Spending time in the rural nooks and crannies of the great Canadian landscape can really shape one's perspectives and tastes.
In the case of "Baby" Brian Weadick, living in Yellowknife over the past eight years has given rise to a newfound affinity for country music. On Tuesday, Weadick will officially release his much anticipated debut album Pike People – a seven-track compilation of tunes celebrating Northern working people and their lifestyles.
photo courtesy of Baby Brian Weadick
"Writing and singing country music has been inspired by how much that music is popular here," Weadick said in an interview on Oct. 22. "Going to the Gold Range and doing the two-step and that kind of thing. Country music was not really a part of my life before living in the North, but after coming here I fell in love with it. "
Weadick, 35, is fairly well known as a performer around Yellowknife with his own band Baby Brian Country Club that he formed in 2016.
Before that he played in various bands in the folk, country and rock music genres.
In more recent years and after writing and performing his own tunes, he has been working hard to get the sound right for his own record.
"A lot of the songs that I have performed in town I have written over the past few years and I've written them at different places I've lived in rural parts of Canada," Weadick explained.
"After living here in Yellowknife and from the encouragement of a lot of local friends and musicians, I have taken some of these songs and recorded them."
Weadick leads on acoustic guitar and vocals, but he is also joined by number of supporting performers that include Andrea Bettger on fiddle, Sean Robson on bass, Andrew Jossa on piano and Jeff Stewart on electric guitar.
Weadick has been working with David Dowe at Double D Studio Sound to record and perfect the sound.
"It took us quite a long time, because we're both really busy people with day jobs and families and that kind of thing and so over the past couple of years, we would squeeze in some recording where we could," Weadick said. "It was wonderful working with him. He was remarkably patient and full of good ideas."
Pike People
True to the genre of country music, Weadick has been absorbing the stories and landscapes of the North and the title of the album addresses his affection for Northern people.
"It was a phrase I borrowed from a friend of mine who was describing his family lineage and telling the story of how his family ended up as Yellowknifers," Weadick explained. "The term kind of resonated to me and the feeling that the types of songs I was writing – in terms of the subject matter and locations where I was with these songs – was all about the similar kind of stock of people.
"Pike People implies people who go where the getting is good and following good fishing up to the North where life is easy, there is good fishing and plentiful resources."
Weadick does not have any scheduled performances to promote the album at the moment but is hoping people will access his music which is now on all streaming services including Spotify, iTunes and Band Camp.
He is also making his music available on compact disc for those who request it.
Further updates can be found on the Baby Brian Music website.