Last time around,
Corb Lund
covered a pair of
Ian Tyson
tunes on
Songs My Friends Wrote
, an album saluting his singer/songwriter friends.
Tyson
passed a few months after the record's release in September 2022, leaving
Lund
to dedicate the subsequent
El Viejo
to his friend and unofficial guru of Americana. The album's title -- "Old Man" -- is a nod to
; he's referred to elliptically in the lyrics and his presence is felt throughout these tales of rounders, ramblers, gamblers, and other assorted tales of ne'er do wells. The character sketches and short stories are modest and well-etched, the kind of songs that charm upon the first listen and gain resonance with repeated spins. The same can be said of
as a record, too. Produced by
in his living room,
features his group
the Hurtin' Albertans
lying back on acoustic instruments, swinging between ballads and boogies, and making stops at places in between. There's an intimacy to the interaction between
and
that gives
a warm, weathered vibe that's every bit as appealing as the songs themselves. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine