The story of this influential Manitoba country rock told in new book

The story of the C-Weed Band is told in a book that was recently released.

The story of an influential Manitoba country-rock band has been collected in a new book.

‘The C-Weed Band Story: Magic in the Music” was officially launched on Friday and tells the story of Errol Ranville, his brothers, and the band they formed.

“It’s more than a book,” Ranville said. “The band is more than a band. It’s more than music.”

He said their song ‘Run as One’ has been called an Indigenous anthem and has been used for gatherings in the years since its 2010 release.

The band taught themselves to play on a broken five-string guitar while growing up in Eddystone, Man. Ranville formed his first band with his brothers Wally and Don in 1965, which was called C-Weed and the Weeds. The name was changed to the C-Weed Band in 1975, and they released their first album in 1980, which included their first hit Evangeline.

The band was nominated for several Juno Awards in the country music category in the 1980s and has won multiple Manitoba Country Music Awards and performed as far away as China.

“They showed that dreams can come true even from the most humble beginnings,” said Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Garrison Settee.

Settee said C-Weed is also influential for Indigenous musicians, achieving success when it was difficult for artists to break through.

“They became ambassadors of Indigenous music, earning Juno Award nominations there was no category for Indigenous music in at the time,” he said. “They were right up there with all of the rest of the musicians. So that was quite the accomplishment.”

Local music historian John Einarson helped put together the book, with Ranville noting Einarson spent over 20 hours speaking with him to help shape the story.

The book is available in book stores and online.