Pat Braden is a natural storyteller.

He’s also a singer, songwriter, spoken word artist, author of kids stories and Chapman Stick composer.

Braden has been documenting the history of Northern music through interviews, collaborations and song for the last 25 years. His website and podcast Musicians of the Midnight Sun looks at how modern music in the North started, how it has grown, and continues to influence the music of today.

Braden grew up in Yellowknife in the 1960s and became interested in music when listening to his mother play the organ in their local church. He started playing drums in the school band at age 13, eventually joining his mother at local community events.

Braden switched to bass guitar and started playing with older musicians in the area. Everything from folk, to country and western, to rock. He cut his teeth early and learned about the importance of music, its history and the power of storytelling in the isolated Northern culture of Yellowknife in the 1970s.

While learning about the current scene he started taking an interest in the music of the past. Through the mentorship, patience of those who came before, he learned the art of storytelling through music.. Most of the knowledge came from real-life stories, how the Northern music scene got started and helped influence other cultures around the county and the world.

“It was a cultural snapshot of the time,” Braden said. “I didn’t realize it but I was documenting the heyday of the 70s music scene in Yellowknife.”

Braden’s father was a square dance caller, exposing the family to all different kinds of music each night in the community.. Locals got together at dances and community events and shared their stories through song.

It was traditional music one night, then contemporary radio hits the next.

Braden would eventually study music in Edmonton before returning home to document his own musical upbringing.

In 2004 the musician began to document and interview the musical history of the North. He started a project called Musicians of the Midnight Sun to tell the stories of those who were playing in the 50s, 60s and 70s. He wanted to identify the parallels between the scene in the North and in the rest of North America.

“I wanted to put all the information in one place,” Braden said. “I wanted it to be accessible, free and ongoing.”

Braden kept playing, collecting information and writing about it on his Musiciansofthemidnightsun.com website. He wrote a sequel to his solo show called Shack Tales about growing up in Yellowknife, where he and his family now live. He wanted an updated account of music life in the Northwest Territories and what it was like trying to make a living from music in Canada.

His podcast and main reference point for music of the 50s, 60s and 70s in the Northern territories is www.musiciansofthemidnightsun.com where he documents musicians here and gone. He’s trying to find a connection between the music he remembers as a kid, the music he played as a young man and the history behind it.

William Tagoona is a featured artist on the Musicians of the Midnight Sun podcast. He’s a singer and songwriter who grew up in Baker Lake, when it was still part of the NWT. He was surrounded by and absorbed Inuit music as a young man. He grew up on drum dancing and throat singing and it had a huge impact on him and his music.

His father would play albums by George Beverly Shea and Wilf Carter, the popular music of the day.

“How he got the records, I'll never know but we had those and he had them playing in the house,” Tagoona said. “So there was always music in our house.”

When Tagoona was 12, The Beatles were playing through the airwaves, and he joined a band started by his uncle and drummer. had made their way through the radio airwaves and people were starting to cover their songs. His uncle and brother had started playing together and found a drummer. They put a band together and called themselves The Harpoons.

This was around the same time Tagoona was sent to a residential school. LIfe was hard,and Tagoona didn’t speak any English. He saw some of his new friends being strapped and they were forced to endure other cruelties at the hands of the staff.

“They were really tough on us at that time, you know because we don't have mom or dad

to protect us,” Tagoona said. “So they can basically treat you any way they want.”

Music became a salvation for Tagoona and his friends. They started learning how to play, bringing their own voices to a “band” and others started taking notice. They were one of the first rock and roll bands in the North, with electric instruments, all playing together.

“We didn't realize it at the time, we were just having fun. But to the students, what we were doing meant something to them, a lot more than just the band playing,” Tagoona said. “And many of the people that went

to Churchill in those years, still say today that it was “The Harpoons” that made life livable in Churchill.”

Other artists featured on the Musicians of the Midnight Sun podcast and website include Philip Stobo, a Yellowknife transplant who moved to the territory from Glasgow, Scotland at age 15. He started the band Mother, Flag and Country made up of young musicians who reflected the cosmopolitan population of Yellowknife at that time. He learned from players from the Filipino, Inuit, French Canadian and Scottish communities.

Pat Braden’s life work has become more significant in the wake of the internet. His collection of interviews and photos have brought life to the oral and musical traditions of the North. He’s happy he’s able to bring this understanding to a new generation of artists, so they can learn about the past and help keep the music scenes original.

Over the years, he’s noticed what he calls a “crooked style” when it comes to musicians past and present. Each player, young and old, has a version of traditional songs, done their way. These are songs they learned and know by memory, with a few added notes here and there.

These “crooked styles” have now defined the sound of the North. Their own original versions of folk songs, with beats left out or added, like improvised ingredients in an old recipe.

“These tribal time signatures are in their DNA,” Braden said. “They don’t necessarily hear music in traditional 4/4 time.”

To learn more about the history of music in the North, visit www.musiciansofthemidnightsun.com.