Whitehorse got the blues. But nobody gonna throw themselves in the river; it’s frozen.
And you may have a cold-hearted woman, but the thrill ain’t gone, in the Yukon
Whitehorse got the blues all right. Given its size and location, it attracts an astounding array of accomplished artists, all arriving with an awesome assortment of awards and achievements. In fact, snooze and you lose, because Yukoners get a who’s who of the blues.
But none bring the pedigree of Jimmy D. Lane.
His father is an almost mythical figure in blues lore. Jimmy Rogers was instrumental (as it were) in the creation of the Chicago Sound; widely hailed for bringing the blues from the backwaters of the South to chronicle the Black experience of American cities.
It was a movement that changed music forever and produced legends the likes of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Albert King. And that’s who was in the house while Lane was growing up.
“I’d come home from school, they’d be hanging out in the living room; playing music, drinking and lying. I’m standing shyly in the hallway, I got a little plastic guitar, trying to get in on it.”
Learning at the feet of the masters was an honour, he says, even when the lessons were hard.
“Louis Myers (of the Four Aces) was a big influence on me, I played a lot with him. But way before that, again me with the plastic guitar, he said to me: ‘Boy, put that thing down, you’re hurting my ears!’”
Lane drifted away from music in his teens, picking up the guitar again in his early twenties. He then honed his skills in front of the toughest crowds and the meanest critics; on the hard-jamming stages in the basement blues bars found on the south side of Chicago.
“These days are soft, they let anybody play. Those days you had to have your stuff. If you weren’t any good they’d kick you off the stage. They were true and raw. They’d throw you off the stage in a New York second.”
Lane had the stuff. It wasn’t long before he was playing and touring with blues royalty, which began a rich and diverse musical journey. During his 34 years as a musician, he has played with … well, everybody.
He’s worked with Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Robert Plant, Taj Mahal and everybody else you can think of. He’s toured through Europe and across North America, and played for then-president Clinton in 1998. Although still very much active, he joined his father in the Blues Hall of Fame in 2013.
In Lane’s hands an electric guitar becomes a transformative instrument. He’s a rocker who can rip the strings with such intensity they scream into the night; he’s a bluesman who can coax and coerce those same strings to weep and moan to the lyrics of heartbreak. His playing is reminiscent of Hendrix; he takes the guitar to the outermost limits of its capabilities.
He is influenced by a constellation of stars, including, but not confined to, “all those old cats who were there.” But whatever musical spheres he explores, one can always find the glowing embers of the blues within his work.
“If you really listen, he does these solos, you can pick out Stevie Ray Vaughan, Chuck Berry, B.B. King. He weaves blues legends into his solos, he captures bits and pieces of them and brings them together into one powerful sound,” says Yukon musician Patrick Singh.
Singh was instrumental in bringing the son of Chicago to the cold of the Yukon. Lane was already north of the border, having met and married a Canadian woman while on tour. Singh says the rest was serendipity.
“I was in a band, Sasquatch Prom Date, and we were hired to go to some ritzy event in Edmonton. After, they took us to a disco place, so we split. Barnacle Bob was with us and Ryan McNally, and we wound up in Blues on White. Jimmy D. Lane was playing and someone yelled ‘do you know who that is?’”
Of course they did. They were blues artists, and they were blown away. Introductions, reminisces, likely some hero worship and a few brown bottles later, a bond had been formed.
A short time later, Lane found himself bringing the authentic Chicago sound, in its original form, the style that revolutionized music, to its farthest northern reach. Singh remembers those first performances as spell-binding.
“When we played in Dawson, we played at the Snake Pit. Afternoon shows. The music was incredible. We’d finish a song, and this thing just went through the audience: “What just happened?” It’s like time stopped. It was magical. In Dawson, there were magical musical moments.”
Lane was also impressed, and not only by the music; he found the venue equally remarkable.
“That old hotel that can’t close, because they would never get it open again. Man that was a fun experience. If you weren’t drunk when you walked in there, you would think you were, the floors were slanted, the walls, everything. We had a great time.”
Lane’s own encounter with the supernatural came later, and brought a lifetime connection to the Yukon.
“We had a gig up there one winter. I went outside to have a smoke, and I have this experience, an amazing experience. The Northern Lights. The most beautiful thing I have seen in my life.”
Lane has been coming to the Yukon for the past dozen years, missing only when Covid barred the gate. It is not only the lights in the sky, but the spotlights in some places that helped foster his affection for the territory.
“The first time I went into the 98, the connection just hit me. Where the stage was, where the bar was, the atmosphere; It reminds me of a club in Chicago called ‘Blues’. It was one of the first places I tried to learn and hone my guitar playing. That night we were grooving, and they were a very, very warm audience. They were rocking away. It was a blast.”
Which is why he’s pumped about the upcoming gig; he’ll hook up with Singh on drums and Adam Cripps on bass to once again rock the 98, on December 20 and 21. As for Singh, he’s still amazed that Lane comes to the Yukon.
“He’s one of the best blues players in the world. Having a guy of that calibre, in a place like the 98 is mind boggling.”
Lane says he loves the territory, and his northern sojourns help him decompress and recharge his batteries.
“It’s a whole different mindset up there – very cool, very relaxing. It’s a stress relief, takes the edge off living. I enjoy every time I come up and I’ve met some very interesting people. You never know who you’re going to run into up there.”
It is true, you really don’t know who you might see in the Yukon.
Hey! Do you know who that is?!
