Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

Well excuuuse me! Who’d expect the original “wild and crazy guy” to be a sterling musician? But Martin, whose first album in 30 years is subtitled “New Songs for the Five-String Banjo,” dazzles with his instrumental bluegrass work. Although he features stellar guests like Dolly Parton, Earl Scruggs and Canadian actor Eugene Levy and voices one humorous number, “Late for School,” it’s Martin’s dexterous picking on original gems like “Tin Roof” and “Daddy Played the Banjo” that truly impresses. Not a novelty. July 2009

Andrew Penner sings with the fervor of a gospel devotee. Small wonder: the Sunparlour Players’ frontman sang in a church choir while growing up in a Mennonite farming community near Leamington, the Sunparlour district of southwestern Ontario that gives his roots-rock trio its name. With horns and a string quartet adding to its core instruments of guitar, banjo and kick drum, the group’s second CD has a rousing, Arcade Fire-like sound, especially on Penner’s Lake Erie anthem “Point Pelee is the Place to Be!” July 2009

His stage name suggests the sunny Caribbean. But Bahamas, who served as Feist’s guitarist-pianist under his real name of Afie Jurvanen, is a dyed-in-the-woolen-toque folkie who has more in common with the confessional northern ballads of Ron Sexsmith than any hip-shaking calypso or steel-drum music. The songs on Pink Strat, named for the childhood guitar he still plays, showcase Afie’s gift for broken-hearted laments like “Lonely Loves” and “Till the Morning,” some of which feature Feist on backup vocals. July 2009

Hailing from the U.S. Midwest, The BoDeans first made their mark with a sound that drew on stirring harmonies and ringing guitars. Along with bands like Los Lobos and Lone Justice, they led the roots-rock revolution of the mid-1980s. Although they haven’t issued an album since 1996’s Blend, due to contractual disputes, The BoDeans are back with their signature sound. You’d never know there’d been problems. Passionate songs like the chiming “If It Makes U,” the Springsteen-inspired “617” and the dreamy ballad “Slipping into You” feature the patented vocals of Sam Llanas and Kurt Neumann. And “(We Can) Live” and “Wild World” are buoyant, feel-good rockers, while “Two Souls” boasts a fine,...