Canadian country rocker Corb Lund and his nimble band The Hurtin’ Albertans play earnest Americana, rollicking honky tonk, and rousing alt-country. They arrive at the Freight with a great new album, their ninth, Things That Can’t Be Undone, which has been winning raves left and right. PopMatters invokes the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and the Beatles, calling Corb “an exceptionally gifted songwriter” and praising the album as “a strong set of exceptional country-based songs.” “With his flexible, high-lonesome voice and witty songs,” says Mother Jones, Corb “makes records that have real staying power. There’s not a dull or false note to be found on this remarkable and rewarding album.”

Corb is a fourth-generation cowboy who started competing in rodeos young and won his first trophy – for steer riding – at age 11. The Canadian Country Music Association named him Roots Artist of the Year seven years in a row, he’s won a Juno award, and his last studio album, Cabin Fever, hit #1 in Canada its first week and was certified gold. The Washington Post calls him “a revelation, laconic and scary smart, with a devil’s eye for details.” With Grant Siemens on electric guitar and lap steel, Kurt Ciesla on bass, and Brady Valgardson on drums, Corb Lund & The Hurtin’ Albertans can make you dance and make you think, make you ache and make you smile, all in the space of a song.

San Francisco’s Maurice Tani has been a fixture on the local alt-country scene for more than a decade with his band 77 El Deora, and previously sang and played guitar for the seminal Motown-style party bands Zasu Pitts Memorial Orchestra and Big Bang Beat. The San Francisco Chronicle has praised his “twangy modern country sound” and called his songs “wry yet romantic, tender but aggressive.” The website No Depression calls the sound “hillbilly noir” – “at once familiar, ethereal and beautiful.” Maurice calls it “cinema for the blind.” His music paints vivid pictures of the darker side of human relationships – but even at its darkest, it swings.

Listen to a track from Maurice Tani:

visit the Corb Lund website

Visit the Maurice Tani website