The ACT Americana Trio – “Whole Lotta Livin’”
If you’ve been wondering how Steve Dawson’s Henhouse Express enterprise has been going – that’s where Steve and his colleagues produce a song remotely for artists through the magic of the internet – just take a listen to this track from the ACT American Trio. The Vancouver-based trio consists of Andre Chrys, Chris Lok and Taryn Laronge, and they’ve been playing together for about five years now. But they hadn’t caught my attention until this showed up in the moose’s mailbox. Without a doubt the production makes this track what it is, but Steve had solid material to work with: a song with a fantastic groove, and a terrific vocalist in Taryn. Also, serious kudos to this band for writing a pandemic song that doesn’t sound like a pandemic song. I wouldn’t’ve noticed if I hadn’t read it in the release notes. They definitely avoided the tropes. Good work, guys.
Gordy the Moose – Roots Music Canada
The ACT Americana Trio started playing together in Vancouver five years ago, collaborating on tracks and tunes that highlight smart songwriting, well blended vocals, and skills on too many instruments to count. Now they connect from Vancouver to Vegas, thanks to the pandemic and its plans, but the distance is nothing that a little technology couldn’t conquer. For Whole Lotta Livin’, they reached even further afield to Nashville and Toronto, bringing in the help of Steve Dawson, Gary Craig and Jeremy Holmes to lend their talents to the track.
4 star Quick Pick – The Sound Cafe
https://www.thesoundcafe.com/quick-picks-may-2021