CC Trubiak has found his latest project - and he didn’t need to go too far physically to do it.
The musician’s newest effort is a brand-new Youtube show diving into the history and stories behind Trubiak’s favourite form of tunes, classic country music, coming directly from his own home.
Enter CC’s Vinyl Closet and the Honky Tonk Angels - Trubiak’s latest creative endeavours, sharing his love for vintage country music with people online. CC’s Vinyl Closet is a Youtube series created and published online by Trubiak, going into detail on vinyl produced by some of country music’s most recognizable women.
The project is focused specifically on seven singers, the “Honky Tonk Angels” as Trubiak calls them - Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton, Olivia Newton-John (“a country-pop pioneer”, as Trubiak calls her), Tanya Tucker, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris. The series includes 22 episodes, each diving into songs and stories of each chanteuse and their music and including cover performances of the songs themselves.
“They all represent different aspects of country music to me. I’ve learned so much about different forms - gospel country, the Nashville sound, countrypolitan, country rock, country blues, country folk, bluegrass, Americana, alternative. These artists cover a large spectrum of genres. I love this music and this is what I have to speak of it I’m going to do this,” Trubiak said.
Trubiak has played the Flin Flon music circuit for years as a both a solo performer and a member of groups like The Mix and CC Trubiak and the Tiny Army Band, cutting his teeth with country and rock performances. He’s released three LPs under his own name.
Following the release of his latest full-length music project, his 2017 album McBain, Trubiak sought a new type of project to sink his creative teeth into.
In 2020, Trubiak thought he had hit upon a solution - paying tribute to his favourite female country singers and their collective body of work. When COVID-19 froze the world in March 2020, Trubiak was planning to host a night of cover songs of his favourite tunes at Johnny’s Social Club, but once venues closed and locked the doors en masse, Trubiak went a different way.
“The world changed, and with that, so did a lot of artists and musicians, the way they worked, the way they put themselves out there,” Trubiak said.
Trubiak took the chance to put away social media for about a year and a half to ease pressure on his own mental health, retreating into his vinyl collection and classic country tunes. The more he listened, the more inspired he felt, taking his existing musical talent into new realms. Trubiak’s collection of vinyl includes about 300 records, each of which he took out and relistened to in preparation.
“I had this idea that I love country music and I love specifically these seven, honky tonk angels, so much so that this kind of felt like my calling - to champion this music, to look into the history, enjoy the records and while you’re at it, do something fun with it,” Trubiak said.
“If you’re bored at home, you’re not getting to perform live and certainly not recording. This became a way for me to share my love of music and getting to experience it, creating it, making it.”
Part of the process included Trubiak creating physical art pieces about all seven artists, including drawings of each featured musician, art depicting some of their better-known work, performances and other interpretations.
“I like art, in lots of ways - I like singing, I like writing, I like illustrations. This project is full of all kinds of art,” he said.
Trubiak said sharing his love of country music and the people associated with it has been one of his main ways of getting through the ever-dragging-on slog of the pandemic while staying creative and mentally healthy.
“It gave me a conduit to take care of myself but also to create. That’s the project,” he said.
The videos can be found on Trubiak’s Youtube page.
