Dene country musician Harry Rusk remembered for 'paving a path' for other Indigenous musicians
From living on a trapline, to being regarded as the first Dene musician to perform at the Grand Ole Opry, Harry Rusk is remembered as an important figure in Canadian country music.
Rusk died in March at age 87 at his Rainbow Ranch in Carrot Creek, Alta., east of Edson.
The musician grew up in Kahntah, a small reserve in northern B.C., and his early years were marked with family tragedy and illness. By the age of six, he had already lost his brother and father to tuberculosis.
"The summer my dad died in 1944, it was a very lonely time for my mother and I," Rusk told CBC in an interview in 1994.
That same illness would strike Rusk at age 12, but from it came a chance encounter with a Canadian country star that would change the course of his life.
"Hank Snow came to visit us patients at the Charles Camsell hospital, where I was confined for four years with tuberculosis, way back [on] June 13, 1952, and that really inspired me," Rusk told CBC.
Rusk's mother bought him his first guitar with money she made from selling moccasins, and he taught himself how to play by listening to Snow records.
By 1965, Rusk would move to Edmonton, and his career took off.
He appeared on TV on Don Messer's Jubilee, a Canadian folk musical variety show broadcast from Halifax. Snow watched Rusk's performance.
"Hank phoned me and said, 'Come to Nashville, I got you on the Grand Ole Opry,'" Rusk remembered.
In 1972, Rusk became the first Dene person to perform on the historic Grand Ole Opry stage in Nashville, Tenn.
Rusk was always a religious person, and it was through his faith that he met his wife Gladys.
In a recent interview, Gladys recalled meeting Rusk at a church in Edmonton in 1981, where she was asked to perform.
"I came in that evening, and … this guy was on the guitar, I didn't know who he was, but it was Harry Rusk," Gladys said.
"I said to [the band], 'I'm singing tonight, it's in the key of C, just hit the key and I'll follow you."
Gladys said, years later, her husband would say, "Boy, we sure came a long way from the key of C."
Despite not initially being interested in country music, Gladys says she learned to love it, and remembers going to see Snow perform in Edmonton.
"I remember Hank Snow saying, 'My friend Harry Rusk is in the front row. Harry, don't listen too carefully, you might hear a mistake from me,'" said Gladys.
"After we'd seen Hank and his group in Edmonton, we decided to go to Nashville in … February '91, and we recorded with Hank Snow's band."
She and Rusk went on to record several albums and tour around the world.
In 2014, he played guitar on the song 'Harry Rusk Plays Guitar' with Hank Snow's Rainbow Ranch Boys.
Influential Indigenous voice
Harry Rusk might not be a household name, but Gladys said he "paved a road" for other Indigenous musicians.
David McLeod, CEO of NCI FM, a radio network in Manitoba, collects records by Indigenous artists. Years ago, he came across Rusk's albums.
"He had like six songs on the charts, in the Top 20 … and a lot of people don't know his name. And, in terms of being an Indigenous artist, he's a groundbreaking artist," said McLeod, who is from Pine Creek First Nation, in central Manitoba.
Weeks before Rusk died, McLeod visited him at his Rainbow Ranch.
"He talked about the good old days and being in Nashville … meeting the musicians, and sitting in the late night coffee shops, having those discussions of life on the road, the challenges, the obstacles, the creativity around making music," said McLeod.
"Harry's eyes sparkled when he talked about that, and he carried that energy right until the end."
Rusk might have been the first, but he wasn't the last Indigenous country musician to perform in Nashville.
In 2023, Manitoba musician William Prince, from Peguis First Nation, performed at the Grand Ole Opry. Before heading to Tennessee, McLeod chatted with Prince.
"It was a beautiful moment because he recognized Harry Rusk having opened the doors for artists like himself," said McLeod.
"That's the beauty of the Indigenous community … it's about making room for recognizing those before, and making room and space for those after."
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