Colter Wall: (1) Bob Fudge

 by Country Music Saved My Life

Colter Wall is an absolute gem of country music.

Hailing from Swift Current, Saskatchewan, an agricultural and oil & gas-driven community near the Montana-Canada border, the singer, songwriter and musician draws influences from old blues artists, Western country/folk music icons (Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, Townes Van Zandt, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Lewis Martin Pederson, Chris LeDoux, Marty Robbins), and mythic mountain sounds, as well as more modern Americana forerunners (Jack White, Ian Tyson, Shovels & Rope,  Ray Lamontagne, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Shakey Graves).

Colter Wall (Photo by Little Jack Films)

Steeped in old-timey material, on Bob Fudge (August 27, 2019) the Canadian singer honors his Western roots, sticking to the pure roots of cowboy music and Westerns sounds, and delving deep into Americana music (I've read a few referring to as "Canadiana"; still not sure if it's pointless or not, although I liked it).

Teamed up with the Scary Prairie Boys (steel and dobro player Patrick Lyons, harmonica player Jake Groves, drummer Jordan Solly Levine, and bassist Jason Simpson) and infused with American roots music traditions that evoke pretty dark and melancholic Southern gothic landscapes, but that doesn't mean he wants to roll back the years.

Colter Wall realizes that he cannot return to the old days, and never tries to. He has drawn up a new sound, punctuated with a raw and husky deep voice, brisk acoustic guitar picking style, solid dobro lines, and economic harmonica, managing to keep his tradition of telling a compelling story in every one of his songs, which has become his signature.

In 2019, the artist shared with all of us a 7" vinyl record featuring two covers: California-based cowboy singer Mike Beck's Happy Reunion, and the somber Bob Fudge.

Bob Fudge was penned by Ian Tyson, former half of the early-'60s Canadian folk duo Ian & Sylvia. After the duo disbanded in the mid-'70s, Tyson retreated from performing and recording to become a rancher and environmentalist in the foothills of Southern Alberta, Canada. Nonetheless, he would quietly return to music-making in the '80s.

It is reported that a fan left a copy of Jim Russell's book "Bob Fudge: Texas Trail Driver, Montana-Wyoming Cowboy 1862-1933" at a Tyler's Texas concert, hence he was inspired to write and cut a song on his 2002 album Live at Longview, eternizing and paying homage to the life and work of Bob Fudge (1862-1933), an original cattleman that lived during the heyday of the American Wild West and the long cattle drives of late 18 and early 19 hundreds.

Cattle trail, by Emerson Hough (1918)

He worked on ranches and drove contract cattle herds from Texas up to the lush grasses of Montana territory along the Yellowstone range, and later settled in Powder River Country in southwestern Montana.

As can be noticed, Bob Fudge was the real deal when it comes to cowboys.

Bob Fudge is a first-person song from the point of view of a stranger, and Wall's impeccable delivery gives it a texture like no other can.

Interestingly enough, if you haven't yet noticed: this tune covers a 71 year history period in just over five minutes!

The song structure is made up of three distinct sections, each of them showing off a distinctive melodic contour that fits perfectly to Wall's resonant and show-stopper baritone voice.

"Round-up on the Cimarron, Colorado, 1898" by trialsanderrors is licensed under CC BY 2.0

In a no repetitive rhyme pattern that excels the rhyming scheme, the lyrics recount true-life tales, exploring topics such as stampeding cattle herds, getting chuckwagons and workhorses across the rivers, trail life, cold and lonely winters, lives lost, round-ups, and nail-biting danger; that is, everything that was part of the life of a real American frontier's cowboy. 

Song Information

• Writer: Ian Tyson

• Colter Wall - vocals and acoustic guitar
• Jordan Solly Levine - drums
• Patrick Lyons- pedal steel guitar, mandolin and nylon string guitar
• Jake Groves - harmonica
• Jason Simpson - bass

• Producer: Colter Wall

• Recorded at Yellow Dog Studios in Wimberley, TX

• Release date: September 27, 2019

Here you can watch Colter Wall performing a live rendition from the Back Pasture (produced by Sarah Calhoun, video by Nic Davis, 408productions):

These songs, images and video are under Fair Use:

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act in 1976. Allowance is made for "Fair Use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Nonprofit educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

I do not own this content. All rights and credit go directly to its rightful owners. No copyright infringement intended.

This website is for informational, editorial, and entertainment purposes only, consistent with the principles of fair use under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act.

Copyright Act of 1976