“This Old Bar” – The Western Swing Authority (New Music Video)

The Western Swing Authority, Canada’s most recognized and awarded authentic Western Swing group have just released a new music for their song “This Old Bar”. It’s Friday and although music lovers can’t go out to see live music at their favourite bar, they can remiscence and take a trip down memory lane with this new video, which features clips that were sent in from bars across Canada and the U.S. This video definitely gave me some pretty strong nostalgic feelings, of a time when these beautiful bars acrosss the country were filled with people, music and happiness. A time where a live music venue was what I’d been looking forward to all week, not only for the music but for the atmosphere that can’t be recreated anywhere else. Music venues are a magical place, each in their own way and it’s beautiful to see a video paying homage them, especially during their hardest times. Click below to give it watch, and see if you reckognize any of your favourites!

The video highlights both the love and comfort of your favourite bar while confronting the cold, harsh reality of those places during the worldwide pandemic. It also addresses the lack of places for people to hang out with friends or see their favourite bands.

“The song was originally written about the Commercial Tavern in Maryhill, Ontario, where we first played together as a band, but the song could really be about any bar that is near and dear to the listener,” says Western Swing Authority Frontman Shane Guse.

“Then COVID-19 happened and the Commercial Tavern, which first opened its doors in 1854, closed as part of the shutdown. Our good friend and country singer, Paul Weber, who owns the Commercial Tavern, and who is one of the guest performers on this song, was left with a very uncertain future. It was very obvious that musicians and the venues we play were all facing a very similar plight. No shows, no crowds, no way to make a living. So, we started thinking about how we could address this within a video.”

The Western Swing Authority and their label, Curve Music, started sending messages to venues all over North America to see if they would be willing to send footage of their venues sitting and waiting with no bands and no people inside. Some had closed their doors permanently before they could get this done and some were boarded up during lockdown leaving them unable to enter. However, many did send in pictures and videos for which we were very grateful for. As more time passed working with the compiled images, the band began to realize the message here was only becoming more poignant.

“We hope that this song and video will touch as many people as possible and help them to realize just how much these bars, venues and the musicians who play in them need their support. Everybody has their favourite old bar. We sure miss ours.” says WSA Frontwoman Stacey Lee.

To find more of The Western Swing Authority’s music visit https://www.thewesternswingauthority.com/