MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: ROB LUTES - WALK IN THE DARK

After his very successful collaboration with Montreal vibraphone player Michael Emenau in the group Sussex, Lutes returns to his roots songwriter role, although there's certainly a touch more ensemble groove stuff going on. Tracks such as Pumping Love and Whistling Past The Graveyard take advantage of a full rhythm and keys section, Lutes' long-time guitar foil Rob MacDonald, and guests like Joe Grass on mandolin, Guy Belanger on harmonica and Ian Kelly on vocals.

By continuing to explore over the years and albums, Lutes has forged his own distinct approach, with albums that combine songwriter numbers, blues and touches of folk and jazz, with room for modern touches thrown in. The title cut is one of his best tunes ever, as well-crafted and heartfelt as a John Hiatt cut. Then comes a smoking instrumental, Spence, a tribute to Bahamian guitarist Joseph Spence, a big influence on players such as Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder. On it Lutes, MacDonald and Grass show off some serious string skills, another weapon in the arsenal. Its an album that deserves awards, if they can figure out which genre to slot it in.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: ART BERGMANN - REMEMBER HER NAME

The idea that Art Bergmann would be up performing at the Halifax Urban Folk Festival Thursday and Friday night seemed pretty far-fetched just a few years back. Bergmann was suffering through osteoarthritis, and was gone from the music world for over a decade. But a career-saving back operation and some titanium support beams allow him back on stage now, and last year, he released his first full album in 18 years, The Apostate. That was followed this year by the re-release of his 1991 self-titled album, which is now called Remember Her Name.

Bergmann is a founding father of Canadian punk, starting with his Vancouver band The Young Canadians, and then his solo albums. He's been through it all, and come out exactly the way you'd hope, with a social conscience and empathy for those with a hard life. Along the way, he always proved to be a great rock songwriter with an edge, letting that punk energy fire up some decidedly hooked-filled blasts. That really comes to the fore on Remember Her Name, which features the chipper single Faithlessly Yours. and the title cut, which looks sympathetically at a tough case who seems like she could be Marianne Faithful. Latter-day Marianne Faithful, that is, the rough one. Most reissues, especially 26-year-old ones, sound of their time, but there's nothing here that doesn't sound fresh and exhilarating, and with it's new name and new, current cover art, it might as well be. If you did grab this back in the day, congrats, but you may want a new copy to grab the bonus cut Wide On/Hard Body, left over from the sessions.

Bergmann plays a full show Thursday night at the HUFF at the Seahorse Tavern, backed by the Halifax All-Stars, the ad hoc group of local killers that work with visitors for the shows. Then on Friday night, he'll be part of the songwriter's circle with Moe Berg, John K. Samson and Tift Merritt at the Carleton.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: FLOODLAND - STATIC WALLS

Summer may be waning, but festival season is still going strong. One of my favourites is on right now in fact, the Halifax Urban Folk Festival. HUFF took a break last year, but returns with the popular multiple-club format in the city's downtown. Headliners include Skydiggers, Moe Berg, Tift Merritt, Art Bergmann and John K. Samson, and while it's always great to see the outsiders, there are tons of local East Coast artists on parade as well.

Over at the Seahorse on Friday night, locals Floodland will be launching their new album as part of the festival. Always adventurous, the group prizes its ability to be inventive, especially with melodies and harmonies, and still go crazy. Tracks such as Decades, with its explosive opening, still have charming verses, but then things go guitar-nuts. Somehow it all happens in a sensible structure, but it's just barely on the rails at times. Sun In Their Eyes starts out mellow and folky, but also gets more of that twisted guitar, and some huge, stacked vocals, pretty and powerful.

New member Tori Cameron has taken over bass, and makes those vocal blends even more pleasing, her harmonies and softer waves making those moments stand out more against the guitar creations. This is an exciting collection that walks the line between challenging and catchy, quite a thing to pull off. Catch Floodland along with Beauts and No, It's Fine at the Seahorse in Halifax Friday, Sept. 1.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: WAYNE NICHOLSON & THE EASTENDERS - DIGGIN' THE DIRT

While Celtic and trad and folk and country get mentioned a lot as the core sounds of East Coast music, the foundation of the scene largely happened in the '70's, when the circuit of venues around the Maritimes was established and a gang of bands were in place to put bums in seats. By and large, the sound of those bands was blues-rock, and it's never really gone away. One of the big names, and big voices of that genre is Wayne Nicholson, who was with Truro's Horse, then lead singer for Oakley into the '80's, before going solo. He's now back with this group of veteran players, lured back into the game by a successful weekly matinee gig at Monte's in Dartmouth.

Nicholson got asked to do that slot about three years ago, and eventually the players evolved into a band, The Eastenders, that he just had to get recorded. The band features Brian Bourne (Rawlins Cross) on Chapman Stick (think bass-plus), James Logan (Drum!) on guitar, and Doug MacKay (Sam Moon, Minglewood) on drums.

In case you haven't heard him, Nicholson possesses one of those remarkable set of lungs that have always been the great weapons of the blues rockers, from Paul Rodgers to Steve Winwood to Robert Plant, just full of volume and energy, enough to keep up with a powerful trio. And once you have the right four people, there's an undeniable power. The next step is the right material to dig into, and I think the group has done a solid job picking the songs, including some surprising choices.

The album opens with a somewhat obscure Gene MacLellan track, Won't Talk About Love, and the group looks at the dark edge in the song. An older Johnny Lang track follows, and the Eastenders show they can get a groove on for Stop Pushin' On Me. There are only a couple of classic blues, the standard Key To The Highway, and the old Depression number Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out, both showcases for Nicholson's expressive side. Harder numbers such as So Far So Good let Logan sizzle on guitar, and the most fun choice is a radical remake of Dylan's Watching The River Flow, which keeps the humour but toughens up the tune. It might be just one interpretation of the term, but to me, this feels like Maritime roots music.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: OH SUSANNA - A GIRL IN TEEN CITY

Favourite roots performer Oh Susanna brings her latest out on tour, including a bunch of shows in my Maritimes stompin' grounds. This one is a concept album, and a very refreshing one. She's gone back to look at her teen years, when she was doing all those heartbreaking, crazy, fun, dangerous, and life-changing things so many of us did. For Suzie, it was being a bit of a punk in Vancouver, but it feels like it could be Anytown, Canada, something familiar for almost all of us. "Meet me tonight over coffee and cigarettes, by the neon light of the Varsity Grill." It was the Capitol Gardens for me, but whatever.

There's nothing particularly exciting happening in this view of the Vancouver punk scene, but that's the beauty of the album. It's the journey and the memories that are important, the story-telling we can all recognize bits of, and the shared emotions that inspires. Walked All The Way Home is a simple story of getting carded at a club and kicked out, and heading home mad in the rain. It's the feeling she remembers, as the mood changes on the long walk, "then you see the beauty of being alone." Whether you had good or bad experiences at that age, or probably a mixture of both, there's no denying what an important part of your life they were, and Oh Susanna does a masterful job of describing that time.

You'll see Oh Susanna at the Trailside Cafe in Mount Stewart, P.E.I. on Thursday, Aug. 31. Then she hits the Halifax Urban Folk Festival on Sept 1 and 2, before landing in Pictou at Fat Tony's on the 3rd. A small break occurs, before she's at Grimross Brewery in Fredericton Sept. 6, and the Maritime jaunt finishes up Sept. 8 in Cape Breton at the Iona Heights Inn.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: DENNIS ELLSWORTH & KINLEY DOWLING - EVERYONE NEEDS TO CHILL OUT

You gotta love the friendly, supportive P.E.I. music scene where friendship comes first. It's led to many fine collaborations over the years, and it also helps that the talent pool is ridiculously large, and crazy-fine for such a small region. Hence the team-up between these two, which went from friendship to writing to a full album in no time.

Ellsworth is the more established writer, with several fine roots releases to his name, and Dowling is the new hotshot, having just won Songwriter of the Year at the recent Music PEI awards, for her solo debut as KINLEY. Of course, her violin has taken her to the top with Hey Rosetta!, but this is another opportunity to stretch those new songwriting chops.

Ellsworth has never shied from the emotional, and Dowling's presence is absolutely an asset to that throughout. There's an ease and a lightness even in the sadder moments. In I Tried To Be Your Lover, she joins in harmony and seems to take the weight off a broken heart of a song. While Ellsworth takes the bulk of the lead vocals, her turn on Something Beautiful is warm and uplifting, a sunbeam to his misty summer morning.

Produced with part-time Islander Aaron Comeau (Skydiggers, Al Tuck), there's no tricks or heavy atmosphere, it's all up close and gentle, with two glorious voices helping us just....breath.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: EAGLES OF DEATH METAL - I LOVE YOU ALL THE TIME

Eagles of Death Metal were, horrifyingly for them, the band playing the Bataclan in Paris on November 13, 2015 when 89 people were slaughtered in a terrorist attack. Vowing to return, the band first appeared as guests at a U2 show a month later, and then headlined their own event at the Paris Olympia on Feb. 16, 2016, resuming their European tour. This is the show of that concert, about 90 minutes over two discs.

Although co-founder Josh Homme doesn't usually tour with the group, he made a special appearance that night behind the drum kit. But as always, on stage this is Jesse Hughes' group, with his oversized personality and enthusiasm. Since the group is largely about celebrating metal riffs mixed with over-the-top pop attitude, there wasn't going to be a big cathartic statement for the city, more like an announcement that nothing would stop the rawk. There was a brief pause right at the start in the middle of the first song, I Only Want You, and then it was Hughes' circus act the rest of the night, except for a shout-out to the group's merch manager, Nick Alexander, one of the Bataclan victims.

The last EODM album, Zipper Down, was surprisingly polished and tuneful, but that hasn't translated to the live show so much. It's still more of a full-on guitar-boogie. and Hughes is happy to keep it slightly sloppy and loud. The memorable melodies here come from a couple of tongue-in-cheek covers, Stuck In The Middle With You, now called Stuck In The Metal, and their beloved take on Duran Duran's Save A Prayer. This won't be the concert of the group's career, but it was a statement that needed to be made.