Vancouver actor and powerhouse vocalist Colleen Rennison covers a number of iconic Canadian songs on her album See the Sky About to Rain, named for Neil Young's song and given a mid-tempo rocking treatment here.

She illuminates the R&B flavour at the core of two Robbie Robertson songs, All La Glory and the famous Stage Fright, giving her huskily-textured voice a workout and employing a horn section to back her in both songs.

Producer Steve Dawson's guitars are also big stars on this album, shining in that first Robertson tune and whining in the pedal steel of an excellent rendition of Billy Cowsill's The Fool is the Last One to Know.

Dawson also plucks the banjo in a ragtime folk version of Leonard Cohen's Why Don't You Try.

Rennison finds the R&B heart of Sarah Harmer's Oleander, too, while turning Townes Van Zandt's White Freightliner into a plucky little country bluegrass number with a fiddle solo by Tim O'Brien.

There's a certain irony to how feminine she makes her reedy voice sound on Joni Mitchell's Coyote, an interesting direction to take.

Her versions of Bobbi Gentry's Fancy and Booker T. and Priscilla Jones's My Crew are first rate, as well. Good song choices here, to go with the excellent musicianship and singing.