Steve Dawson & the Telescope 3- Phantom Threshold review

Steve Dawson & the Telescope 3 Phantom Threshold Black Hen Steve Dawson has been creating and recording innovative folk roots music for twenty-five years, and during that time—and notably the last decade—has seldom repeated himself. With the release of Phantom Threshold, he has paired with Jay Bellerose (drums and percussion), Jeremy Holmes (basses, including URB),…

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John Wort Hannam- Long Haul review

John Wort Hannam Long Haul Black Hen Music Eight albums. Time flies. John Wort Hannam has been on his roots-fueled troubadour journey for most of two decades, spinning songwriting gold from the chaff of the lives he has encountered, both in reality and imagination. From early masterpieces like “Scotsman’s Bluff” and “Pier 21” to his…

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Kat Danser- One Eye Open review

Kat Danser One Eye Open BlackHenMusic.com KatDanser.com Edmonton-based, award-winning songwriter, guitarist, vocalist, and all-around force-of-nature Kat Danser returns with a wide-ranging and sometimes swinging collection of electrifying blues music. Previously reviewed HERE and HERE. Danser covers much of what we have come to know as the blues spectrum, and—as she characteristically does —extends herself into…

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Autumn 2019 Blues releases, reviewed

Several fine blues albums have made their way to me these last couple months, and today is the day I finally share my thoughts about them. Apologies to the PR folks, labels, and musicians for the delay. First up: Paul Gabriel Man of Many Blues Smoke Ring Records PaulGabriel.net There are no shortage of blues…

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Kat Danser- Goin’ Gone review

Kat Danser Goin’ Gone Black Hen Music KatDanser.com “Jumpin’ on the IV and II, hanging on the voodoo groove,” Dr. Kat Danser sings just a few moments into Goin’ Gone, her fifth album and second in a row in partnership with Steve Dawson—and first for his Black Hen label. With the declaration made within “Voodoo…

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Matt Patershuk- Same As I Ever Have Been review

Matt Patershuk Same As I Ever Have Been Black Hen Music Don’t accuse Alberta’s Matt Patershuk of resting on laurels well-deserved. While his previous album I Was So Fond of You was one of the finest country albums of 2016—regardless country of origin—this time out La Glace’s great hope has injected a whole lot of…

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The Original Jenny Whiteley review

Jenny Whiteley The Original Jenny Whiteley Black Hen Music I first encountered Ontario’s Jenny Whiteley as a member of Heartbreak Hill, a bluegrass band featuring Dottie Cormier, Christopher Quinn, Victor Bateman, and Danny Whiteley. I don’t recall too much about their performance at that Blueberry Bluegrass fest appearance outside the impact of a single Whiteley…

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Matt Patershuk review

Man, Matt Patershuk is good. I’m not sure exactly when I first heard of Patershuk, but I’m guessing it was during an episode of CKUA’s Wide Cut Country a couple years back. Back in January or so of this year, I was listening to the radio and a four song set was played-some combination of Corb…

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Jim Byrnes and Jeff Morris reviews

238 columns, somewhere around 500 albums and even more live shows, with today’s column Roots Music has been promoting my kind of music in Central Alberta for 10 years. I’ve made mistakes, I’ve made a couple enemies, and I’ve fostered connections I would never have experienced otherwise. Some labels have disappeared while others remain viable. The landscape…

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Mary Kastle- Beneath the Folds

I’ve listened to Mary Kastle’s album several time this summer but only truly appreciated it this past week. One of the reasons music is so important to me is that it is so attached- to me- to where I am when I hear it: mentally, physically, socially… Sometimes music has to find you where you…

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