Robbie Robertson of The Band talks 'Testimony' at Wordfest 2016 in Calgary

In November, 2016, Robbie Robertson's autobiography (Testimony) was published. He toured across North America to promote the book and in early December Robbie came to Calgary. CKUA's David Ward served as host for the evening and we are delighted to share the audio with you.

Robbie Robertson delights in telling stories and in Calgary his presentation comprised eight distinct sections:

00:00 - 7:10 Robbie recalls the time spent growing up on the Six Nations Reserve in Southern Ontario
07:10 - 16:35 Robbie's first bands, meeting Ronnie Hawkins and Levon Helm, his first trip to the southern states
16:35 - 24:20 meeting Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson, and bringing them into The Hawks
24:20 - 31:10 life on the road as a musician in the mid-'60s (in particular, a hilarious story about the Skyline Lounge in Fort Worth)
31:10 - 41:15 working with Bob Dylan during his electric tours in 1965-1966
41:15 - 48:10 moving to Woodstock, NY, forming The Band, recording the album Music From Big Pink
48:10 - 1:04:30 The Band's live debut in San Francisco, working with a hypnotist to overcome exhaustion
1:04:30 - 1:16:40 the challenges of substance abuse in the early '70s, The Last Waltz concert, working with director Martin Scorsese to make the documentary

CKUA would like to thank:
Wordfest http://wordfest.com/session/robbie-ro...
Mount Royal University
Penguin Random House Canada

for allowing CKUA to record, broadcast, and share this evening with Robbie Robertson.