JW Jones

This young Ottawa guitar-slinger/singer has earned serious kudos and a growing following over the course of four earlier albums. His fans include Dan Aykroyd (Elwood Blues, who contributes language-mangling liner notes here). Jones’s audience is set to expand thanks to this highly accomplished new disc. The virile sound of his band is fleshed out with horns on some tracks but it’s the guitar interplay of Jones and such high-profile guests as Junior Watson and Little Charlie Baty on tracks like "Double-Eyed Whammy,” "Heavy Dosage” (an album highlight) and "Wasted Life” that really catch the ear. Jones wrote most of the songs, and he does such influences as the guitar-playing Kings and Kim Wilson (also a Jones fan) proud. Another reference point would be fellow Canadian Colin James and, like James, you can expect Jones’s vocals to gain a little more authority as his career develops.