Justin Bird

Former singer with Kingston live favourites Shine, Justin Bird has crafted a fine pop/soul debut with the help of many local lights. He starts off nicely with a sure-fire pop hit, "Not So Jaded," driven by the mandolin of Dan Curtis (Luther Wright & the Wrongs), and from there moves through mid-tempo soul numbers, folk songs and even unlikely shades of Echo & the Bunnymen, of all people. A strong singer, Bird belongs to the Danny Michel/Luke Doucet school of precise punctuation, a rampant trend for male Canadian singer/songwriters that puts Bird in fine company.