New dogs, old tricks
July/August 2006

...The 30-year-old Masters, a Calgary native found country via rock and roll. He began hangin at the now-defunct institution of Calgary indie-rock Rock Central as soon as he was able and this past March he hosted a Much Music special "MuchDoesCalgary" featuring up and coming city bands. Despite his rock pedigree, Masters, whose given name is Matt Burgener, found that when he started writing songs "they all sounded like country songs" and so he decided "that's what I do, I make country music."

On his latest album Centennial Swell his baritone voice tells tales of last year's flooding in Southern Alberta on the title track, the hardships of working the land ("Poor Poor Farmer") and, like and good country album should, a drinking song ("Whiskey Business").

Masters said that earning a history degree from the University of Calgary had a big impact on his style. "There's where I really started learning about, I guess you could say old-time Alberta music," said Masters. After graduation, he continued to learn, combining used record stores and the Glenbow Museum archives and following a simple strategy for unearthing the past. "If you meet someone older than you, and they are into music, ask them what they like."

Masters is a walking encyclopedia on Alberta's music history, full of knowledge on names like Wilf Carter, "by the mid-30's Wilf Carter was a star and he was operating out of Calgary," Scotty Stevenson "talks to the realities of life as a rigger," and Stu Davis "the biggest star in the '50s but you can't find a record of him to save your life."

He feels it is important to preserve the contributions these musicians have made. "I don't think we've always had the best profile of our arts and culture scene on a national level. Alberta is known for business, known for oil, but not for its arts and culture. Alberta has had arts and culture since day one."

While he performs mostly his own material, he also re-introduces these songs to his crowds. "If you find a 50-year-old or a 100-year-old song you know they are catchy because songs don't survive if they aren't catchy."

Last summer Masters embarked on a musical mission to share his extensive knowledge and celebrate Alberta's 100th birthday. On the "Centennial Tour," Masters performed songs from each decade at 100 performances around the country, logging roughly 30,000 kilometers playing schools, senior citizens homes (a great place to discover new musical mysteries and songs), bars and clubs, rodeos, farmers markets and cowboy poetry gatherings. Masters first downplays the feat. "A lot of musicians played that many shows that summer...if i hadn't framed it that way it would be 'working musician still working.'" But then he adds, "it's something I'll always look back and feel proud about."