Edmonton Folk Music Festival- Bluegrass, Old-time, ‘Grassicana, 2023

The Edmonton Folk Music Festival lineup always delivers, and while their definition of folk music is a bit more liberal than mine, I’ve never come away from this meticulously organized festival disappointed. Yes, sometimes the crowd ‘gets’ to me, but almost always the diverse music presented more than makes up for my failures as a…

Rate this:

Mike Tod- Mike Tod review

Mike Tod Mike Tod LP MikeTod.com I initially ignored the PR email touting Mike Tod’s album. The information was so sparse I had little reason to explore the barebones download-only files—no notes, no credits, and as minimal a bio as I’ve seen. Nudged by a follow-up, a bit of internet sleuthing led me to learn…

Rate this:

Steve Dawson- Eyes Closed, Dreaming review

Steve Dawson Eyes Closed, Dreaming Black Hen Music Multi-instrumentalist Steve Dawson’s third release within a year, Eyes Closed, Dreaming may just be the strongest album of the British Columbia-Nashville artist’s lengthy career, and I don’t say that lightly. While the majority of Dawson’s many albums have seen him feature original compositions more frequently than covers,…

Rate this:

Kate Weekes- Better Days Ahead review

Kate Weekes Better Days Ahead KateWeekes.com An old-timey/folk album built around clawhammer banjo and fiddle? Yes, please. Rendered during and inspired by the pandemic challenges of the past few years, Kate Weekes’ fourth album finds the Quebec folk artist stretching herself in unexpected directions. Having learned the clawhammer banjo during the time of COVID safeguards…

Rate this:

Maggie Fraser- The Way That I Wish It Was review

Maggie Fraser The Way That I Wish It Was MaggieFraserMusic.com Before one can express their own words, they need to listen. I suspect Toronto’s Maggie Fraser is a very acute listener. The songs on her debut album The Way That I Wish It Was display keen details, the type one acquires through a life of…

Rate this:

Maria Dunn- Live at Festival Place, Sherwood Park, AB 2023 January 28

My horrible snapshots notwithstanding, it was a beautiful evening of folk music in Sherwood Park last evening as Maria Dunn (finally, after two-years of pandemic delays) celebrated the release of her now Juno Award-winning album, Joyful Banner Blazing (my review of the album is here.) Dunn and her large band complete with horn section and…

Rate this:

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),…

Rate this:

Kim Beggs- Steel and Wool review

Kim Beggs Steel and Wool http://www.KimBeggs.com With five previous albums, Kim Beggs has established herself of one of Canada’s great true-folk (as opposed to nü-folk, pop-folk, dance-folk, folktronica, post-punk gnarr folk…) artists. She remains unjustly underappreciated, in my opinion. Long based in the Yukon, Kim Beggs writes and sings straight from her gut and heart…

Rate this:

Just A Season- Leave to Come Home review

Just a Season Leave to Come Home JustaSeason.ca Northern Electric “Just A Season is a folk-rock band from Vancouver led by Scott Smith. The band’s sound recalls an era when folk, rock, and country met in a sun-baked embrace.” Nailed it: an ideal two-sentence introduction to Just A Season. All I had to do was…

Rate this:

Lynn Jackson- I Am Only The Moon review

Lynn Jackson I Am Only the Moon LynnJackson.net Select musical artists never disappoint. Kim Beggs. Maria Dunn. Pharis and Jason Romero. Ann Vriend. John Reischman. Those are just some of the western Canadians who fit the bill. Heading east to Ontario, one encounters Lynn Jackson. Never fails. I’ve written about Lynn Jackson’s albums several times,…

Rate this: