As one of Canada’s most sought after producers, session musicians and guitarists, Steve Dawson spends much of his time helping other songwriters and musicians bring their creative visions to life. As wonderful as these collaborations are, it’s when Dawson hunkers down in his Henhouse Studio to record his own music that he truly shines, and the Juno Award-winning artist has come up with something special this time around. ‘Solid States and Loose Ends’ is a sublime set of new songs that play to all of Dawson’s many musical strengths.

This is the most beautifully considered, composed and performed album of Steve’s career and as the title suggests, it is a record that sums up and gathers together the many musical influences and lyrical themes that he has been exploring for more than two decades now. It’s also the first deeply personal recording Dawson has issued since leaving Vancouver for Nashville a few years back. With its sweeping scope, the expansive sound of ‘Solid States and Loose Ends’ stands in stark contrast to the spare elegance of 2014’s ‘Rattlesnake Cage’, his critically-acclaimed solo acoustic instrumental album. Inspired by the talented musicians he’s met since relocating to Music City, Dawson decided to see what he could cook up if he just ‘got a great band together and played’.

The rock-solid rhythm section of Gary Craig (Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, Bruce Cockburn) on drums and John Dymond (Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, K.D. Lang) on bass set the stage for some exciting music to unfold, and having worked with some of Nashville’s finest musicians since moving there, he called on some of these new friends to join in; Mike Bub (Steve Earle, Del McCoury) stepped up to offer some fine doghouse bass, the brilliant Kevin McKendree (Brian Setzer, Delbert McClinton) contributed blistering piano and organ, and Fats Kaplin (Jack White, The Dead Reckoners) swooped in on fiddle, mandolin and viola. The bar was clearly set high, and Dawson certainly rose to the occasion. Whether playing acoustic or electric, slide or pedal steel, every performance on the album showcases the warmth and fluidity of his style. Rarely has the prodigious player coaxed such rich and evocative tones out of his instrument or performed with the creativity and authority that he does here.