At 75 years old, country-folk singer Ian Tyson is still going strong. A virus he caught several years ago has affected his singing voice, putting him in league with the final recordings of another folk veteran, the late John Stewart, whose album Havana stands as one of the most gripping end-of-life passages. Tyson uses his newfound gruffness to add a sense of finality to everything he sings, while his backing group keeps things refreshingly centered on gentle support that evokes images of sweeping plains, unforgiving mountain passes, and a western sense of time and place. Lap steel, organ, and plenty of acoustic guitar support these songs that range from the remembrance of the death of Canadian hockey icon Don Cherry’s wife Rose (“My Cherry Covered Rose”) to the pack of wolves relocated on the album’s title track to Yellowstone National Park to stave off extinction. The album was recorded in both Edmonton and Nashville and the differing results are telling as the rustic vibe of Edmonton smoothes over with the band’s expert precision taking charge in Nashville for “Go This Far,” “Estrangement,” and “Love Never Comes At All.”
- Dave Stamey
- Don Edwards
- Brenn Hill
- Red Steagall
- Trinity Seely
- Adrian