Blackie & The Rodeo Kings – Bark

Blackie & the Rodeo Kings formed from a love for the songs of William P. Bennett. After its 1996 tribute to Bennett, High Or Hurtin’, the Canadian band has periodically reunited on the sturdy foundation of songs that still owe something to Bennett’s hard-won provincial wisdom, no matter who wrote them.

The group’s third album, Bark, also owes much to the chops of three frontmen: Colin Linden, with the reedy voice of an openly passionate Lyle Lovett; Tom Wilson, whose nicotine baritone roughs up everything it touches; and Stephen Fearing, straight-ahead in vocal style and languidly soulful in delivery.

While the collective suggests a North Americana Crosby, Stills & Nash, this trio’s individuals are too distinct for that. Over the album’s fourteen songs, they pull in different directions. Wilson and Fearing tug everyone toward the dance floor for “Swinging From The Chains Of Love”, but Linden heads for the bottle in the kitchen cupboard for “Lock All the Doors”, and then Fearing sets off on his own for “Born To Be A Traveler”.

Throughout Bark, they and their backing musicians tie the foursquare appeal of a smoking bar band to the compositional variety of Blue Rodeo. Even a pair of covers — Bruce Cockburn’s “Tie Me To The Crossroads” and, yes, Bennett’s “Willie’s Diamond Joe” — play out less as nods to betters than as proof that Blackie & the Rodeo Kings can stand tall with anybody else.