Cam Penner

BC-based troubadour Penner made the Billboard Folk charts and toured Europe behind his previous album, Gypsy Summer. Anticipate similar success for this fine effort, his fifth full-length. Penner's sound is a folk-meets-blues hybrid, one occasionally evocative of Tom Waits or Fred Eaglesmith. His gruff vocals and gritty songs are neatly captured by co-producer Jon Wood, who's done similarly effective work for Herald Nix and Rodney DeCroo. Penner and Wood also played all the instruments, save for the horn section on mood-setting instrumental opener "Mighty Damn Animator." An album highlight is "Memphis," which features a talkin' hip-hop/blues style akin to Buck 65, crisp banjo and cool lyrics like, "I miss Texas more than it misses me." Penner loses the plot a touch with the over-reaching "Gasoline Summers," but recovers well on sinister closing cut "Whiskey Lips." To Build A Fire is more of a slow burn than a raging inferno, but it gets the job done.