Information/Write-up
Born on the Canadian prairies in Rose Valley, Saskatchewan, Gary Fjellgaard moved west to Prince George, B.C. as a teenager and got his first break in show business when he barnstormed with Hall of Famer Evan Kemp & his B.C. Trailriders. However, reality was a chainsaw during the week and a guitar on the weekends to support his growing family. These blue collar years and his prairie roots became a basis for many of Gary’s songs. In 1970 music became a full time occupation. Since then, he has taken his music to the people with a rare sincerity, baring his soul in each and every live appearance and recording session; he's never forgotten what it's like to be "Ten Years Old & Barefoot". As a champion of vanishing values and frontier spirit, Gary's songs about lone horsemen riding through verdant valleys and along moonlit mountainside trails are not fabricated solely from his imagination. He keeps in touch with his roots riding in the Annual Kamloops Cattle Drive, and has entertained at Cowboy gatherings from Calgary to Tucson.
His western roots music has survived categorization, and a move to Gabriola Island on Canada's West Coast brought a universal quality to his songwriting. As one writer put it: "His music is so rich that his art is free of bitterness, whining, self pity and manufactured pathos". His strong sense of self worth has always meant that his songs ring as true as the man himself. When Gary began to travel to Europe to entertain, he was received enthusiastically, and Voted "Most Promising International Artist" at the Dutch Country Music Awards in 1989. A year later, his video for the award winning song "Somewhere On The lsland" was in rotation at CMT Nashville for more than eight months.
Gary has played with some world class musicians over the years and still calls them on occasion to augment his sound. His shows range from the intimacy of the small theatre to the excitement of main stage appearances at Canada's top festivals like the Big Valley Jamboree, the Merritt Mountain Music Festival and the Canada Day Celebrations on Parliament Hill.
Recent dates with fellow balladeer Valdy emphasized that a man with a guitar case full of songs, some known and cherished by fans, others new and surprising, is the basic element of the music biz. The two entertainers joined forces at the end of each night performing half a dozen songs together, ending the show with Roger Miller's "King Of The Road", the quintessential road song.
His lifelong love for his wife, Lynne, his four daughters, and many grandchildren is lovingly portrayed in many of his songs. As busy as this man's touring schedule might get at times, he still finds time to help the budding songwriter at seminars and workshops from the Yukon to Montana.
After 30 years as a professional musician, with seven of his songs being picked as Song of the Year, Gary Fjellgaard looks back on a rewarding career and gratefully acknowledges with fondness, the hundreds of towns and cities, and thousands of listeners who have been touched by his music. "He is a poet of the extravagantly good side of the human spirit; breathtakingly sane and compassionate."
Fjellgaard, Gary. Singer-songwriter, guitarist, b Rose Valley, near Saskatoon, of Norwegian descent, 14 Aug 1937. He performed intermittently (eg, in 1958 as Gary 'Rock and Roll' Rogers with Evan Kemp and the BC Trailriders) while working in the logging industry near Prince George, BC. Forced by a back injury to quit logging, Fjellgaard turned exclusively to music in 1970. Although his songs and singing style show the influence of contemporary folk music, drawing comparisons to Gordon Lightfoot, his success came largely in the country field, taking him from bars and coffeehouses in Western Canada in the early 1970s to country and folk festivals and concert stages nationally by the late 1980s. He made several appearances 1988 and 1989 in Europe and received the Gram Award (Holland) in 1989 as most promising new international artist.
The 1990s and Beyond
Through the 1990s Fjellgaard continued recording and touring, and signed with Edmonton's Stony Plain Records in 1996. He teamed with fellow singer-songwriter Valdy in 1999, a partnership that proved very popular with audiences throughout Canada and the US; the duo recorded an album in 2000, and perform together frequently. Fjellgaard produced a CD of cowboy songs in 2001 under his own label, Silver Creek Music, and he continues to record and perform. Fjellgaard has appeared at the Big Valley Jamboree, the Merritt Mountain Music Festival, and Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and he has toured with Johnny Cash and Ronnie Prophet.
Fjellgaard's influences include Wilf Carter. In addition, he draws from his own country background to write songs that capture the essence and romance of cowboy life. Fjellgaard is an accomplished singer and guitarist, and his skilled yodelling is a popular part of his live performances.
Awards and Recordings
Fjellgaard has won Canadian Country Music Association awards (including song of the year) for the single 'Riding on the Wind' (1985), and for the song 'Heroes' (a hit as recorded by the Mercey Brothers; as best male singer (1989); and for best duo (1989) with Linda Hunt, his partner in the hit 'The Moon Is out to Get Me,' which was also recorded by George Hamilton IV in 1995. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005. Fjellgaard was the British Columbia Country Music Association's entertainer of the year twice (1990, 1992) and received a Juno Award as country male vocalist of the year (1993).
Other popular Fjellgaard singles include 'Caribou to Nashville' (1978), 'Ten Years Old and Barefoot' (1982), 'Finest Dancer' (1983), 'Walk in the Rain Tonight' (1987), 'The Color of Your Collar' (1989), 'Somewhere on the Island' and another duet with Linda (Hunt) Kidder, 'In My Heart' (1990), 'Dance with this Old Cowboy' (1991), and "Drifting Cowboy" (1992).
-Holly Quan
Written by Gary Fjellgaard and Fred Penner (track A5)
Horn arrangements by Wallis Pertuk
Produced by Fjellgaard and R. Harlan Smith
Recorded and mixed at Sundown Recorders, Edmonton, Alberta
1976 R. Harlan Smith Music Ltd.
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