Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

Emm Gryner is a “hot one.” Her resumé includes: singer-songwriter (eight albums); producer; label owner (Dead Daisy Records); David Bowie band member (keyboards and backup vocals). Recently, Gryner has joined fellow Torontonian Jordan Kern and New York City’s Nathan Larson and Kevin March in a cross-border side project. Hot One’s debut bristles with loud ’n’ angry rockers like “Get Your Priest On!” and “Daddy Was a Pilot,” and the versatile Gryner can now add kickass bass to her impressive list of credits. July 4

The appetite for Cash shows no signs of abating. This release will please fans who like their Man in Black raw and unadulterated. With spare accompaniment, Cash sings about love and salvation on stark originals like “I Came to Believe” and “Like the 309” (the last song he wrote before his death) and covers by Hank Williams and Bruce Springsteen. For Canadian Cash-aholics, his interpretations of Ian Tyson’s “Four Strong Winds” and Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind” are a cool, maple-leaf waving bonus. July 4

Fans of twangy instrumental rock (Ventures, Shadows, etc.) will be thrilled by this reissue set devoted to the legendary Edmonton group. Dakus and his band ruled Western Canada in the late 1950s and early ’60s. Tasty singles like “El Ringo” and the weird ’n’ wacky “Dog Food” brought them to the attention of producer Norman Petty (Buddy Holly), who eventually recorded “Pedro’s Pad” and “Side Winder” (both included here) at his Clovis, New Mexico studio. Irresistible stuff, with two more volumes to come.