Shannon Lyon 
Who: Shannon Lyon
What: fresh, acoustic country-folk
Where: Kitchener-Waterloo, ON
Website: www.shannonlyon.net
To Contact: Square Dog Records, Box 98033, 970 Queen St. E., Toronto, ON M4M 1J0 (416) 462-2560, FAX (416) 462-9158, ,

Sometimes it takes a few trips around the block for an artist to find the right path. For Shannon Lyon and his most recent album, Summer Blonde, that road leads to where the pavement turns to clay. Having released a string of solo albums since 1995's Buffalo White, all of which Lyon says have ended up "in limbo" and can't be found anywhere, the Kitchener-Waterloo singer-songwriter took some time to get various aspects of his personal life together. Then he returned to the studio refreshed and with a clean slate. In fact, he's been saying that Summer Blonde feels like his "first record." "I was really finally focused," Lyon explains. "The songs I was writing at that point, it felt like I jumped on a really good tack, emotionally. It just felt right." And it sounds right, too. With acoustic instrumentation and sparse arrangements creating a sound as open and spacious as a prairie afternoon, Summer Blonde evokes the lyrical country-folk of Neil Young's classic Harvest album. With Lyon contributing crisp, straightforward acoustic guitar, hickory-flavoured vocals and the occasional harmonica, the album also features the soft weep of pedal steel guitar courtesy of Kim Deschamps, and beautifully blended vocal harmonies by the lovely, honest voice of Lisa Winn. From the breezy, carefree opening track "The Hobo Song", to the rustic fatalism of "Right Time Of The Year", and the heart-rending, breakin'-us-up title track, the songs are sometimes pure and easy-going, sometimes bleak and introspective, but always satisfying and always real. Highly recommended.

Stewart Hooey 
Who: Stewart Hooey
What: country-soul with smarts
Where: Hamilton, ON
To Contact: 2357 Barclay Road, Burlington, ON (905) 681-0969

Stewart Hooey is making a move. He's taken a leave of absence from his teaching job in Hamilton so he can pursue his fledgling music career. After listening to his second album, Daughters Of America, I think he's doin' the right thing. The record is rich in smart lyrics and soulful country craftsmanship, but the accent is as much on the 'soul' as the 'country,' owing as much to Memphis as to Nashville. "I'm two-thirds coming from a soul, R&B, pop perspective, and maybe one third country," he says, professing his love for '60s soul as well as country coolios like Ricky Skaggs, Dwight Yoakam and Lyle Lovett. Reflecting that eclecticism, the album's lead-off track, "Incomparable", begins with a gospel-flavoured intro, before kicking into gear as a rousing paean to the perfect woman. The superb "Radio Tower" is a tribute to the late night radio dial visitations from powerful southern US AM radio signals, bringing in exotic R&B, blues, country and soul music that has been the salvation of many a budding Canadian musician. "Famous Partners" is a drinkin' buddy song with a twist that's just screaming for a video, and the title track is a soulful plea to the gentler sex from a guy who's just looking for a little mercy. All Stew Hooey's looking for is to get some distribution for his record and hopefully parlay that into some radio play. If there's any justice in this world, he won't be going back to his teaching job any time soon.

Zubot and Dawson 
Who: Zubot and Dawson
What: rootsy and original acoustic instrumental music
Where: Vancouver, BC
Website: www.zubotanddawson.com
To Contact: Black Hen Music, PO Box 74661, Kitsilano, Vancouver, BC, V6K 4P4 (604) 224-5717, FAX (604) 689-3005,

How unique is Vancouver's Zubot and Dawson? So unique they had to come up with a new word to describe their music. They've followed up on the success of their 1998 debut album, Strang, (an album which won them a Juno and a West Coast Music Award) with Tractor Parts: Further Adventures in Strang. And what is Strang? It's a word they invented to describe the kind of music they make, "as opposed to tacking on a whole bunch of adjectives," explains Steve Dawson. Essentially, it's shorthand for the heady mix of influences and styles they use to create something original. Though most of the instruments on Tractor Parts are acoustic and rootsy, they are played with a distinctly non-traditional twist. This, in addition to the occasional loops and drum sampling, and support from such cameo instruments as a hurdy-gurdy and a "$15 roadside synth," gives their arrangements a fun, innovative edge. "We were just trying to avoid a standard, stock, acoustic-sounding record because there's tons of those and we wanted to try and make something that was sonically rich and interesting to listen to," says Dawson. Dawson's Hawaiian and dobro work is stellar throughout, and he picks a mean 6-string, too, while Zubot's fiddle and mandolin playing is truly exceptional. But it's not just that Zubot and Dawson (et al.) are superb players, it's because they play with an exuberance and a spirit of freshness and originality that just can't be beat. Strang days indeed.

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

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