Jim Bryson 
Who: Jim Bryson
What: Superb, rootsy, alt-country-folk-rock
Where: Ottawa, ON
To Contact: , www.maplemusic.com.

If we were back in the days when promising artists were courted by major labels with honourable, long-term intentions, Jim Bryson's dance card would be full. But, as Bob Dylan says, things have changed. Formerly with Ottawa pop-punksters Punchbuggy, Bryson released his excellent debut solo CD The Occasionals last year. The title refers to his purposefully impermanent band, whose roster on this record reads like an Ottawa indie all-star line-up: Ian LeFeuvre (Starling) on guitar and backup vocals, Peter Von Althen (Starling, Cash Brothers) on drums, Punchbuggy pal Darren Hore on bass and Tom Thompson on pedal steel. Produced by Bill Stunt of CBC Radio's "Bandwidth", the album trucks off on a rootsier path. Bryson's husky vocals bring a smoke-dried wistfulness (think Whiskeytown) to songs like "Without Piano" and "Travelled By Land"; "Soupy Sales" and "February" are scrappy alt-country rockers (think Zuma-era Neil Young & Crazy Horse) driven to the edge of the town by LeFeuvre's crunching lead guitar work; and "26 Miles By Car" lingers in an eerie starkness, a passing glimpse of lives caught in the high beams. "I'm not much of a storyteller," Bryson says of his tendency to avoid traditional narrative in his songs. "They're little snapshots of feelings and whatever's going on." With songwriting of this calibre and a band this hot, you'll find yourself spinning this disc more than occasionally. As long as indie artists like Jim Bryson keep putting out quality music like this, there's still hope. Highly recommended.

Exit This Side 
Who: Exit This Side
What: Energetic, catchy, hard-edged rock
Where: Vancouver, BC
To Contact: Bruce Levens, Maxam Music, 3955 Gravely Street, Burnaby, BC, V5C 3T4 (604) 293-2252, FAX (604) 291-6909, , , www.exitthisside.com.

Any chef worth his salt will tell you that the secret to a great soup is not in the spices, but in the stock. It would seem that Vancouver's Exit This Side has been reading from that same culinary page, because that knowledge is what elevates them above the one-dimensional sludge that smothers most heavy rock bands. Though they spice up their distorted guitars, pounding drums and vein-popping vocals with doses of prog-rock, metal, power pop and ska, what really sets them apart is their capacity for writing catchy and interesting songs. The band -- Ben Wootton (vocals), Dan Caetano (guitar), Tarek Elneweihi (guitar), Craig McLaren (bass) and Julian (drums) -- released their self-titled full-length debut this past April. An energetic blast of searing riffs, head-bobbing rhythms and creative arrangements, it's topped by Wootton's intense singing, which sometimes brings to mind the animated vocal histrionics of Geddy Lee. According to bassist McLaren, writing is a collective effort for the band. "No song goes without everybody contributing in some way," he says, "whether it's writing his own part or helping mix things up a little bit." And mix things up they do, with other standout tracks including the power-ballad "Maybe", while the ska-flavoured "Good Enough" and the anthemic popster-punk of "Rubber Room" have received airplay at Vancouver radio stations C-FOX and X-FM. The band will be touring the country this summer, so if you're looking to escape the usual sludge, Exit This Side will show you the way.

Jory Nash 
Who: Jory Nash
What: Fresh contemporary folk music
Where: Toronto, ON
To Contact: Thin Man Records, 43 Bruce Farm Dr., Willowdale, Ontario, M2H 1G4 (416) 223-5544, , , www.jorynash.com.

As labels go, 'contemporary folk' is as slippery as most. But if it refers to a fresh take on the storytelling tradition of songwriting -- however loosely defined -- then Toronto's Jory Nash fits the bill. The 28-year-old singer/songwriter's second CD, Tangle With The Ghost, is a warm and wonderful collection of mostly acoustic gems recorded at the city's Reaction Studios. The cast of supporting players includes Jason Fowler (lead acoustic guitar/slide/mandolin), Ari Posner (piano/keyboards/accordion), Peter Murray (bass), Gavin Brown (percussion) and Lori Cullen (harmony vocals). Nash sings with an individual style that invites you into his stories, while his guitar playing is solid, especially his nimble finger-picking, as heard on the wistful "Love No More" or the rootsy-jazzy flavoured "The Acoustic In-between". Other songs range from the more traditional "Prisoner's Lament" to the pretty piano ballad "I Am A Rambling Boy". Nash is indeed a rambling boy, touring extensively around North America. He's aware of his connections to folk music traditions, but maintains his footing in the here and now. "I like a lot of the stories in traditional folk music, so I sometimes write in that style," he explains, "maybe taking the idea of a murder ballad and inserting me or somebody else into that kind of thing -- sort of a revisionist type of writing." Catch him if he comes your way, because if you thought folk was a four-letter word, Jory Nash will help you revise your dictionary.

Credit: Jim Kelly is a Toronto-based freelance writer.

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