Gordon Lightfoot here. Singer/songwriter for over 50 years whose work has been performed by everyone from Elvis to Barbra. AMA!

Gord, love you man. Who are your rainy day people?

That one is so easy, it's the family. It's the extended family. They are the rainy day people.

Hello Mr Lightfoot!

I’ve been a lifelong fan of your music, and was very excited to see that you’d be doing an AMA.

Having grown up along one of Northern Ontario’s busiest shipping routes, and within visual distance of Whitefish Point, it was inevitable that my absolute favourite song as a child was The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I’m pretty sure my parents made me a cassette of that song, and I’d listen to it while watching the Fitz’s sister ships making their way through Lake Superior.

Since then I’ve discovered the rest of your discography.

The songs that personally resonate with me the most were the narratives of contemporary events, like the Fitzgerald, and Black Day in July. I’ve found that music retains the emotions surrounding an event better than almost any other medium, and that a good song will keep people informed and aware of our history longer than a textbook or documentary.

Are there any other events, recent or from history, that you’d like to have written a song about?

Thanks again for doing this AMA, and best of luck with your continued touring!

You know, that's a tough question to answer. It really is. I wish I could give you an answer to that one! Topical songs, you know... are very difficult to come by. Every once in a while. And the Edmund Fitzgerald really seemed to go unnoticed at that time, anything I'd seen in the newspapers or magazines were very short, brief articles, and I felt I would like to expand upon the story of the sinking of the ship itself. And it was quite an undertaking to do that, I went and bought all of the old newspapers, got everything in chronological order, and went ahead and did it because i already had a melody in my mind and it was from an old Irish dirge that I heard when I was about 3 and a half years old. I think it was one of the first pieces of music that registered to me as being a piece of music. That's where the melody comes from, from an old Irish folk song.

That's an interesting one!

Hi Gordon...love your music can you provide insight as to the inspiration for Sundown? Love that song and want to learn more about it.

Well, I had this girlfriend one time, and I was at home working, at my desk, working at my songwriting which I had been doing all week since I was on a roll, and my girlfriend was somewhere drinking, drinking somewhere. So I was hoping that no one else would get their hands on her, because she was pretty good lookin'! And that's how I wrote the song "Sundown," and as a matter of fact, it was written just around Sundown, just as the sun was setting, behind the farm I had rented to use as a place to write the album.

Mr. Lightfoot,

First, thank you for the music. I grew up in the 70s and it seems like your music was always around me. I sort of re-discovered you in my late 30s after a painful divorce and I was looking for music that I felt had meaning. I started playing your music for my son and he loves it. He is especially infatuated with "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." He is eight and you will be his first concert next month in L.A. We're both looking forward to it immensely.

My question is a simple one, but one that has eaten at me since I was a kid: What exactly would you do to me if you found me creepin' round your back stairs?

Well, I mean, it's sort of self-explanatory, isn't it? I mean, it was that kind of a night - I didn't know what my girlfriend was doing while I was writing a song, and things were already a little bit shaky such as it was, and I could just sort of picture somebody, you know, maybe trying to pick up my girlfriend while she was out at the bar and I was at home working on all these songs, and the sun was going down and it was getting late! And that meant coming into your territory, that's what it means.

HUGE fan. So excited you're coming to Edmonton soon.

What is your songwriting process? Do you set time aside? Write when inspired? Do you jot down concepts all the time or sit and write from start to finish? Write rough, let sit, then review the process?

There's a lot of the information required to answer that.

Well, I usually start - sometimes I start with finding something that would make a good title. From a newspaper, or a billboard, or maybe on the subway, haha! And then get a melody and some chords, and try to turn the title into a song, make sure to repeat it with regularity.

And that's it- the chords, the words and the melody. If you want to start with a title, you can take a title and turn it into a song if you want to. I did that with my song "Carefree Highway" - I took it from a road sign. It came from seeing a road sign in Arizona.

How does it feel to hold the status of begin a living legend? To have been praised so highly by behemoths of music like Bob Dylan or Robbie Robertson? To have been covered by such a diverse (and talented) variety of artists from Elvis, to Johnny Cash, to Neil Young, and all the way to Harry Belafonte? Basically how does it feel to be Gordon Lightfoot?

From a big English fan who is agonisingly waiting for you to come back to our fair shores.

Also are there any song of yours that you feel is unfairly forgotten?

Deeply deeply moved and deeply honored, and quite surprised, actually. That's how it feels to me.

And no, no I do not. There is definitely material in my catalogue that will stand review very soon. Yes.

Mr. Lightfoot, I just want to say that I am SUCH an admirer of yours. I've been lucky enough to see you in concert in Atlanta twice, and I'm looking forward to doing so again. (My girlfriend wants to hire you to play at our wedding. :) )

Also, I wanted to thank you for unknowingly helping me teach my 11th graders about ballads. I played "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" while they read articles about the real ship, and they loved it. I could hear them humming the song in the hallway after class.

What is your favorite version of another artist's rendition of one of your songs?

This is always a tough one. And it seems like the hardest, it would be the easiest one of all. But it's Elvis. Elvis' version of "Early morning rain." That's one of my songs, and he did a wonderful job on it. Even sang it on the first TV show he did when he got out of the army. It was called "Aloha from Hawaii" that was the name of the TV show. You can google it up, it was the first time it got recorded, so I got a lot of attention on that song. I tried to meet him once, but Elvis had left the building. I never got to meet him, I never did, I almost got to meet him but I never got to meet the guy.

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Fred Penner! oh my! I highly doubt that. He outreaches me by about 4 inches I think. He's a pretty tall guy. He'd outreach me. I wouldn't have a chance against Fred.

Gordon! Thanks for writing the song "beautiful" which I felt necessary to play at my wedding reception. My question:

Who is your favorite of the trailer park boys, Ricky, Julian, or Bubbles?

I like Bubbles. And I don't know why!

About Carefree Highway, can you share what you meant by the line "I wonder how the old folks are tonight"? I always find that such a transcendental aside.

Well, I always thought about my folks. They're both gone now. But I always thought about my folks, it doesn't matter what kind of trouble i was getting into, I always thought about my folks.

My favourite song of yours is "On Yonge Street". What is your favourite part of Toronto (and Ontario?)

I've recently moved to Toronto from Australia and your music has been an integral part of my education on Canadian culture - thanks Gordon!

Okay! Toronto - I love all of Canada. But I really love Toronto, because it's just a fast moving city, very very fast moving, terrible traffic jams all over the place, millions of people, everybody's walking around the street. Yonge street is the main street in Toronto, and it's part of a highway, if you go all the way out, Yonge Street, it goes for 600 miles, all the way to the border of Ontario & Manitoba - it's the longest highway in the world that becomes a street when it gets to Toronto, which is the biggest city in Canada. So I was watching people with their children one day, I was in my car, and I saw these people looking after their kids and they were trying to cross the road and I was afraid I was going to plow into them at one point, and all of a sudden I got the idea to write that song, "On Yonge Street," In my car. I have ideas for songs when I am driving around in my car, you know? Ideas for songs when I am having a shower. It's funny, the way it goes. I always had to produce, you know? I always had a band, and a family, and I had to come up with the material, so I had to keep thinking about it.

I had a responsibility. So I kept writing. That's what kept me writing. I wanted to be right where i am right now - I'm 75 years of age, and I'm excited about getting back on the road right now! I've been on the road my entire life, but I've been off the road 8 weeks, I just got 8 weeks off, so I'm really excited about getting back. We got off in the middle of June and almost took the summer off - we did some amphitheater dates in the month of July, yea, down in the Northeast, The Wolf Trap and places like that.

Okay, okay! I love the work that we do! We'll come back to Australia sometime.

The first time I went to Australia, it took me about 27 hours to get there, that's the way it was back in those days, the 1970's. Okay, carry on.

Which song did you have the most fun writing?

Thank you for making amazing music!

Oh, by golly, let me think about that for a minute! in a state of mind I was in at the time, I think "Sundown" was probably the most fun to write. While my girlfriend was out at the bars, I was getting worried bout her, I had been writing songs all day, and I figured she should have been home helping me write songs! But it worked out okay, though.

Hello!

Quick question, where did you get the inspiration for the pony man?

My parents used to sing it to me as a child and has always held a place in my heart.

Another question, my great uncle is Red Shae, how was he as a person? As i didn't know him growing up.

Ah. I was living in a very small apartment, with a new wife and 2 small children, sleeping in the next bedroom when I wrote that song.

Red Shae! Red, he was a wonderful man. Great sense of humor. Wonderful father, great friend, wonderful to his children. Made an album with his son Scott, good album too, I just listened to it a couple days ago. He's long gone, God rest his soul, and he played guitar for me for 7 years, and these were the funniest years of my life, because he had a great sense of humor. And a great friend also, I might add.

Wish I could explain how much your songs have meant at various times of my life. So, first off, thanks!

Q: What do you remember about playing Town Hall in NYC for the first time?

I remember the Paul Butterfield Blues Band really well. They played Town Hall and I was their opening act, it was 1966 or 1965 or thereabouts. Paul Butterfield Blues Band and myself on the same bill, I was the opening act, at Town Hall. Well, I was thrilled to watch Mike Bloomfield playing guitar! I was thrilled with the whole thing. Before that I had played at the Bitter End, I'd only gotten that far, which was a very well known folk club in Greenwich Village. So it was sort of a step up the line for me, to be able to play in Town Hall, it meant i had found a management deal in New York by that point.

Hello Gord. At Mariposa your voice sounded so much stronger than any time I've seen you perform since 2004. Have you upped the ante at the gym, or how do you attribute what seems to be much improved vitality on stage? And, I sent Anne a pic I took of you at Mariposa, a close up, probably the best pic I've taken of anyone, did you see it?

In answer to the question; yes, I do it through physical exercise. And no, what photo is that? Which photo?

Love your music and have been an avid listener for some time.

Quick question: What was the inspiration for your song "Summer side of life?"

Ah! Vietnam.

Who is your favorite singer from today?

I'd have to think about that one, but I'll tell ya, Bryan Adams right now. He's a fellow Canadian. He's a great singer, great guitar player, and i love his songwriting. He would be among my favorite artists.

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I'm afraid that I will not be around to find that out!

Mr. Lightfoot, I think your lyrics are brilliantly written. They're full of metaphor, imagery and literary references and could easily stand alone as lyric poetry. Additionally, the music you set the lyrics to is beautiful. Do you consider yourself more of a lyricist or musician? Or do they both just flow together?

Yes, I gotta reach. I gotta reach deep for this one, i'll tell ya.

What it is is a marriage between the lyric and the melody. It's as close as I can get for you.

Hi Gordon. Thanks for coming here and answering our questions. Here are a few for you.

• Through all your years of touring and performing what was the best or most memorable experience you've had?

• How was it to be part of a death hoax? Did you get any interesting well wishes from people who learned the truth belatedly?

• What song(s) written by another musician do you wish you had written?

Last year, I was back to full strength after the illness that i had a few years back, and I had the best band I've ever had, right now. So last year was my best year so far, because i have had this band for 2 and a half years right now, and last year was my best year! Because we were doing what we do really well, we think.

First thing I did was call all my kids! And that's it. Next question.

Ahhhh. Hard Rain's Gonna Fall by Bob Dylan.

Wow, Gord's here! Thanks for taking the time to do this, sir, and thank you for the years of amazing music! I live in central Wisconsin, and I've been making yearly trips to Lake Superior with my friends since I was a teen. "Summertime Dream" is the only album we'll play on the trip. It's literally been the soundtrack of my summers for a decade. Quick question.... not being an American, do you feel there's any region of the United States that is able to relate more to your music?

Well, I look upon the Canadians and the Americans as cousins. So basically we kind of think the same way, the same wavelength. I love my cousins. I have 10 first cousins. And I love every one of them. So I don't think about the border when I am writing my songs, I think about North America. I've been all over the arctic areas too. The best trip I ever went on was to Kazan, from Snowbird Lake up to Baker's Lake, you might know where that is!

Hello Mr. Lightfoot,

I met you at this years Mariposa Folk Festival. I was too starstruck to ask you anything so here goes.

What is your favourite song to play? Who is your favourite artist to watch perform? Thanks

I like to play "If You Can Read my Mind." And Bob Dylan.

What made you think the Edmund Fitzgerald would make a good subject for a song?

Well, I had a melody, and I had some chords. All I had was the melody and the chords and no story. When the story came on television, that the Edmund had foundered in Lake Superior 3 hours earlier, it was right on the CBC here in Canada, I came into the kitchen for a cup of coffee and saw the news and I said "That's my story to go with the melody and the chords."

Hi Gordon! I live in Barrie and I remembered that you are from Orillia. Do you still visit the area often? Also what would you say is your favourite place to visit in Simcoe County?

Ahhhh. I know!

I like to go up to Beaverton, Ontario. It's a place where one of my old musical muses still lives to these days. We played music together in high school and every once in a while I check in and visit them. Her name is Marg Barnsdale. She actually at one point was responsible for getting my career started very early on, because she introduced me very early on to some people in Toronto who could help me. So I still go up there. It's Beaverton. On Lake Simcoe.

Have you ever been to Kirkland Lake? If so, can you share a quick, memorable tale from your time there?

Thanks for the wonderful music, Sir. You are a treasure. :D

I was in Kirkland Lake about 1978? I was coming off a canoe trip on the Rupert River in Northern Quebec, I was out on a lot of canoe trips, you know? And I went through Kirkland Lake on my way down the Polar Bear special, coming off one of those canoe trips. That was the only time I was ever there.

Hello sir,

As a writer who's been covered extensively how do you feel about artists adapting your songs to other genres, Tony Rice for example?

-Thanks for doing this, you're one of my favorite singer-songwriters!

Tony Rice is a personal friend, really, I've known him for a long time, and he did a wonderful album. I was deeply honored. It's unfortunate that he is not performing right now, I hope he has a bit of a comeback, I know he's had some trouble with his singing voice so we will see where that goes.

I don't find very much fault with what anyone does with my material. It's not my place to do that, really, to criticize how people do with my material. Tony did an excellent job, but some of the other material might be tougher to handle. I'm just very honored they would take interest in the material, and I've never heard a cover recording that I didn't like. I love the way they do my material. It's been so wonderfully done by so many people, and I'm surprised it did that well because it took me a while to get full faith in my material as well! So to see it recorded like that by other artists is surprising and I'm very pleased, very honored.

Your era seemed to be at a time when there was support for Canadian musicians, or an era when an incredible amount of Canadian talent broke through, spilling onto a national market.

What do you think that Canada (government, venues, people in general) can or should be doing to support Canadian musicians, or do you believe the support is there? Do you think your time was special in regards to talent, or was it opportunities combined with the talent?

It's there for them. Because we have a Canadian content law which went into effect around 1973. So all Canadian musicians are getting a fair shake here, those that are creating the kind of product that can be played on the airwaves. And a lot of them are getting accepted by the industry in the United States and elsewhere. So they are certainly not being overlooked at all, I think everybody's got a good shot here. Just write the songs, get the demos made, get a little team together, just the way the rest of us did. Just keep writing those songs!

What was your favorite venue to play?

I liked the Queen Elizabeth theater in Vancouver. I like Royal Albert Hall in England, if we ever go back there again. And I like Carnegie Hall. I like - this answer is - Greek theater. Favorite venue? That's always one that - we've played in so many places, we've played in every state, we've played in just about every city and town in North America, it's hard for me to choose a real good one. The Universal Ampitheater was a good one we used to play in Los Angeles. That's one. And on the East Coast, it would be, we do like, Carnegie, Lincoln Center, we still do Town Hall when we go in there. Lately we have been doing the B.B. King theater when we go to New York. Here in Toronto it's Massey Hall, where I live. So we do a big show here every couple a years, and we have that coming up now at the end of November.

Can you elaborate on feeling safer in North America? I'm guessing this relates to your past health issues; do you feel that the medical care available in Canada and the US is your best option?

No, I feel safer here because of what i see going on in other parts of the world. Sure we have our problems here, there's always something going on, but we are in better shape than in a lot of other parts of the world and should be grateful for it. I have no need or desire much to travel abroad either. I know that Steve Earl, he still goes to Europe and does a solo tour - I don't know, I'd rather stay here and keep my energy alive right here at home rather than spread it out all over the planet. We've been asked to go to Japan, to Russia, China, Philippines, all those places, and i'm just not interested in going there, I'd like to stay close to home so I can keep an eye on things.

Do you own a pair of adult light up shoes? Possibly inscribed with "Lightfoot"?

Oh, you mean light up shoes? No but I got a pair of white boots that I use. And I wear white runners around town.

What's it like to spend 50 years in such a changing industry?

I've had to reinvent myself 2 or 3 times already. We even went all-electric onstage at one point, in the 80's. I did an album that was rock-oriented, so we got the electric guitars onstage. The problem was I could never tune the darn things. Those electric guitars, they were too skittish.

I definitely find it rewarding. But what I mean by that, I find it rewarding because it allows us to continue going on doing what we do.

Hello Mr. Lightfoor.

I was wondering which of your musical contemporaries in the 70's do you enjoy the most? Any songs in particular that you really enjoy?

You know, I wouldn't even know where to begin to answer that question, because there must be about 2-3 dozen of them! Perhaps I should mention... okay, one who was really good that nobody ever heard anything about was Bob Gibson. Yup, he was a great artist. That's who I learned to play 12 string guitar from, was from him. He was one of my favorite ones. There was also Phil Oakes, and Bob Dylan, and Arlo Guthrie, Paul Simon, all these people who came out of the era. Boy , there were some of them who were really good - Steve Goodman is another one. My goodness, I remember when he opened for Steve Martin, on an arena tour, the comedian and banjo player, the SNL guy? And Steve opened as a soloist, all by himself, as the opening act for Steve Martin in arenas all across North America. And he wrote all kinds of amazing songs, Stevie I called him. Both those guys, him and Bob Gibson, were from Chicago.

Have you ever considered playing with Rush?

Favorite Canadian musician that's not you?

If you had to pick one artist to expose people to that they otherwise might not be aware of, who would it be?

No I have not but I know the boys very well, and they know me, and I go to see there show ,and hopefully they come to see ours! I wouldn't be able to sing with a band like that probably, we're sort of like, it's not that we don't have a lot of energy, but that is a rock band. And we are sort of like folk rock, so we are a little bit quieter. So I probably wouldn't fit in with Rush too good, but I know them well.

Ok, well I mentioned one of my favorite singers before, that was Bryan Adams, but this time I will say Jim Cuddy and he's the leader of the band Blue Rodeo.

My next door neighbor! I don't know...

What's your favorite thing (movie, tv show, etc.) that has used one of your songs in the soundtrack?

Well, I know that they had one where they used "Sundown" in the background on some TV show when they were killing somebody, playing it in the background! I can't think of the name of the series, one of those TV movies. I think the one I did for the first Michael Douglas movie, that would be the best one, probably Don Quixote. It was in the first Michael Douglas movie that he was ever in, it was called "Hail Hero." It was about a kid getting ready to go to Vietnam. I had some of that stuff in my program back then, when it was all going on.

Question of the year. Fender or Gibson?

I think if they are talking about my instruments, are you talking about the 2 guitars, I guess, it would be hard for me to comment because both guitars have excellent quality, they both just have a different sound, different tone, they sound completely different. My musical repertoire has diminished somewhat over the past few years. The tone is different. Each guitar is different, but the tone they deliver is totally different, one from the other.

Whats a good song many people wouldn't know about?

I think "Darkness at the Break of Noon" by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Or "All Along the Watchtower." Now that's a great recording of a Bob Dylan song by Jimi Hendrix.

With any of your many songs, did you walk out of the studio after you recorded it and say, "I just laid down a smash." Like, you had to feel pretty good about "Sundown," no?

I did, yes I did. That was one of those ones where we felt good immediately. It was very good. They did a heckuva job editing it too. I had to edit it down.

Hey Gordon, what are some of your personal favourite tunes of the year?

I gotta tell you, I spend most of my time listening to talk radio...

What is your favorite canoe route? I have done a number of rivers in Norther Ontario, Manitoba, and Nunavut. Hap Wilson's books were a great resource for these trips. Do you see him often? Also, have you figured out where the love of god goes when the waves turn minutes to hours?

I think I have. I believe that I have yes. Does anyone knows where the love of god goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours? That means everyone is saying what has happened? All the people back on shore, all those relatives, are asking what has happened to our boys. They've seen it on television, of course, and it was on television 3 hours after it happened, so those were the hours they had to wait.

Hello Gordon! Big fan here, kinda caught you second hand thanks to my father. Your music has been playing in my head since I was a kid. I love that so many other big names in music seen your talent and spread your songs. A Canadian legend in song writing!

Will you be coming to Halifax, NS any time soon? Would love to see a concert!

Also, what do you think about the digital age when it comes to releasing music? How have you coped with the internet being as big of a thing as it is?

Ok, the truth of the matter is, you missed us by a bit. We were down there earlier in the spring, March. We play Halifax about every 3 years, we go down through the maritimes. So we'll be back in 2.5 years. I've been looking down the line here, I'm 75 years of age, so you may have missed your chance, or you may have not.

And I can only say about that- it's a great way of selling recordings not records. Everybody knows that - a lot of record stores are going out of business, because most recordings are sold on the internet. It's great for somebody like us because everybody knows where we're going to be next. See, like I don't have an account or anything - I don't have a cell phone! I don't have a PC, or any of that stuff at all. It's hard for me to comment on... the internet serves us in so many ways that it's absolutely mind boggling. I can't understand even how it works. I thought I had an idea, but is it the electrons and the molecules? Is that what does it? I don't know!

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Well, thank you very much and please do keep listening. That's the words I've got. Just keep listening.

What would you tell a new musician is the most important thing to be successful? Also My dad worked one of your shows in Lincoln Nebraska at the Pershing Center, and always tells me that you put on one of the best shows in the Pershing Centers history.

The best number one thing is look inside yourself - look inside yourself - and find out if you can write a song. Just one song. Look inside yourself and see if you can write a song. If you succeed, you will want to write more. And that is what will spur on the process. That is one of the things that you do, get a guitar, sit down, try to play the chords, find the melody to go with the chords, think about works, pick a title off the advertising in the magazine or a newspaper or a subway, even in the subway, you might find a title there, I found a few titles there myself.

To write that song - see if you can do it. You have to give it a try. And get the song, and step number two; Get them down onto some kind of a recording, just a simple recorded version, just a guitar and a vocal. You can do it right in the privacy of your own home with your computer! Back in my day, it was the Mac computer, now you can do it with any computer.

And I am deeply, deeply grateful to have him say that. And I would not have done it, there's no other way I could have possibly done it than the way that we did it. I believe on that particular night that we had absolute pitch on all of the instruments, I think we were working with fresh guitar strings, and the tuning and the intonation that night i remember was 100% ad that's why it sounded good. And the other thing is that I go full blast, I sing my heart out when I'm out there. I get right on that mic and I sing hard and I sing loud, and I give it everything I've got, and i think about every time I've gone to the gym from the past 6 weeks.

Hi, Gordon!

Growing up, whenever there was a family gathering at my parents' house, Gord's Gold was their go-to album. I fell in love with it then and still love it now! It reminds me of my family and happy times when we all got together, and it helps that the music is beautiful!

My question then: do you have a go-to album? Something you could put on at any time, and no matter how many times you hear it it just doesn't get old?

Thanks!

Yes I do. Yes I do. I have 2 albums that I practice my guitar parts with. So I have to listen to them over and over again. The last 2 albums I made for Warner Brothers. By that time I had fallen out of favor at the record company, but they did let me complete my contracts, they let me finish all of my work, and in the last 2 records, those were two of the best records I've ever made. And they will be heard, my music will soon be picking up a little bit. We're feeling some momentum right now and we're really happy about it because we are ready. We are ready to rock, as they say! How's that?

We are lucky to be able to do this. I never believed it would go on this long.

Do you still find the time to sail in and around Christian Island?

Also, do you still keep in contact with Ian Tyson?

Thanks for your music, Mr. Lightfoot. Its something quite special to me.

No, but I go close by. I know exactly where it is, and I am looking at it from the mainland. I have another sailing boat about 30 years ago, I was only in it for about 5 years, but it's a beautiful area. It is provincial, there are 4-5 islands around it, a wonderful place to sail. Wonderful sailing around there, did it for 5 years, gave it up, didn't have enough time for it. It's like golf, couldn't give it enough time. But then I didn't play golf either. I love watching it on TV though.

And yes I do. Ian is a very good close friend, benefactor, he's actually one of my angels. He's the guy that got me started in the business. He was the first one to record any of my material. And that's what got me started, because through that I was able to get my songs out, get my song bag, and show them to somebody else. I was bout 25-26 years old by then. Ian lives out in High River, Alberta, he has a ranch there, and he still performs and he goes out 7-8 times a year, he plays both here and in the States, mostly northwestern states, he still rides horses, he's healthy and well. I saw him 2 years ago, sometimes I talk to him on the phone, him and his wife Sylvia. First ever to record a Gordon Lightfoot song. So he's good, they're both good! She wrote a book and she runs the songwriter's association up here in Canada. Sylvia, yeah, she's quite busy. She's the same age as I am and it amazes me too. There's something about it. I don't know how other people do it, I do it through exercise. I have to do it every day or it doesn't work for me.

Hi Gordan, Having been in the industry for so long. .. would you say that music creativity is getting better or worse over the last few decades?

I wouldn't say it's getting worse. I'd say it's getting harder to make it. So many more people, so many more trying. We came in at a time when you could make a little space for yourself, if you were a songwriter at least, that's how I got started. Back in the middle of the last century, goodness gracious, i would have been about 10 years old then, you know, it's mind boggling how difficult it is to get started and to be able to praise this music, because there are some astonishingly good music out there on the airwaves right now. And one of the best exponents of it right now is Justin Bieber! Even though he's been getting in a lot of trouble and he's been messing up a little bit, but his music is really extra special and if you're asking if it's improving, it's an improvement over what's been out there. it's hard to judge what's an improvement and what is not. But the quality of it is unmistakably better because it's all done digitally now, and that makes a heckuva difference. And the reason why it is that way is because it's being held together by a click track, and the tempo never changes, when they record digital music. So the tempos are very constant.