Wall, Colter: Little Songs LP

On Little Songs, fans of Colter Wall will find the same hardscrabble voice they've loved over the years connecting the contemporary world to the values, hardships, and celebrations of rural life. From the titular track he sings, "You might not see a soul for days on them high and lonesome plains. You got to fill the big empty with little songs." The ten-song LP features eight originals inspired by – and written in – Wall's home of Battle Creek, Saskatchewan, along with the Hoyt Axton cut "Evangelina" and a cover of Ian Tyson's "The Coyote & The Cowboy." With his longtime touring band, Wall returned to Yellowdog Studios in Wimberly, Texas, where he cut his 2020, Billboard-charting album, Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs, to track the collection with co-producer Patrick Lyons. Little Songs is an upbeat, sometimes somber glimpse into the rural work and social life of the Canadian West, and, more so than with previous albums, opens emotional turns as mature and heartening as the resonant baritone voice writing them. This release of new music follows the recent partnership between Wall's longtime label La Honda Records and RCA Records, with Little Songs as the first album on the joint venture.