Yellowknife (Feb 18/05) - Murray McLauchlan isn't that good at remembering dates, but he knows he's been to Yellowknife lots of times.

He also doesn't tour as much as he did in the past, so he can spend as much time with his teenaged son as possible.

Singer/songwriter Murray McLauchlan returns to Yellowknife this weekend to perform at the Gumboots' spring concert.

But a request from the Gumboots to be part of their 15th annual spring concert had him packing his bags for a weekend in the north.

"They tell me the town's changed in the last little while and now it's full of Japanese tourists who are out there watching the Northern Lights, hoping to get pregnant," said McLauchlan, with a laugh. "I have to see that ritual."

Yellowknife is definitely on the singer/songwriter's radar, not only because of the Folk on the Rocks festival, but also because of our float plane base.

One of the first things McLauchlan did when he recouped some cash from his music was take flying lessons.

He earned his private licence in 1973 and his commercial licence the next year.

In 1986 he flew a Cessna 185 float plane across the country and into the Arctic for a CBC special called Floating Over Canada.

A great experience, he said, but not one he'd want to repeat.

"We had a schedule to keep so I spent a lot of time bashing through bad weather in a little airplane," he said. "And to fly hundreds of hours in a noisy float plane that's cramped with all your belongings stuffed into the back.... After a while you think, wouldn't it be nice to be sitting in an airliner with a drink in your hand. It's romantic, but only up to a point."

He has the same practical opinion of the music business, one he tries to get across to young musicians starting out.

"It's the same kind of advice you give to people who are buying a house," he said.

"Buy a house because you're going to live in it. Don't buy it because you think it's an investment."

"It's not a job, it's an avocation," McLauchlan continued. "It's an extremely difficult path to pursue and be successful at and you have to be prepared for a lot of disappointment, a lot of letdowns and a lot of dreams you're not going to necessarily realize."

Even though he will be sharing the NACC stage with McLauchlan this weekend, Gumboot Chic Callas remains in awe of the man.

"In my mind, he's one of Canada's greatest songwriters," said Callas.

"We've got lots of people writing songs, but not many of that stature."

McLauchlan's career in music began in the late 1960s, when folk music enjoyed several years in the spotlight.

At that time, folk's popularity soon spawned commercialized knock-offs, something that happens all the time in the music business.

"In my opinion, rap and hip hop started out as a kind of urban folk music, and it's morphed in the last 10 years into songs about lifestyles and riches," he said.

"Now it's another form of pop music."

But folk music continues to have a steady fan base, even if it's not top of the pops, and McLauchlan said that's due to the nature of the music.

"Folk isn't driven by the same considerations as pop music," he said.

After a few years pop songs can sound dated, said McLauchlan, but fans of folk, or of singer-songwriters in other genres, tend to keep listening as the artist develops.

"You're writing about things that are germane to people's lives. There's some heart to it. There's some meat to it. It's about something."

A few of his well-known tunes are "Farmer's Song," "No Change in Me," "Whispering Rain" and "Down by the Henry Moore."

McLauchlan's latest project is touring with Lunch at Allen's, a sort of Canadian singer/songwriter supergroup made up of McLauchlan, Ian Thomas, Marc Jordan and Cindy Church.

He's also two thirds of the way into his next solo album, and a compilation album of his career with True North records.

McLauchlan performs with The Gumboots tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m. at NACC.