huskies & Husqvarnas and Bush Pilot Buckaroo…all pretty much describing the Canadiana theme that he subscribes to…and then there’s individual songs like Slocan Slim & The Kootenay Kid, Dangerous Dave’s Tractor Show, Great Plains Tour, Huskies & Husqvarnas, Cattlerack Cadillac, Bush Pilot Buckaroo…and oh, so many more similar ditties.


Well…I have traveled down most every road in Canada, and I have met a lot of characters, seen a lot of things…so writing these songs comes pretty natural to me. I’m not too good yet at writing a love song, but I can sure relate to them truck drivers, and blue collar types” says Tim, about his songs.

FISHIN’ FOR A SONG

Music wasn’t exactly the career that Tim Hus started out on. Born August 30, 1977, in Nelson, BC, of Dutch and German ancestry; Tim went to college in Nanaimo, BC, ‘mastering’ in Fisheries. His studies eventually took him to Germany; and while there he subsidized his stay by hiring on as a truck driver for a beer brewery.

“In Germany, a guy driving a beer truck is looked upon as some kind of hero” says Tim. He is given the right-of-way at all stop signs, he gets cheered loudly when he drives up to a beer hall…it was a pretty amazing job.

It also exposed me to the truck driving way of life, and in Germany the trucker’s there were all heavily into traditional country music…they only listened to Buck Owens and Dave Dudley and Haggard. So I started listening to that music…and then when we had friendly gatherings, campfire stuff…I got my nerve up and started singing those same kind of songs and playing guitar…and I really liked performing. I got hooked, actually.”

While in Germany Tim Hus was also invited to perform at the Canadian Pavilion during an international exhibition. “Yeah, I sang in a booth right beside a guy who was hyping maple syrup. It kinda made me homesick”.
Fisheries was no longer on the Tim Hus radar when he returned to Canada in 2003 and settled in Calgary, Alberta. “I’m not quite sure why I picked Calgary…I had worked in many places in Canada – Victoria, BC to Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia – but Calgary seemed to be a boom town; and there was a good music scene happening there…so I stayed.

STONY PLAIN RECORDS COMES CALLING

In 2004 Tim Hus released his Alberta Crude album, and that immediately set the ball rolling for his recording career. The Huskies & Husqvarnas album came in 2006; and by 2008 he had been signed by Stony Plain Records, one of the nation’s most respected independent labels; releasing his Bush Pilot Buckaroo album with the label.

There’s an interesting side story to the Stony Plain Records interest in Tim Hus. “Well it was a stroke of luck” recalls Tim. “A couple years ago I had been part of a Province Of Alberta promotion package that traveled to Washington, DC and the Smithsonian Institute.