Ian Tyson

Raven Singer (Stony Plain) Tyson accidentally strained the soothing baritone out of his voice a few years ago, so it can be a shock to hear him now. Fortunately, this didn’t stop him writing in the cowboy milieu he’s embraced since the split from Sylvia Fricker 40 years ago. Vast prairie vistas viewed mostly from horseback still come through clearly. The mostly acoustic backing suits this. “The cathedral of the condor,” “river of life,” “canyon of dreams” are lyrics that enrich storytelling in “Rio Colorado”. Memories, dreams and ghosts are currency in Tyson’s West, but a feisty “Saddle Bronc Girl” snaps us back to the present. He’s wounded but not unwound.