Morgan Davis
Painkiller
(Electro-fi)
How does a Detroiter based in Blandford walk off with four Maple Blues Awards? This is your answer. While devoted to the blues and capable of summoning the delta at the drop of a pick, Davis has been easy to take for granted. Painkiller combines self-deprecating humour, topical flow and the sharpest band he could find (in Toronto, alas) to attain a new peak. “Get-tin’ Old” will ring true with everyone eventually and “Hello, Nova Scotia” lays out the appeal of this province to fidgety urban émigrés.
—Doug Taylor