the world of Ian Tyson

Experience the authenticity of Ian Tyson, the legendary country music singer, songwriter and cowboy…

Photo Credit: Kurt Markus

“He has allowed me to understand where my own background and culture came from. Ian sang with me on my recording of “The Rodeo’s Over” and has been very publicly supportive of what I am doing. We have done many shows together both in Canada and the U.S. Ian is a legend all over the western states. His endorsement has really helped my career. Even last night I was doing a show in Texas and someone asked for an Ian Tyson song.”

— Corb Lund
Singer & Songwriter

“He’s got a great way of writing and a great way of bringing a song around. I don’t think there’s anyone like him in the world. In my opinion, Ian was the greatest singer and songwriter I’ve ever known.”

— Ivan Daines
Rodeo cowboy and singer

“There was this place we used to go and for a nickel, you could put a nickel in the jukebox, or a quarter, whatever, in and played. This song (Four Strong Winds), was on it. So I used to play it all the time, because I, that's where I heard it for the first time. I love the song, I've always loved it, and used to listen to it over and over again. It's one of the best actual performances of a song I did. It just caught my attention you know there aren't many songs that I've sang that I didn't write so it was very real.
Yeah, I don't think it can get any more real than that.”

— Neil Young
Singer, Songwriter

Ian Tyson memorial

By Robert Korotyszyn

“Ian always wants everything to be perfect, and even on occasions where he had several shows in a row, he would come in daily to rehearse and perhaps try new ideas. I was so honoured to be asked by him to work on a few shows in other parts of the province as well.”

— Don Waddle
Technical Services Coordinator
Horizon Stage

“Ian invented a whole genre of music, bringing the sensibilities of folk music, where the songs mean something, and marrying it to western dance music. We had been touring soft seat theatres with our show, but when we got to Duchess, Alta., we found out that we were supposed to be playing for a dance. We played exactly the same set we would do in a theatre, and the dance floor was packed all night. You could waltz, two-step or shuffle to every song we played.

— Stewart MacDougall
Keyboardist

“Yeah, Ian writes great songs. Great lyricist and always has a good story to tell. You know that’s my idea of a good lyric. The thing about songs, they’re really not poetry, and I think he knows that, it’s really about the melody, the delivery. And you know, I think the persona of the artist that is delivering it. And I think he has that all put together.”

— John Hiatt
Singer & Songwriter

Tyson performing in Vauxhall, Alberta, with Cindy Church in the early 1980s.
Photo: Ruth Bergen Braun/Vauxhall Advance

“I was working with Wayne Vold at Ranchman’s in Calgary around 1980 when I first met Ian. When Ian hosted the CFRN Edmonton television series, Sun Country, from 1982 to 1987, he asked me to play fiddle on the show. That led to working in the studio on his ground-breaking album, Cowboyography. Since I had done so much with Ian already, Ian told me I might as well be part of his travelling band, a job which lasted six or more years.” This cemented Myran’s legacy as a fiddler, and he has never been without work since.

— Myran Szott
Band, fiddler

“He was a hard-working perfectionist. What I learned from him was that when working with a vocalist, to listen to the vocalist and not step over the vocalist — ever. He had such a commanding stage presence.”

— Jeff Bradshaw
Steel player

“One night when we stopped at a small ’60s style motel on the way to Phoenix, Ian and Gord were strumming guitars when I looked out the window to see a hillside of cactus with vultures flying in a circle above. I thought, ‘You can’t get any more Western than this.’ I just loved it and can still see it. I like a lot of different types of music, but it’s not too often you get to play music of that quality in any genre, and Ian’s was of the highest quality.”

— Gord Matthews
Band, guitar

“Ian’s a real guy, he doesn’t seem to hide things, it doesn’t seem to me. I just really enjoy listening to his music, ‘cause it’s very authentic, very authentic Canadian country singer, Canadian country folk, whatever you want to call it. He’s just an original.”

— Neil Young
Singer, Songwriter

Photo Credit: Kurt Markus

“When the album was mixed and ready for final approval, Ian and I would drive around in his pickup truck, listening to it. Ian felt that his true audience was the working cowboy, and the cowboy’s listening theatre would be his pickup truck—not some fancy music room.”

— Louis Sedmak
Edmonton recording engineer and guitar player

“Ian asked me if I’d be interested in releasing a final album for him, one just for his cowboy audience. He wanted to call that album Cowboyography. The album hit right at the time of the cowboy renaissance and became a huge hit, reaching platinum sales status and solidifying Ian as the greatest cowboy musical artist ever. The success of Stony Plain Records is largely due to Ian Tyson.”

— Holger Petersen
Stony Plain Records

“I truly admire Ian’s ability to make non-country people understand and appreciate what life on the land was like from his point of view. Even when his voice was failing, the audience continued to come, knowing they would still hear a really good story. In the 35-year history of the theatre, nobody has played here more than Ian Tyson.”

— Brandi Watson
Horizon Stage

Photo Credit: Jay Dusard

“His writing is so vivid, and he paints pictures with every single line, so you see the story unfolding in the song. I try to base my own writing on Ian’s style. I first met Ian when I was singing “Four Strong Winds” at a Calgary Stampede event at the OH Ranch. Ian walked by and said, ‘Great song.’”


— Eli Barsi
Cowgirl singer

“Ian was the real deal cowboy. He had a ranch at Whitby, Ontario before coming west. We appeared on his television show a couple of times…Ian has always been one of Canada’s most prolific songwriters. We always perform “Summer Wages” at all our shows and were hugely honoured to perform it on The Gift tribute album.”


— Bruce Good
The Good Brothers

“Growing up in a rural area riding horses and living the Western lifestyle, I first became interested in the songs of Wilf Carter. Then I heard Ian Tyson, which took it to another level for me. Shortly after being exposed to that I started writing, always using Ian’s music as sort of a touchstone.”

— Allen Christie
Singer, songwriter

“Ian has been my greatest influence as a singer/songwriter and I’ve sorta known him for almost 50 years. Más o menos. I have sheer admiration for his art and journey. And for that matchless song catalogue.

I was the kid in the front row in the 1960s at every Ian and Sylvia show that rolled through California. Years later, I ended up cowriting songs with both Ian and Sylvia—my heroes—including at least 10 with Ian.”

— Tom Russell
Singer, songwriter

Photo Credit: Kurt Markus