Alberta singer/songwriter Corb Lund said although he’s thrilled to be performing at the 2010 Winter Games in the resort, he’s still going to be mourning a part of the “old” Whistler he remembers.

“I really like the old school Olympic events,” he said of the Games. “I like to watch biathlon and the downhill skiing. In fact, I went to Calgary to see the Games when they were hosted there.

“But as excited as I am, I’m still in mourning for the Boot Pub,” he said in reference to a once-popular Whistler drinking establishment and musical venue that was closed and torn down a few years ago. It was named for the numerous pairs of ski boots that decorated the dark interior of the haunt.

Lund used to perform often at The Boot when he was the leader of the indie punk band The Smalls, who recorded four albums and garnered a cult following of fans in Western Canada and abroad before disbanding in 2001.

“The owner of the Boot — Paul — is a good buddy of mine,” he said. “In fact, I played there so often that they took a pair of my old cowboy boots and put them up with the ski boots.”

And while the Smalls were a punk band with jazz and western undertones playing in the resort’s beer-soaked pubs, Lund returns to Whistler as a roots-country act performing Friday (Feb. 19) at 4:45 p.m. in Whistler Village Square as part of the Whistler Live festivities for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

Lund said his critically acclaimed brand of western roots music will be right at home among the Whistler Live schedule of hip-hop, soul and Canadian rock.

“I’ll be like a breath of fresh air,” he said. “I think there’s always a taste for acoustic music.”

His unique brand of cowboy storytelling has earned Lund a whole new set of loyal fans who eat up the slow riffs, tales of the open plains and emotion that’s true to the soul.

Lund said he rarely pays attention to trends in music these days, or what’s hot on the radio.

“All that stuff on the radio is just the McDonald’s of music,” he said. “Most of the guys you hear on the radio don’t even write their own songs. Country is in the same state as rock music. You really need to dig around to find the good stuff.”

A fourth-generation Albertan from a long line of ranchers and cowboys, Lund said it all comes down to authenticity.

“It’s like in hip-hop, if you’re out there saying you’re a gangster, but you’re not — well then it’s a bit of a pose,” he said. “People pick up on that. In the end, it comes down to the honesty in the songwriting.”

Lund’s honest approach to country and roots music songwriting has earned him more than 22 awards, including Canadian Country Music Association Awards for 2008 Roots Artist of the Year and Juno Awards in 2006 for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year.

But there may still be some punk rock still lurking under the cowboy hat.

Lund said there could just be a The Smalls reunion in the future — maybe.

“We’ve been talking about a reunion tour,” he said. “But so far it’s just an idea. We did that punk thing for more than a decade, and now maybe I’m just not as aggressive anymore.”

Punk rock’s loss is western-roots music’s gain.

Lund performs a free show at 4:45 p.m. in Whistler Village Square on Feb. 19. Visit www.whistler2010.com for a full Whistler Live schedule.