Prince Albert-raised musician turned international touring guitarist and songwriter, Rodney Janzen, has officially been inducted into the Prince Albert Arts Hall of Fame for his impact and work within the music industry.
“It’s a huge honour and it’s a really great thing. I mean, I would have never believed that. I still can’t believe it honestly,” said Janzen, when asked about his reaction to the induction.
After falling in love with the guitar, the artist began his musical journey locally—taking inspiration from a popular Toronto-based country music and variety television program. Not long after, the guitar led to enrollment in music lessons, junior high bands, and school event gigs.
“When I got out of high school, I went to MacEwan University in Edmonton, and then when I got out of there, a friend of mine got me a job with this nationally famous rock band based out of Edmonton,” Janzen said.
The then 19-year-old began to play guitar for the band, touring, opening for big rock bands, and appearing on television programs.
“But that kind of petered out after a while for me, that thing just didn’t get any bigger. So I ended up moving back home to Prince Albert and I ran into a guitar player named Freddie Pelletier,” he said. “I started hanging around with those guys and they got me going on the country music stuff, and I thought, ‘Oh this was pretty cool. I can kind of do it.’”
From there, the guitarist’s career continued to fall into place, playing country music, and eventually landing in California, back to cities throughout Saskatchewan, and now based in Nashville, Tennessee.
“There’s some magic in [Prince Albert] for some reason. I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s the latitude,” Janzen joked. “But there’s a lot, a lot of really great ones that come out of that town for some reason. Like you go to Topeka, Kansas, or Missouri, but they don’t have the amount of talented people that are in that Prince Albert area for some reason.”
Janzen reminisced on his time in the city, and explained the musical talent he had observed.
“When I was a kid, there was a place called Frank Elmer’s music. We all bought our first instruments at that place,” he said. “There were always people that were really good at music, a lot of great singers, and a lot of really good musicians. There’s always sort of little venues and avenues to kind of strive towards. There were always resources there that you don’t find in any other cities.”
Janzen added, “I was always attracted to music for some reason. I always had an ear for it and the ability to do it.”
The Prince Albert Arts Hall of Fame will host their induction gala on Sept. 25 at the E.A Rawlinson Centre for the Arts.
“Get ready to hear the word ‘no’ more than you hear the word ‘yes’, but if you have enough perseverance—the trick with [music] is that you got to believe in you when nobody else will,” said Janzen. “Never let anybody tell you you can’t do something.”
