Friday, December 5, 2003
An American Puts Saskatchewan to Music
Moose Jaw (Saskatchewan) Times-Herald
Friday, December 5, 2003
by Mandy Higgins
Most people who will read this story are from Saskatchewan.
If you are, try to imagine for [a] moment that you're not. In fact, imagine that you've never been to Saskatchewan. You've never set foot near the place. All you know about it is the unusual name.
Now, imagine that someone said to you: write a CD of music all about things Saskatchewan—the people, the places, and the stories.
It would likely be hard.
But it's exactly what musician Chris Piuma did. An acoustic guitar player and singer from Portland, Ore., Piuma wrote an entire CD of music called Saskatchewan, despite having never visited the place.
He's accompanied by Ryan Tokola, a bass player. Together, the two of them comprise a duo called The Minor Thirds, so-called because they often have a third musician playing as a guest on their compositions. Piuma describes their brand of music as "indie rock".
The duo plays in Moose Jaw tonight.
Why did Piuma write an entire CD of music about a place he's never been to before?
"When I was growing up in New York City, I became very interested in maps, and I would leaf through atlases for hours at a time. I spent a lot of time imagining what life was like in other places," said Piuma.
"Saskatchewan was one place that always attracted my attention, because of the odd, evocative name, and particularly, the name of Moose Jaw.
"I used to write short stories where the character came from Moose Jaw. it was a place to project my imagination."
About a year ago, Piuma began to communicate with people from Moose Jaw and Regina on Internet message boards.
He started to get a lot of detail about the province, and started to read more and more about Saskatchewan on the Internet and in books.
"It really struck a chord with me, remembering my childhood dreams of Saskatchewan, and I decided it would make a great idea for an album," said Piuma.
"I came up with a concept of an American, a busy man who dreams about escaping to Saskatchewan, and the adventures he would go on."
Based on his research and chats with his Internet friends, Piuma set to work, producing six songs for the CD.
One is even called Moose Jaw.
"It's a song about this American guy imagining he's in a biology class at Peacock collegiate, and he meets his true love. The two go to a part of the tunnels that no one knows about, and they make that love happen," Piuma said, laughing.
When told it's rather uncanny that he wrote a song with exact details like Peacock collegiate and the Tunnels of Moose Jaw even though he's never been here, Piuma says he's flattered and happy. "It's what I was hoping for."
Piuma is enjoying his first visit to Saskatchewan so far. When he did an interview with the Times-Herald, he was speaking from Saskatoon.
Does the reality of the province live up to the fantasy?
"Yes, definitely. It's been just fantastic so far. I was afraid I might be disappointed, but it's surpassed my expectations. It's such a gorgeous place to look at, and the people are so friendly," said Piuma.
Piuma will make his first visit to Moose Jaw tonight, when he and Tokola will play at Coffee Encounters on Main Street beginning at 7 p.m.
Copyright 2003 Moose Jaw Times-Herald
