New book dives into Winnipeg's music scene over the decades

A new book is taking a deep dive into the history and variety of Winnipeg’s music scene.

John Einarson, who has chronicled the music scene in the city, recently released a book, ‘Heart of Gold: A History of Winnipeg Music' which takes a closer look at the bands and sounds that helped define the city.

“We start with Indigenous music and Metis music, and Metis music has always been an important part of their culture, and a foundation of Winnipeg and Manitoba music,” Einarson said during an interview with CTV Morning Live Winnipeg.

“And then we see, when Eastern Europeans arrive, they bring classical and opera music influences, and then the evolution from folk and country and blues, and the dance band scene of the 1950s was huge in and around Winnipeg. And of course, it was rock and roll that put Winnipeg on the map.”

Einarson, who has written about Neil Young, Randy Bachman, and The Guess Who, said he did a lot of research and interviews for the book and said it was a learning experience to go into the evolution of other genres.

“For example, the evolution of classical music to the formation eventually, in 1948, of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and how important having an orchestra is in a city like Winnipeg,” he said.

“There was a lot of information I had, but I also had to do a lot of new interviews as well. When writing a book like this, I can create a framework, a skeleton, but the real meat on the skeleton are all of the recollections and the memories of the people you talk to, and they provide the colour commentary -and there’s an awful lot of that in the book- that brings the eras to life.”

For Einarson, his favourite part of the book was the section on the Indigenous music scene, which he knew very little about before he started writing the book. He said the Indigenous music scene was isolated and segregated from other audiences when he was playing music in the 1960s.

“The Indigenous music scene, in a broader sense, there was a struggle to be recognized,” he said.

The book can be ordered online or during a book launch on Saturday at the Times Change(d) High & Lonesome Club from 1 to 4 p.m.

-With files from CTV’s Katherine Dow