Heartworn Highways

Kevin Roy, 'Heartworn Highways' Album Stream When singer/songwriter Kevin Roy makes a record, he doesn’t do it alone — he makes it a party. It’s that sense of community that informs his debut full-length, Heartworn Highways, the upbeat and thoughtful Americana-glazed follow up to 2014’s Taller Than the Trees EP. “I felt the title speaks to the overall themes of the album,” Roy says. “It’s about staying true to your roots and where you’re from.” Where he’s from, Winnipeg, Manitoba, shines through big time on the disc — a 10 song collection that is the perfect mix of prairie fire and spitfire. Re-teaming with co-producer Lloyd Peterson (Weakerthans), this guitar slinger is joined at Winnipeg’s Paintbox Recording by a host of Winnipeg music scene luminaries, including Bill Western (co-producer of Del Barber’s JUNO-nominated Prairieography) on pedal steel, Crooked Brothers’ honorary member Daniel Bertnick on drums, and Red Moon Road’s Daniel Peloquin-Hopfner on banjo. Vocalists Madeleine Roger (Roger Roger) and Amelia Peterson supply the golden harmonies. With most of the instruments captured live-off-the-floor, it feels as though the listener is right in the room with Roy and co., soaking in the twanged-up tunes. Mastered by JUNO-winner Jamie Sitar, the recordings have a clean kick that sounds like old country through brand new speakers. Roy’s vocals have a youthful charm and a world worn confidence to them — aged just right to deliver such upbeat tunes as “Same Old Sky” and the barn-burner “Prairie Fire.” Then there’s “The Mighty River” — a thoughtful and sparse tune inspired by the Red River Valley and the Alberta floods, given just the right amount hope and regret from this gifted singer. From the true-life tales of “Farm Boy,” about a singer who settled for love and then doubled down on a new romance, to never needing an alarm clock (“Morning Crow”) and “Loving Arms” — a heartbreak hymn penned on a train ride through Northwestern Ontario — these songs are about growing up in small towns and making peace, with yourself and with where you’re from. On the flip side of these personal tunes is “Heartworn Highways,” a murder ballad written using almost exclusively old outlaw country song titles, teasing the works of Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Townes van Zandt and others, proving that Roy can have just as much fun paying tribute as he can while blazing his own trail. Delivered with the right balance of aw-shucks honesty and unbridled enthusiasm, Heartworn Highways is a classic kitchen party at your neighbour’s place - filled with hospitality, good will and great conversation.