Best known as a backroom boy producing some fine recordings by other artists, Canadian guitarist Steve Dawson finally steps out of the shadows. With the aid of a tube microphone, a clutch of acoustic guitars including a Weissenborn and a National Steel, Steve works his way through 11 instrumentals solidly entrenched in the 'American Primitive' genre epitomised by John Fahey and Leo Kottke. On 'Blind Thomas At The Crime Scene,' an intricately picked epic with Dawson's slide guitar work riding over the descending scale, it's Fahey's idiosyncratic work that immediately comes to mind. Bert Jansch is referenced in the jaunty 'Flophouse Oratory' and Mississippi John Hurt given due homage but it all hangs together in fine style as glorious showcase for Dawson's superlative guitar playing.