Captain Tractor
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Captain Tractor is a Canadian folk rock band, based in Edmonton, Alberta. They play a punk-influenced variant of Celtic folk music, which has been compared to Great Big Sea, The Pogues or Spirit of the West. The band name 'Captain Tractor' was coined 20 years ago by comedian Neil Grahn, a former member of Edmonton's legendary comedy troupe Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie. He was playing on the 'superhero' idea for his friends, a group of local musicians frustrated they weren't getting anywhere in their various rock bands so on a lark decided to form a Celtic party band for free beer. In the fall of 1993, Chris Wynters formed the band CAPTAIN TRACTOR with Scott Peters. From their humble beginnings in pubs along Edmonton's famed Whyte Avenue (where they were seriously more happy to play for beer than money), to the creation of one of Canada's best-loved party records of the 1990's, 'EAST OF EDSON,' the band has grown significantly. Their album, 'EAST OF EDSON,' is a gold record in Canada, released in October 1995. After ten studio albums (plus a 5 disk collectable boxset), seven music videos, a CDRom, a video compilation including a short film starring the band, music placements in dozens of films and television shows, and thousands of live shows around the world, Captain Tractor has become one of Western Canada's most enduring bands. Captain Tractor's award history began shortly after the band's inception with the 1994 Standard Radio Songwriting Award, (Western Canada) for 'Not In This Town.' To celebrate their 25th anniversary in 2018, the band released '25 Years On,' a re-mastered retrospective with four new tracks. The band has also collaborated on unique products, including Alley Kat's 'Captain Tractor's Yellowhead Wheat Ale' released in 2005 and Hansen Distillery to create the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Limited Edition Captain Tractor Spiced Rye Whiskey.