LAC LA BICHE - Edmonton-based singer/songwriter Christin Hyshka, who once opened for American Grammy Award-winning roots and folk musician John Reischman, will be coming to Lac La Biche on Nov. 14 for the final show of the 2024 Music in the Forest concert series at Sir Winston Churchill Provincial Park.
Earlier this year, Hyshka released his second album titled ‘Rescue’. One of the singles on the album, “Boy before the man,” he says, is some of his best work.
“I sat down and tried to write a song for my son, but I think what came out was this manifestation of my future self telling my past self how to live a good life,” he explained. “It’s a toe-tapper, but still has this nostalgic meaning so I like that.”
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Hyshka’s debut album, aptly named ‘The First Word’, features the single ‘Modern Sons,’ which tells the story of his life growing up on a farm in the Canadian prairies, leaving for opportunities in the city, but always thinking about your roots. Recently, ‘Modern Sons’ was named as a top ten finalist in the Canadian Music in Motion songwriting competition, while another track from the debut album “Buy it all Baby” was chosen as a semi-finalist in the Unsigned Only global songwriting competition.
The musician says inspiration for writing songs comes from everything around him, adding if people watch and listen, the human experience is right there in front of them.
“Life is full of stories to tell, some are my own, some belong to others,” he said. “All I’ve ever wanted to do is tell those stories through song.”
While Hyshka has had his share of achievements and accolades throughout his career as a roots and folk-rock musician, opening for John Reischman last year in front of a sold-out crowd was a memorable moment for him. Furthermore, both musicians share a love for the mandolin.
“I play the mandolin in a lot of my songs, but John is likely the best mandolin player I’ve ever seen so that was a giant privilege,” he told Lakeland This Week.
Growing up in Dauphin, Manitoba, Hyshka says, there wasn’t much to do, which served as a catalyst for him to take up playing the guitar. Once he knew a few chords, what really moved things along for the future musician was finding his uncle’s old song binder. He learned every song in that book, explaining that it was full of tunes by Bob Dylan, Creedence Clearwater Revival, as well as artists such as Towns Van Zandt.
“That’s what really got me into folk music early. When kids my age were listening to Right said Fred, “I’m too sexy” I was into Neil Young,” he said with a laugh and a grin.
Hyshka has been to Lac La Biche previously and is looking forward to returning to perform.
Tickets for the Nov. 14 show at the community hall at Sir Winston Churchill Provincial Park start at $15. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. while the music gets underway at 7 p.m.
Ticket information can be found at the Alberta Parks website.
