Tana Cugnet

Poetry. “There is no ribbon-cutting. No news conference. Yet, in a matter of weeks, tens of thousands of Canadian farmers and ranchers deploy billions of dollars, put enormous personal and financial capital at risk, and set in motion the production of food that Canadians and much of the world depend on.”

Released a new album today. Pleased to have “Raven on a Ribcage” out into the world. This compilation has way more of a Southern Rock & 70’s Outlaw vibe than a lot of the previous stuff I’ve done but we really pushed the boundaries of different genres with all of it and in some of these songs. Along with the big tent of what falls into Country, there’s elements of Funk, Grunge, Metal, Blues, Flamenco and everything in between. Huge thank you to Producer Bart McKay for the gift of being able to create and collaborate with him. His never ending patience and relentless pursuit of striving for perfection drives us all. Grateful for the opportunity to work together and even more so now the friendship that has developed from it. The guys in studio for their unbelievable work ethic and talent, but more important their openness as we try to get things to different and new places. They rise to every challenge. Thank you Murray Pulver, Chad Melchert and Travis Switzer. I’m so fortunate to have contributions from some of the best players in the world in addition to the guys in studio. On these tracks we have Jenee Fleenor on fiddle and mandolin, Eddy Dunlap on steel, Randy & Sherri Miller on Harmonica, Bart McKay on keys and Gord Maxwell, Mike Rogers, Craig Bignell & Sue Levesque all lending their voice talents on backing vocals. An exceptional group of performers, creators and musicians. Thank you. As always, the sum is truly greater than the parts.🙏 Randy Lenna Schmidt for his killer road side photo that became the album cover (and Robert Schmidt for passing it on to me and also feedback on a couple tunes where he provided invaluable input. Not too shabby for some Cowboys and Riggers.😉) Thank you both. And special thanks to my entire family for putting up with my music hobby but especially Tana Cugnet, David and Izzy. I’m so grateful to each of you. I’m also incredibly fortunate to get to play some live shows at times with Dion Hrynewich, Morgan Turk, Richie Pollack and Todd Milleker. We haven’t played together since last July at The Gateway Music Festival with us all going different directions and my schedule these past few months. I’m looking forward to us getting back to playing some live shows and hopefully that means we might still hit the stage a couple times this summer and into the Fall. The opening track “Dirt Road” is our first co-write as a band if you can believe it! And as many do, came about humbly and out of nowhere as Morgan was doing a finger picking exercise one night before a practice and I jumped on it and said keep playing that! So if you know them congratulate them please as they are not just all great guys and great musicians, but they’re actually now great songwriters too! Enjoy. If you’d told me 7 years ago that after an almost 20 year hiatus from making or playing music of any kind I’d be writing, recording and releasing an original song or two I would have laughed at that idea or notion. So it makes even more unbelievable to me to think and say that this is album number 8 in that period of time! Mind blown!🤯 Good luck to all the Farmers with seeding and planting this Spring. Late start for us in Saskatchewan but it will get in. Stay safe. Wishing you all a good crop. Appreciate everyone who takes the time to give this album a spin and thank you all for being a part of my journey. 🤟🙏 Available on all streaming platforms today. music.apple.com/ca/album/raven… open.spotify.com/album/6xiOict6…

@FoodProfessor @markbratrud When asked how people will understand how the Sovereign Wealth Fund helps them today Carney’s answer is “…I’m looking forward to CTV explaining it to them”

To my X followers, I’ve worked with the media for nearly 25 years. For most of that time, the relationship was professional and balanced. But in recent years, something has shifted. I am increasingly concerned about the state of our democracy — particularly how media, in general, are informing Canadians about food policy, food inflation, and economic policy. I now find myself learning more about Canada’s economy and policy changes from American outlets than from Canadian ones. Much of our national coverage feels reactive, shallow, or overly fixated on partisan narratives rather than substantive policy analysis. What troubles me most is the lack of scrutiny applied evenly across governments and institutions. For example, when the Bank of Canada suggested that Ottawa’s counter-tariffs contributed to food inflation, only one major outlet — Bloomberg — gave it meaningful coverage. The grocery benefit program received very little examination regarding how it would be financed. It took days before anyone pressed for clarity. During the latest spike in food inflation, several outlets turned to the same small circle of commentators who dismissed any potential role of federal policy — carbon pricing, GST holidays, counter-tariffs — despite mounting evidence that policy decisions can and do affect food prices. Instead of investigating structural drivers of inflation, much of the coverage focuses on fact-checking opposition rhetoric, even though the opposition has not governed since 2015. Scrutiny should be applied equally — not selectively. Quebec media, while imperfect, appear to have maintained a broader range of debate. In much of the rest of Canada, I see increasing concentration of voices — often from the same region, Ontario, often reflecting similar policy perspectives — and less diversity of thought grounded in empirical research. This isn’t about partisan politics. It’s about accountability, transparency, and healthy democratic discourse. Media are under financial pressure — that’s real. But public trust depends on independence and depth. Subsidy structures, incentives, and newsroom economics all matter. Canada deserves stronger policy journalism — especially on food affordability, supply chains, and economic resilience. We need more data-driven analysis, more intellectual diversity, and more courage to ask uncomfortable questions — regardless of which party is in power. Until that happens, Canadians would be wise to diversify their news sources and think critically about what they’re being told — and what they’re not.

It was a well written speech, good politics at home. But not what the country needed. The CUSMA review starts in 5 months. No 'middle power' arrangement comes even close to that economic opportunity and risk for Canada. CUSMA, not politics at home has to be the PM's #1 priority

Will be on ⁦@evanbrayshow⁩ ⁦@CKOMNews⁩ and ⁦@CJMENews⁩ at about 930 with singer/songwriter ⁦@dancugnet⁩ to talk about this song we co-wrote The Graburn Letters and other Mostly True Stories - Dan's brand new record.

Grateful to have a co-write w/ Dan on his new record. It’s called the Graburn Letters. It’s about the murder of the only NWMP stationed at Fort Walsh to die in the line - Cst. Marmaduke Graburn. (Nov-1879) It’s told via letters exchanged by principals in the (his)story. @RCMPSK

Very pleased to release my 7th album today. This collection of songs are all based on true stories & the majority of them right here in SE Saskatchewan with many from the Weyburn area. Many of us grew up hearing snippets of some of these stories from older generations or neighbours & the local history from around here. Some of these tales are from over a hundred years ago & some in just the last few years. I’ve always been drawn to stories like this & story songs themselves. Due to much of it being verbal history, slightly different versions or twists on it would tend to emerge with the passage of time as each teller might get something wrong or change it. Our memories change, people embellish or exaggerate, & it’s really all but impossible to ever catch & incorporate every variable. The old saying goes that there’s usually two sides to a story and often there might be a hundred or a thousand. “Five Busted Ribs” came about from a group chat amongst friends one day, and a certain tall Dutchman from the Griffin area many would know, relaying parts of his near death experience on a trail ride down by Gladmar from a few years ago. “Susan” is the story of the death of a bachelor & his young housekeeper in an old homestead fire under suspicious and odd circumstances that was a story I heard growing up. Snippets of a dark event shrouded in a mystery, and only a small iron cross marking a babies grave now to point to any event ever happening at all. Just down the road from where I grew up. “The Graburn Letters” was a poem written by a former politician turned cowboy and now songwriter Mr. @BradWall306. It captures an event near Fort Walsh in the earliest days of the Mounties that he sent to me. The story of one of the constables there that evolved in the form of letters between him, his mother and his commanding officer depicting that time. Some back and forth between Brad and I clipped, edited, tweaked and added the music for what has become a sad but lovely telling of Constable Graburn and his untimely demise as a member of the North West Mounted Police. Terri Harris-Strunk added her talents which without, this song was incomplete. Being able to co-write & create a song with Brad is an honour and a gift. Thank you for the opportunity to help create and bring this song to life. 🙏 @RCMPSK Also, thanks to Lorne Ebel for discussing his memories & also sharing old newspaper clippings from some of the events around an incident that culminated between two of the Ebel’s neighbours Ward and Rudolph many years ago in a song I called “Halbrite Shootout”. This was another one as the crow flies just a few miles from my yard now & there’s still bullet holes in the side of an old grey shack as a silent reminder that it ever happened. Like all these songs on this album some of this is fact, some of it is speculation, and much of it is just attempts at filling in the gaps for the things we will never know or understand. So yes, there are many liberties taken with each one of these songs to helpfully tell a story, share some history but ultimately create something entertaining. I hope you enjoy all of them and in a future post I can give a little more background to the other songs in this compilation. I thank the incredible & gracious Bart McKay for his care and work producing. He continues to be an absolute master at his craft which you can hear in every one of these songs. It is a privilege to get to do this with him. Huge thank you to the session performing artists on these songs. As always their contributions & sum of the parts are so much greater than anything I could imagine. Each one of them elevates every song they’re a part of. Jenee Fleenor, Murray Pulver, Chad Melchert, Travis Switzer, Eddy Dunlap, Randy Miller Gord Maxwell, Dean McNeill, Dave Anderson, Terri Harris-Strunk and Bart McKay. Thank you everyone for listening & I hope you enjoy these “Mostly True Stories”. Available on all streaming platforms today. music.apple.com/ca/album/mostl…

Today, Canada’s Fallen will be honoured and remembered. Please join us in observing a moment of silence at 11:00 am to mark the sacrifice of the many who have fallen in the service of their country. #RemembranceDay #CanadaRemembers

An arrest has been made in relation to the shooting incident that took the life of Weyburn's Tanya Myers

On April 28th, we can choose hope over fear.

"The world's best, right here, battling it out in Weyburn" The second annual Outlaw Buckers and Oil Kings Match Saddle Bronc Riding returns to Weyburn discoverweyburn.com/articles/match…

We’ve all had a buddy who’s been there. Life lessons: 1, Don’t call your ex 2, Don’t vote for Mark Carney 📱⬇️

@EScrimshaw @bruce_arthur

@bruce_arthur It’s only a bad instinct if you ignore the direct point in Carney’s answer where he says that photos being taken isn’t proof of a meeting and that he’s never had a sit down meeting with them, none of which is disproven by the Globe’s rebuttal It’s bad journalism

Underneath all the polling strength, and his strengths when it comes to the economy in a time of economic turmoil, Carney has shown some bad political instincts. This is another.

Our farmers feed the world, but they can’t do it alone. It’s time to clear the path to market, cut the bureaucracy, and build the infrastructure we need—before the world passes us by. realagriculture.com/2025/04/port-d…

No one outside of the prairies is talking about this. It’s big.

Come meet with your Souris Moose Mountain @CPC_HQ candidate Steven Bonk this Thursday April 10th from 5:30 to 7:00 at the Weyburn Travelodge.

@BradWall306 Thanks for the timeline cleanse!

Today the election seemed a thousand miles away. I guess maybe it is. Springtime in SW Saskatchewan

The last decade has definitely been “experienced differently” depending on where you live in Canada!

GUNTER: Carney can't deliver strong economy with anti-oil, anti-gas stance torontosun.com/opinion/column…

RT @incugneto: Please take a couple minutes to read this article about a vital project for Saskatchewan and our vital Energy sector that is…