The musical travels of rootsy blues Canadian songstress Kat Danser’s previous album Goin’ Gone took singer, band and listener through the dusty roads of the American south and the music of Memphis, the neighbouring Mississippi Delta and Cajun country.

Such travels continue on Kat Danser’s sixth album One Eye Open, but here her travels are expanded to include the smoke-filled cigar bars and music clubs of Havana via Cuban (and Afro Cuban) influenced music, bolstered by a horn section that feature on six of the ten tracks. (Passionate about the history and culture of such deeply rooted music, musician Kat Danser is also Dr. Kat Danser, with a PhD in Ethnomusicology).

Nor does it hurt that for the third album in a row Kat Danser has collaborated with Steve Dawson, as both producer and featured guitarist. Dawson’s full sounding production work is all the more impressive given he was recording and directing from his Nashville studio while Kat Danser recorded her vocals in Edmonton and Gary Craig (drums) and Jeremy Holmes musically delivered from other locales (the album was recorded as the Covid-19 pandemic started to spread its presence).

'The Way I Like it Done' opens the album with Kat Danser, the band and horn section in mid-tempo, blues sassy swing; Danser calls the way I like it shots ("I am a lover, an all nighter, the fuel in a butane lighter") while honky-tonk bar piano from featured keyboardist Kevin McKendree and a tasty little solo from Steve Dawson add to the New Awlins atmosphere.

The slow, pulsating blues of 'Lonely and the Dragon' drops the tempo but not the atmosphere (Messrs McKendree (here on organ) and Dawson once again delivering the goods) before 'Frenchman Shake Street' kicks in to deliver some Creole party blues, driven by Gary Craig’s percussive rhythm.

A true standout is the musically surprising but perfectly fitting (for the hell-in-a-handbasket times) title track, which is best described as lyrically angry, rockabilly-punk. "What the hell is goin’ on, the world’s gonna end before this song!" hollers Kat Dancer before considering the best plan of action is to "get me a reefer and let me go numb, while they nuke themselves to kingdom come." Sounds like a smokin’ good plan to me, Kat.

As was the case with Goin’ Gone, Kat Danser brings a couple of well-chosen covers to the table, both of which provide perfect complement to the eight originals. Gus Cannon’s 'Bring It With You When You Come,' which hearkens back to the 1920s, sports a fun, ragtime and guitar picking arrangement that keeps the vibe upbeat. Contrast is provided by a wonderful rootsy-blues rendition of Jessie Mae Hemphill’s 'Get Right, Church,' which provides soulful warmth through Kat Danser’s vocal and acoustic and pedal steel arrangement (the closing line of "Thank you, Jessie May" is a lovely touch).

Other highlights include the Patsy Cline inspired 'Please Don ’t Cry' (not so much Kat Danser as Kat Crooner), pandemic blues number 'End of Days' (written, as confirmed by Danser, "on the night where Covid really hit home") and Cuban blues closer 'Mi Corazón,' a love song to Havana sung in Spanish.

In the world we currently live in we should indeed be keeping One Eye Open – and an ear to the rootsy musical ground in which Kat Danser travels so successfully and performs so passionately.