If you’re into hearing some really incredible, acoustic guitar solos and genre-busting original songs in a rapid-fire bluesy folk-rock vein, I can pretty much guarantee you that you’ll love the latest disc from Steve Dawson. 

A Vancouver native who has made Nashville his home, Dawson has put out several enjoyable discs, but this one — his eighth — is his first since 2014 that’s all instrumental. 

His mastery of the acoustic guitar is amazing; sure, he is often fast and furious as his fingers slide and glide along the frets — but he’s a rare talent in terms of musical vision and ear too. 

Nominated for 18 Juno Awards and winner of seven of them, Dawson is well known in Canada and should be better known in the United States. 

His effortless slide and finger-picking is displayed on 10 instrumental tracks of solo, duo, and full-body string quartets, often with his longtime musical partner, Jesse Zubot.  Dawson recorded with greats such as Ry Cooder and Phil Ochs earlier in his career. 

See why popular singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn said he loves this album for its “moods from joyful to poignant, expressed through some of the coolest fingerpicking you’re likely to hear.”