Airdrie music teacher Corbie Dorner tells his students that their art doesn’t need to impress anyone—it just needs to be honest.
“What they love or what they create is enough,” he said. “And that doesn't need to be more. It’s enough—like just to have it and to share it.”
This summer, the Bert Church High School music teacher was nominated for Blues Recording of the Year at the 2025 YYC Music Awards.
The YYC Music Awards, Calgary’s premier music event, shines a spotlight on artists from one of Canada’s most vibrant and eclectic music scenes. The awards celebrate musicians who embrace Calgary as home—entertaining and supporting its arts and culture.
Nominees for Blues Recording of the Year include:
-
Malcolm. – When You’re Ready ft. Carter Blatz
-
Marcus Trummer – From The Start
-
Mark Dillon – Ghost Train and other Scary Tales Part 1
-
Ollee Owens – Nowhere to Hide
The nomination recognizes Dorner’s self-titled EP Corbie Dorner, a four-track release recorded during reading week in 2024 at the home studio of Calgary pianist and producer Keith Floen.
“Keith had pushed me to do some recording, so he's like, let's get a couple originals and we'll do a couple covers,” Dorner said. “We recorded all of the piano and all of the vocals for all four songs in a couple hours.”
Floen has worked with artists including Ian Tyson and Tom Jackson and performs regularly with the Travelling Mabels.
“The biggest part was just to kind of start putting my music out there, and myself as an artist,” Dorner said. “I’ve been known as a dueling piano player or the piano director at Aussie Rules Piano Bar in Calgary for over a decade now, and that's the majority of where I play.”
Dorner said the YYC Music Awards submission came at the encouragement of Cindy McLeod, founder of the Calgary International Blues Festival.
“Cindy heard it,” he said. “She started giving me some airplay. She asked me to open the Blues Festival week last summer. And she’s always just been encouraging me and reminding me—don’t forget your music, and keep pushing your music.”
That message stuck. Dorner said students at Bert Church supported the EP by streaming it and nudging him to follow through with the YYCMA application deadline.
He submitted the nomination in spring and forgot about it—until a text arrived from his friend Carlos, who works with the Rocky Mountain Symphony Orchestra.
“I completely forgot about it,” Dorner said. “He texted me at 12:30 in the afternoon, saying, ‘Congrats on your YYC nomination.’ I’m like, what?”
He said it wasn’t just his own excitement but the response from current and former students that stood out most.
“I've had kids that I taught even 13 years ago who are not teenagers anymore—all adults—reaching out, saying, congratulations. This is great,” he said.
For Dorner, music is as much about connection as it is about craft.
“There are people out there who want to hear it or need to hear it,” he said. “And there are people out there who will love it as much as you loved making it. Performance is about connection.”
He added: “It is anxious to share… whether it's a cover or it's an original, you're sharing yourself. But what I've been reassured by family and friends and my wife is—share your music or share your art.”
Asked to offer advice for aspiring artists, Dorner said: “If I love it, that’s enough, I think. And I need—I want—my students… to realize that they are enough.”
Dorner’s musical background includes formal jazz training and mentorship from some of Calgary’s top blues musicians, including the late Johnny V (John Mills).
“Johnny would talk to me like I wouldn't let other people talk to me about music,” Dorner said. “I get more defensive—except when he did it. I was like, okay, yep. Then pay attention and work on it.”
“He never made blues easy. It was always just a challenge and work to learn it,” he said. “It’s three chords? It’s simple? No, no, no—use your ears and use your brain.”
Dorner said what sets blues apart is its emotional accessibility.
“What I love about it is the expression of emotion through vocal performance or the improv aspect of it,” he said. “Jazz is sometimes considered harder—it might not appeal to such a broad audience—whereas blues is, I would say, more accessible.”
As a teacher, Dorner said the joy of music starts early. His wife, an elementary music teacher, “is a rock star at her school,” he said.
“She’s fostering that love of music and love of learning and getting them to perform. I get to take part in those with her and just see her shine.”
He said performing outside the classroom reinforces that passion for his students.
“I do it because I love it,” Dorner said. “It’s cool that I get paid for it sometimes, but I also do it because I love it. If it wasn't the passion, I wouldn't do it anymore. Nobody wants to do a job they don't enjoy.”
“At the high school level… sometimes we get hung up on the performance level,” he said. “You be your best, and that's good enough on any given day. Even if your best isn’t what it was a couple days ago, that’s okay.”
“We remember that we love music, and that's why we do this—not for anything else.”
Asked whether the Blues Brothers soundtrack counts as “true blues,” Dorner didn’t hesitate.
“Every single one of them—whether it's Dan Aykroyd or Donald 'Duck' Dunn or Matt ‘Guitar’ Murphy—the band are all heavyweight musicians in the movie. Ray Charles is in the movie. Cab Calloway,” he said.
“You can’t say it doesn’t have support from the blues community.”
“People might be like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s just a spoof.’ No, it was,” he said. “It has genuine musical merit. The joy that they have when they're performing… that is what music should be.”
Sign up to get the latest local news headlines delivered directly to your inbox every afternoon.
Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@discoverairdrie.com. You can also message and follow us on Twitter: @AIR1061FM.
DiscoverAirdrie encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the DiscoverAirdrie app.