Captain Tractor is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

band, based in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. They play a

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

-influenced variant of Celtic folk music, similar to such bands as Great Big Sea,

The Pogues The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my arse" ...

Spirit of the West Spirit of the West were a Canadian folk rock band from North Vancouver, active from 1983 to 2016. They were popular on the Canadian folk music scene in the 1980s before evolving a blend of hard rock, Britpop, and Celtic folk influences which ...

. Their songs are often rich in local, cultural, and geographical references. The band's most famous songs have been renditions of the

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

classics "

The Log Driver's Waltz The Log Driver's Waltz is a Canadian folk song, written by Wade Hemsworth. ''The Log Driver's Waltz'' is also a Canadian animated film from the National Film Board, released in 1979 as part of its Canada Vignettes series. Song information The so ...

" and "

Drunken Sailor "Drunken Sailor", also known as "What Shall We Do with a/the Drunken Sailor?" or "Up She Rises", is a traditional sea shanty, listed as No. 322 in the Roud Folk Song Index. It was sung onboard sailing ships at least as early as the 1830s, and ...

", as well as a cover of the

Arrogant Worms The Arrogant Worms are a Canadian musical comedy trio founded in 1991 that parodies many musical genres. They are well known for their humorous on-stage banter in addition to their music. The members since 1995 are Trevor Strong (vocals), Mike McC ...

' "

The Last Saskatchewan Pirate ''The Arrogant Worms'' is the self-titled debut album of the Canadian comedy music group The Arrogant Worms. It was released in 1992. It was the only album to include bassist Steve Wood, who left the band afterwards. The role of bass would be take ...

". They have also developed a following for their brand of Canadian rock, with singles such as "Up the Hill", "Frozen Puck to the Head", "This Is Not a Sad Song", "Another Drinking Song", and "The Bastard of Strathcona County". In celebration of the release of the band's sixth album, ''North of the Yellowhead'' (2005

Six Shooter Records Six Shooter Records is an independent record label based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that uses an artist-centric business model, focusing on art before commerce combined with extensive touring. Six Shooter Records was founded in 2000 by Shauna d ...

), Edmonton's Alley Kat Brewing Company released Captain Tractor's Yellowhead Wheat Ale. Their seventh studio album, ''Famous Last Words'', was released on May 3, 2011. A live record, ''Live at the Roxy'', was released in 2015. To celebrate their 25th anniversary in 2018, the band released ''25 Years On'', a re-mastered retrospective with four new tracks recorded in February 2018 with Nik Kozub at The Audio Department in Edmonton, two unreleased tracks from the vaults, and seventeen previous tracks. In addition, they partnered with Hansen Distillery to create the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Limited Edition Captain Tractor Spiced Rye Whiskey.

Band members

The band consists of five men, one woman, and their mascot, a

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

named Bucky. The band members are: * Chris Wynters - vocals,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, songwriter * Scott Peters - vocals, mandolin, guitar, bodhran, songwriter, driver * Jules Mounteer - drums, percussion, driver * Jon Nordstrom - bass, trumpet, guitar, vocals, songwriter. Joined before ''Hat Trick''. * Jason Kodie - keyboards, vocals, musical restraint. Joined before ''North of the Yellowhead''. * Shannon Johnson - fiddle, vocals Former members include: * Aimee Hill - flute, vocals. Left after ''East of Edson''. * Jeff Smook - bass, vocals, songwriter. Left after ''Bought the Farm''. * Brock Skywalker - accordion, flute, guitar, bodhran, penny whistle, harmonica, mandolin, keyboards, vocals, songwriter. Left just before ''North of the Yellowhead''.

Discography

Captain Tractor has released seven albums: * ''Land'' (1994) * ''East of Edson'' (1995) * ''Bought the Farm'' (1997) * ''Hat Trick'' (1998) * ''Celebrity Traffic Jam'' (1999) * ''Hoserista'' (2000) * ''North of the Yellowhead'' (2005) * ''Famous Last Words'' (2011) * ''Live at the Roxy'' (2015) * ''25 Years On'' (2018) They have also released a video entitled ''Inconsequential Things'' in 1998, and an interactive CD-ROM, ''Bus Madness'', in 1995. Members' solo albums: * Chris Wynters's ''Skywriting'' (Six Shooter Records, 2005) and ''2010-1982'' (Shameless Records, 2010). * Jon Nordstrom's ''Brick and Stone'' (Independent, 2003) and Waiting for Summer (Independent 2005). * Former member Brock Skywalker's ''Cerebral Reruns'' (FrozenPuck, 2004).

References

External links

Official site

CanadianBands.com {{Authority control 1993 establishments in Alberta Canadian Celtic music groups Canadian folk rock groups Musical groups established in 1993 Musical groups from Edmonton Six Shooter Records artists