Interview: Ian Blurton

There were a lot of things that I didn't expect to be doing last weekend. I didn't expect to be hit by a car, I didn't expect to BBQ for 4 days straight, I didn't expect to drink quite so much on Friday night and I didn't expect to be interviewing one of my rock n roll heroes. However, Sarah from MusicSheBlogged, got in touch with me about filling in for her since she couldn't make the interview.   So, Sunday afternoon at a small, locally owned Tex-Mex restaurant (great place if you're looking lahacienda.ca), there I sat across from Ian Blurton; a man who has been a part of the Canadian independent rock scene for almost 30 years.  He has defined the sound of Canadian rock n roll through his bands C'Mon, Bionic, Blurtonia and Change of Heart, as well as produced some incredibly influential bands such as the Weakerthans, Tricky Woo, Rheostatics, Cursed, and a personal favorite, Huron.

And yet, as I sat across from a man who has been rocking out since around the time I was but a twinkle in my father's eye, I couldn't help but feel I was just shooting the shit with a neighbour or some guy I shared a beer with at a concert.  We chatted about music, hockey, concerts and the summer.  Ian stuck around after we shut the camera down while the two of us traded what we were listening to these days and what was going on in life OTHER than music (is there really anything else?).  He was even nice enough to help me record a pitch for my band's upcoming album release (July 16 in Montreal, July 23 in Toronto... just sayin) and ask me a few questions.

In short, hats off to you, Sir Ian.  You truly have earned your knighthood, not simply for your service to rock n roll, but for being an all around awesome dude.

-Soft are the words that are spoke though their meaning revokes any hope of love