Craig Gilbert | [email protected]
Decades after rocking the Atha-B as the bass player for the Watchmen, Ken Tizzard is returning to Jasper with a loaded six-string on his back.
Tizzard is releasing an album of Ron Hynes songs in November, and he’s pumping it up on the Home Routes tour in Alberta in October.
He stops in Jasper on Oct. 18 for the umpteenth time.
“It’s been a while since we played the f---in’ Atha-B, but I had some good times playing that little room in the early 90s,” Tizzard said on Monday. “The ‘B was the first place we played as The Watchmen when we were just getting on the go. We’d be there all the time, I love it up there.”
Tizzard will bring a different vibe to the Alpine Summit Seniors Lodge when he appears on the 2018 Home Routes small-c concert series.
His album, A Good Dog Is Lost, is filled with Hynes classics including Sonny’s Dream.
“It’s been recorded by 200 people around the world,” he said. “The entire country of Ireland thinks they own it. Hynes was one of those Newfoundland artists who just kept putting out music his whole life.”
Tizzard was on tour with Hynes while he was writing his last record.
“At 50 it’s nice to be able to find someone to look up to.”
Hynes died in 2015. Tizzard said it’s an emotional experience for the audience as much as it is for him when he plays a set from the new album. He had concerns about becoming a “Ron Hynes impersonator,” their common Newfoundland musician heritages playing as a drawback instead of a strength.
“I really wanted to take these songs and take everything I'd learned from Ron about those songs but then make them into my songs and play them the way I would play them,” he said. “I hope I hit the mark on that. It’s emotional for me and for people that come out to see it. They have a connection.”
Tizzard has popped in to Calgary and Edmonton but hasn’t been through Alberta in years. He’s based in Ontario now.
“I’m just looking forward to driving around and seeing the mountains,” he said. “It’s such a peaceful place. It’s a nice change from Ontario. It’s the same thing when I go back to Newfoundland. When I’m home, I love being with my wife and kids, but I miss my road life. With the history with the other bands, brings fans that have been around a long time, fans that have become friends. I’m not sporting the mohawk and stomping around on stage playing bass anymore. It’ll be nice to get out and show them what I’ve been working on.”
