As a young, idealistic Bass player looking to make his way in life as a professional musician in the late 1970s, I looked to the recordings and photographs of the musicians from the early Rock and Roll, Blues, Country and Big Band eras as my model.

While this was happening in the cities and cultural centres of North America and the world, I wondered if there might be an equally rich and relevant history here in the north that would parallel or echo these profound musical eras.

When I began collecting these interviews in 2003, I was driven by the desire to create a freely accessible place and a welcoming vessel where these musicians and their musical stories could be documented, recognized and celebrated. Through my own musical journey, I recognize that I gravitate to musicians and musics that have preceded my own generation.

I have always felt that I should have been born, at least, a Baby Boomer so that I would have been able to participate or at least been witness to this amazing time of cultural revolution and musical upheaval.

With this project, I recognize now that the closest I will ever get to identify with those times is through the eyes, the experiences, the musics, the insights and stories of these musicians of northern Canada who lived it.