Click the logo below to watch Lynn Jackson’s video for “Stormy Eyes” at Americana Highways! Lynn’s new album Lionheart is available now at Busted Flat Records or Bandcamp.

Vancouver-based singer-songwriter Monica Lee will release her new album Farewell on July 24, but today she shares the first single, “Only One,” on all digital platforms. The lyric video premieres exclusively at Roots Music Canada [click logo below]. A classic country ballad with echoes of Patsy Cline, “Only One” is an uplifting moment on Farewell, inspired by Lee mustering the courage to propose to the man she would marry.

That’s just a taste of the range of emotion conveyed on Farewell, which ultimately celebrate our ability to survive. From a musical standpoint, it’s all brilliantly reflected in Farewell’s seamless blend of country, blues and jazz.

“These songs are all about relationships,” Lee says. “The album was sequenced to start with a feeling of letting go, then move through the various relationship stages and finally end with letting go once again.”

Farewell marks the end of a long creative journey that included Lee needing to adapt to using hearing aids, but on the other hand it’s the beginning of an entirely new musical identity. The late John Mann of Spirit of the West once compared Monica Lee to Joni Mitchell and it’s easy to agree after hearing her ability to balance confessional subject matter with observations of everyday life.

monicaleemusic.com
Stream “Only One” on Spotify

Edmonton roots rockers Ayla Brook & The Sound Men have released “All That I Wanted To Do,” the first single from their upcoming album Desolation Sounds, out March 13 on Fallen Tree Records. You can hear it either at Roots Music Canada [HERE], or on Exclaim Magazine’s Spotify playlist The Eh! List [HERE]

Ayla Brook (pronounced Ey–Lah) makes music as raw and vast as the Canadian Prairies. From his beginnings in Lily Plain, Saskatchewan, to successful records with AA Sound System, to now his solo work, Ayla has never wavered from his original vision of honest roots rock.

That vision is brilliantly captured on Desolation Sounds, the new album by Ayla Brook & The Sound Men, produced by Terra Lightfoot and mixed by Jon Auer of The Posies and Big Star fame. It’s a collection of songs and stories about friends and family, bursting with rock and soul and the western charm that has become the band’s trademark.

Stream or purchase “All That I Wanted To Do” HERE

I’m stoked to be working with Toronto singer/songwriter, and true CanRock legend, John Borra on his new solo album (first since 2002) Blue Wine, out Jan. 31 on his own Cousin Jeb Records.

The first single “Trace In The Wind” was shared today at Roots Music Canada. It’s an uplifting tribute to John’s friend, the late Canadian actress Tracy Wright, and showcases the great band on Blue Wine that includes Blue Rodeo’s Mike Boguski and Glenn Milchem, along with other guests. Click the logo below to hear it, and stay tuned for more!