Songs of the
Modern Wild West
Submitted by:
Nancy McLennan

If you’ve never been to Montana, just listen to the music of Martha Scanlan and you are carried into her beloved landscapes.


Martha’s post office box is three miles from her ranch cabin. There, she can get a few groceries, but to do a full grocery shop, she has to drive 2.5 hours to Billings. Think Pelican Rapids to Swan for a doctor’s appointment. As an active recording artist, she’s even had trouble with FedEx or UPS finding her. But she loves her land. She sang of her meadows and ridges and wide open spaces.

“It’s definitely not flat,” she said. “It’s rugged.”

Martha sang about unusual plants like yukka and cactus, about cowboys and their stories of the old days, and about home. Scanlan is a seasoned performing artist who now has produced two solo records after a career singing with the Reeltime Travellers, a bluegrass band.

Because of her location, embarking on a tour with HomeRoutes house concerts was a good fit. Her place is due south of Regina, in the south east corner of Montana. She donned her studded tires, loaded her van, and headed north to do a 12-show tour, in two weeks, that included her show on Thursday in Minitonas. She went as far north as LaRonge and Thompson, and Flin Flon, through farming communities like Anaheim SK, and will finish her tour in the flat lands of Winnipeg.

“I was glad to have my good tires on,” said Scanlan who spoke with amazement about the subtle differences she found as soon as she crossed the border into Canada. “The diversity! The diversity! Every place is unique.”

Martha was raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, which is about as close to being like Canada as the USA can get, but she still spoke with praise about our great country.

“I love driving and listening to CBC,” she said. At home, she is a regular fan of “Q” and Jian Gomeshi and seems to have become a fan of all things Canadian. It was great to have her in our community. Many audience members walked away with an autographed CD and the sound of her rhythmic mellow guitar playing beneath her soft clear voice.

The next Home Routes house concert is April 27 (a Friday) and features Anne Lederman with Emilyn Stam. Call or text 2819681 to reserve a seat.