You can’t untangle the music from the people who made it. Musician and composer Kenna Burima and Arif Ansari, the mind behind the Calgary Cassette Preservation Society, bring you the Calgary Songs Project: 30 Songs Celebrating 30 years, a tribute to this city’s recent musical heritage. The result is a 30-song playlist that celebrates 30 years of song in Calgary — ringing out from towers, throughout downtown, from the stage in our beloved Royal Canadian Legion #1 — and in the hearts of Calgarians everywhere.

The final Calgary Songs Project playlist is unveiled on the opening night of the 30th anniversary of One Yellow Rabbit’s High Performance Rodeo. That evening Kenna Burima will perform an arranged medley of the 30 songs on the Calgary Tower’s carillon. A recording of this performance will then play every weekday afternoon during the month of January.

The Calgary Tower Carillon is the city’s largest musical instrument, entertaining thousands of downtowners every day. A gift to Calgary from the Dutch Canadian Club on Canada’s centennial, it has served for many years as a big music box playing American show tunes and Christmas carols. High Performance Rodeo has changed that. For the past four years, in collaboration with Calgary Tower and the Calgary Downtown Association, has commissioned composers and musicians to animate our downtown. This is the first year the carillon will feature an all-Calgarian musical playlist.

 

Check out the video playlist of all 30 songs

The Official Playlist

(In no particular order)
 

·      Kobra and the Lotus | Nayana | 2012

·      Ghostkeeper | By Morning | 2010

·      Beyond Possession | Skater’s Life | 1986

·      James Keelaghan | Hillcrest Mine | 1989

·      Sacred Heart of Elvis | Wheezing Dog on a Leash |1986

·      Dragon Fli Empire | Mount Pleasant | 2004

·      The Quitters | Levitation | 1992

·      Wagbeard | Too Easy | 1995

·      Tom Phillips | Ribbons and Bows | 1999

·      Same Difference | Kiss of Ice | 1989

·      Reverie Sound Revue | Walking Around Waiting Downtown | 2003

·      Kris Demeanor | I Have Seen the Future | 2007

·      Anne Loree/Jann Arden | Insensitive | 1994

·      Chixdiggit | Chupacabras | 1998

·      The Von Zippers | Bad Generation | 2001

·      The Dudes | Dropkick Queen of the Weekend | 2006

·      Color Me Psycho | Black Corvair | 1986

·      Fire Engine Red | Shank Pony | 1995

·      Samantha Savage Smith | The Score | 2011

·      Tim Williams | It’s Enough to Be Remembered | 2008

·      Huevos Rancheros | Crowchild Trail | 1993

·      Fist City | Hey Little Sister | 2015

·      Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir | Oh Sorrow | 2005

·      Women | Black Rice | 2008

·      Chad VanGaalen | Clinically Dead | 2005

·      Zuckerbaby | Andromeda | 1998

·      Kara Keith | Kick This City | 2008

·      Hot Little Rocket | Down With Safe | 2004

·      The Primrods | Santa Lucia | 1994

·      Rae Spoon | My Heart Is A Piece Of Garbage. Fight Seagulls! Fight! | 2008