Nix, Herald - Soul of a Kiss

Tracks

		Track Name	Length
	1	The Bright Side of Nothing
	2	I Think of You
	3	Patti's Work Song
	4	Hurry On
	5	Small Blessings
	6	Love Looks Good On You
	7	Tomorrow's Another Day
	8	I've Got Your Photograph
	9	Soul of a Kiss
	10	The Leland Hotel Fire
	11	King of Guys

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Information/Write-up

Nix has long been a hidden hero of Canadian Country music, at least outside of his native land. Yet the body of his work, which continues to deepen, signals that it may be time for some more sugar from the masses.

Nix winds into his traditional honky-tonk and raw blues a smart, ironic lyrical sense; musically and in the writing, the songs ring true, wisdom gained in the best ways, through loss and through being able to laugh at yourself after. His stripped down style adds power and emotion to the usual country topics, and ennobles them with his humor. Drone freaks love to trip out to one note being repeated over and over; the trance that ensues can lead to mystical dreams or at least flashes of dream animals made manifest. Nix, from the lake country of British Columbia, often uses only one or two chords to make his point. You can take him straight and see some of your own stories here.

Herald Nix is a man of many talents and few words. But if you listen to the superlatives spouted in western Canadian indie-music circles, they'll tell you plenty. Like how the country-bluesman's tenor has all the hallmarks of such late greats as Hank Williams; how his bottleneck slide work pays homage to his Delta blues hero, Mississippi Fred McDowell; how his Steinbeckian ballads recall Woody Guthrie and Lefty Frizell--"the best country music singer ever," according to Nix, who covers "Love Looks Good on You" on his latest album, Soul of a Kiss, recorded with Calgary's Ronnie Hayward on bass. It's only Nix's second release in eight years, since moving back to his hometown of Salmon Arm, B.C. from Vancouver, where the singer-songwriter, an impressive presence at
six-foot-three, was once a live staple with his snappy, sometimes reflective, sometimes raucous, post-punk rockabilly band.

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