Yukoner picks 5 songs that will take you back to the Maritimes

This story is part of a web series called Music that Matters with CBC Yukon's Airplay host Dave White. Dave sits down with Yukoners to talk about five pieces of music that inspire them. 

Blake Rogers didn't have a choice when it came to selecting his five songs for Music That Matters. As a member in good standing of the Yukon East Coast Cultural Club, he was expected to go back to his Nova Scotia roots.

Mind you, that was easy for him to do.

"Honestly, I was kind of happy I had to narrow it down to East Coast related tunes because, man, it was tough enough just to do that," he said.

Rogers's first selection could not be more East Coast — Stan Rogers and his classic tune of perseverance, Mary Ellen Carter.

"One of the earliest memories I have is rocking out at about four years old to my parents' copy of Fogarty's Cove," he said.

Rogers could have chosen any number of tunes from that classic record, but the theme of the song Mary Ellen Carter gave it the edge.

"It really encapsulates the hope you have in the East Coast. It talks about community rallying together when bad things happen, and we've seen that in spades over the past year ... it really is about community coming together."

Rogers stayed firmly on the East Coast when he picked The Mull River Shuffle from The Rankin Family as his second choice, a song he said was always on the tape deck in the family car when they drove to North Sydney to visit family.

"Over the years it kind of morphed into a song you played at three in the morning with your buddies and the spoons would come out," he said. "It's one of those classics, when this tune comes on everybody just flips the switch."

Irish band The Pogues may not be from Canada's East Coast, but Rogers said the band's Thousands Are Sailing expresses themes that manage to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

"I've always been a really big fan of history," he said. "This song really hits home for me just because I remember listening to it when I was in Korea teaching English over there for a year. There were a lot of East Coasters over there, too.

"It just reminds you that you do have a community worldwide. We always try to absorb whatever we can and be part of any community we're in, but we always retain who were are too."

When Rogers decided to move to the Yukon years ago, his friends threw a goodbye part for him and, naturally, Stompin' Tom Connors' Long Gone To The Yukon featured prominently.

"I remember hearing snippets about the Yukon in the song. It intrigued me at the time, but it also whet my appetite for what was to come."

Rogers said he had Home For A Rest by Spirit Of The West on the list because, even if the band isn't from the East Coast, they certainly captured the down home mood with this song.

"Whenever it comes on, wherever it comes on, it always equals a good time," he said. "If you haven't gone to the gym that day, you're definitely sweating bullets by the time this one is over."