Ralph Boyd Johnson

This longtime Calgary musician got his big break in 1997 when he performed alongside <a href="spotify:artist:1glGHFu5fTfJN0yJHm0B5a">Sylvia Tyson</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1s16tcMsyP2SpoLjLg44n1">Kevin Welch</a> during the Calgary Folk Festival. No stranger to songwriting, the musician has written more than 250 songs, including co-writing The Fool Is the Last to Know with Billy Cowsill. In 2001, he appeared at Farm Tracks: A Celebration of Roots Music with <a href="spotify:artist:1RprcCfY08k2trEW0m3aHg">Jim Cuddy</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6vsums8cmn6MBqOL8f407U">Stephen Fearing</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6bp17u6Ya0RGnEobNVGvwS">Sue Foley</a>. The same year, he released his debut effort, Dyin' to Go, on Rumble Seat Recordings. The record, which took 14 months to create, ranges from spoken-word efforts in the style of <a href="spotify:artist:42TFhl7WlMRXiNqzSrnzPL">Lou Reed</a> to roots rock such as <a href="spotify:artist:1QSEKTN8PPjVzniAkpJ90p">Dave Alvin</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2UBTfUoLI07iRqGeUrwhZh">Steve Earle</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:388Y4nUQbYSyonhNlBEypT">Joe Ely</a>. A video for one of the album's singles, "Postcards From the Edge," was aired on CMT Canada. He has also performed with <a href="spotify:artist:0yv1W9HeASlBRyWrzRMhWh">Fred Eaglesmith</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3X4XES8PyvXVguL9Q6IEVD">Victoria Williams</a> and is a mainstay on the Western Canada country/roots scene. ~ Jason MacNeil, Rovi