Veteran Montreal singer/songwriter Rob Lutes treats us to another fine collection of new ones. As it says in the press release, he is ‘situated at the intersection of blues, folk, Americana & contemporary singer/songwriter genres’. It’s a place he shares with people like Ray Bonneville & Thom Swift, both of whom use his songs. You will especially like “There’s No Way To Tell You That Tonight (James Cotton)”, a tale that takes place at a Cotton concert. Guy Bélanger adds some atmospheric harp, and Rob MacDonald some superb electric guitar. Lutes can rock out if he wants to, as “Pumping Love” attests.

Lutes made sure I was aware of Daniel Cross’ documentary “I Am The Blues” for which I am very thankful. The film inspired his own song using that title, a quite literary personification of the blues in all of us – a very good song, though not a blues in form. “Spence” is an instrumental tribute to the influential Bahamian guitarist, Joseph Spence and a delightful one it is. Among all these originals, he found room for John Prine’s “Rocky Mountain Time”, you will immediately understand why. “Better Past” is a bluesy piece of advice promising that your past will look better as long as you look forward with more optimism. It features MacDonald on resophonic guitar and Bélanger again on harp. Rob Lutes is touring across the country with this disc: he’ll be in Oakville on Oct 18 at the Moonshine Café and at the Burdock here on Oct 19. The web site for other dates and earlier albums is www.roblutes.com.