PERFORMANCES
Levon Helm & John Hiatt (Tuesday): For many, music is an integral part of one’s Canadian-ness, as will be demonstrated this Thursday across the country at a variety of Canada Day concerts. We’re (naturally) very proud of our Neil Youngs, Joni Mitchells, Bruce Cockburns, Rushes, Broken Social Scenes and Arcade Fires but we also hold a special place in our hearts for our friends granted the status of “honorary Canadian” through their musical prowess.
Like modern songstress Neko Case, Levon Helm is one of Canada’s proudest imports. Levon Helm begins his Canadian music career as part of the legendary Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks (which would later be renamed Levon and the Hawks after Hawkins left the group). That, alone, would be enough to gain Helm a place in the hearts of musically inclined Canucks but there’s more! Levon and the Hawks would go on to be the backing band for Bob Dylan in order to facilitate the complicated (and controversial) process of ‘going electric’ (you may recall this from our Massey By the Decade post for 1964-1973.) Levon did leave the Hawks temporarily but returned shortly thereafter before the newly rechristened group, The Band, hit it big with albums like Music from Big Pink and then later, of course, as stars of (the album, film, and generally awesome event) The Last Waltz.
