Event

Jonathan Byrd

Texas is a huge influence on my writing. "The Law and the Lonesome" is what might have happened if Townes Van Zandt had made a record with Doc Watson. Tamara Kater of Canada's venerable folk mag Penguin Eggs called "The Law and the Lonesome" her "album of the decade." Co-produced by the brilliant Chris Bartos in Toronto, "The Law and the Lonesome" features a couple of co-writes with my friend Corin Raymond. We wrote the title track together, which was featured in a songwriting class at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

"Cackalack" is my newest. I beat "Radio Soul" and recorded "Cackalack" in six hours with a handful of the best musicians in Toronto. Ken Whitely, who has gold and platinum records to his name, engineered the record in his converted garage with Nik Tjelios. As of this writing, mid-January 2011, "Cackalack" is #1 on Roots Music Reports folk radio chart. It's the best thing I've ever done. I might not beat it. But I'm damn sure gonna try.