Canada Day is a time to celebrate with friends and family. Its also a time to celebrate Canadian music. No Canada Day is complete without a solid playlist that features Canada’s best artists. Here are a few guidelines to help get that playlist started.
The Classics
Impress the baby boomer generation by adding some Gordon Lightfoot to the playlist. Hailing from Orillia, Ontario, Lightfoot’s music can fill the niche for the easy listening folk/country style. Ontarians may remember Lightfoot’s ‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’ from their school curriculum. Needless to say, he’s a great artist that has been making music for more than 50 years. Be sure to include other great bands like The Guess Who, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Rush, The Band, April Wine, Trooper, and Neil Young.
The New
Sam Roberts has continued to make great new music which has been displayed by his most recent album Lo-Fantasy that was released this year. Metric, Marianas Trench, Billy Talent, Alexis on Fire, City and Colour (anything with Dallas Green in general) are a few other bands that relate to the nations youth.
The Staples
The Tragically Hip are synonymous with everything that is Canadian. Even after more than 30 years of being together they are still making great music that is relevant in today’s society. Every Canadian playlist should contain a variety of The Hip on it. The Hip have done a great job of collaborating on stage with other great Canadian musicians like The Watchmen so including them on the playlist is also a must.
Another staple on any Canadian playlist is Great Big Sea. As lead singer Alan Doyle likes to say “hailing from the tropical island of Newfoundland”, Great Big Sea brings a fun loving east coast vibe to a playlist.
The list doesn’t end here. Make sure to include Blue Rodeo, Barenaked Ladies, Arcade Fire, The Tea Party, and Our Lady Peace. Thank Apple for creating iPod’s because without them it would be incredibly tough to find a feasible way to get all this great music ready for those Canada Day festivities.