The Vancouver Sun

My Walking Stick

Four stars out of five

Most of Jim Byrnes’ roots are grey, but the rest are surely blues-soaked soul and gospel.

My Walking Stick — named for the dirgy cover of the Irving Berlin classic on the disc — is his third collaboration with Black Hen Records producer Steve Dawson, and the best.

Byrnes tries on musical genres like old leather jackets and looks surprisingly comfortable in all of them.

Each track has a healthy coat of dirt road grit and negro blues soul right from the opening track Ol' Rattler, one of three Byrnes compositions. The deft lead picking and slide guitar meld with an understated electric organ that gives it the feel of a loose Clapton/Winwood outtake.

Doc Watson made Walk On Boy famous, but Byrnes makes it his own with a truly authentic gospel vocal and found-item percussion.

Byrnes and Dawson hop in the old pickup and take a tour through 30s jazz (Irving Berlin’s My Old Walking Stick), country (The Band’s Ophelia) and Motown with a Sam Cooke-inspired take on the Bobby Womack R&B classic Lookin for a Love. Byrnes’ countrified version of Little Milton’s funk anthem I’m Living off the Love You Give is actually better than the original.

After four decades of playing the blues, Byrnes dips his toe into jazzier waters with Dawson. But it is the backing vocals of fellow Black Hen artists The Sojourners that are the glue holding this album together.

Every track gets has a full dose of gospel style. Licks of fiddle and banjo plink bring a porch-music warmth to the entire project, though the burnished wood solid musicianship underpins every note.

Jim's fans will love it. If you don't know Byrnes' work, you could do worse than to start with the latest.
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