Tucker Finn

Finn found popularity as a member of Toronto, ON honky tonkers the Jane Waynes, and is destined for wider recognition with this simply superlative debut solo CD. It marks her as a songwriter of emotional power, with a knack for nifty lines like, "my get up and go just got up and went." She has a clear, unaffected vocal delivery and the arrangements of her songs show musical intelligence, as the deft use of strings and horns lift the record out of the standard country/folk zone. It doesn't hurt to have such stellar accompanists as Bryden Baird, Wendell Ferguson, Jason Laprade (who co-produces with Finn) and Lucas Silveira (the Cliks) on board either. Finn clearly still identifies as a cowboy, albeit an urban one. "I'm a desperado on a ten-speed bike," she sings on opening cut "Desperado with a Bike," which immediately lets us know we're in the presence of something special. Another killer track, "I've Been Doing OK," is a litany of things that have gone bad: "I lent my Hank Williams records, they came back all scratched." This is a spectacular achievement.