Americana Alt.Country CD Reviews

Lynne Hanson
'River Of Sand'
(Continental Song City/CRS Europe, 2014)
www.lynnehanson.com

"See my life passing through my hands / Flecks of gold in a river of sand". Opening track and title song 'River Of Sand' shows right away the clever images Lynne Hanson uses in her songwriting. The melancholy, darkness and honest truth is never far either, so it doesn't surprise me much that she teamed up with my long-time favorite Lynn Miles as the producer for this album.

Lynne Hanson grew up in Ottawa (Canada) and started playing guitar when she was fourteen, learning on a hand-me-down from her older brother. After performing with Shane Simpson from 2000-2005, she launched her solo songwriting career with the release of her first album 'Things I Miss' in 2006. As she tells to AmericanaUK: "I've been playing guitar since I was in my teens, but I started out professionally playing rhythm guitar and singing harmony with another singer-songwriter. When that whole relationship went south I started putting my own songs down on paper. Eleven breakup songs later I had my first album and was booking gigs". Asked about her biggest musical influences, Lynne says: "Generally every country and bluegrass song I've ever heard. If I had to name names though: Gillian Welch, Steve Earle and Patty Griffin".

With tales to tell, two more albums quickly followed: 'Eleven Months' (2008) and 'Once The Sun Goes Down' (2010). Each new release garnered critical praise, earning Lynne Hanson a Canadian Folk Music Award nomination in 2009, an invitation to the Kerrville Folk Festival as a New Folk Finalist and in 2010 the prestigious Colleen Peterson Songwriting Award, handed out annually by the Ontario Arts Council, for her song "Rest Of My Days".

Then it was quiet. She took a four-year hiatus from recording. It was time to kick dirt over the tracks on the trail. Lynne took some time to take control of her personal life and with it, a new approach to songwriting. Her fourth studio album 'River Of Sand' is the creative output of that very personal journey. She has been fortunate to work with Juno-winning songstress Lynn Miles as her producer. “The songs on this record are honest and fearless,” says Miles, and the search for truth that’s always guided Hanson’s work takes a turn to the raw. No topic is off limits and the eleven songs run the gamut, painting a candid canvas of whiskey-soaked heartbreak and personal struggle, all contrasted against some hope that better times are coming. Of course the 'murder ballad' that has become a trademark of Hanson’s albums, is also featured.

Lynne Hanson’s songs may be full of grit, her live performances are polished, whether she’s playing solo or with her band The Good Intentions. And she’s managed to get around - having toured Canada, the US, Europe and the UK. She’s played showcase gigs in Austin, Phoenix and Memphis (Folk Alliance), toured in support of Grammy nominated songwriters (Gretchen Peters, Steve Forbert) and performed at several historic music venues, including the legendary 100 Club in London England and the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. Her big wish is still to play at... "Definitely Ryman Auditorium. It would be hard to top being part of that kind of musical history".