Long Haul

Engagingly melodic, topical and enduring, ‘Long Haul’ is a career defining work by an artist who has come into his own.

Recording during a global pandemic is not an easy proposition. Thankfully, John and his long time producer, Steve Dawson had formed a natural chemistry over the pair of records they had previous ly crafted together, and once they got down to working remotely, the thousands of miles separating Lethbridge, Alberta from Nashville seemed to disappear. Memorable performances from Dawson (guitar/strings) Gary Craig (drums), Jeremy Holmes (bass), Chris Gestrin (keyboards) and John Prine alumnus, Fats Kaplan (mandolin, fiddle, banjo and accordion) added a special chemistry to the mix, resulting in the best sounding record of Hannam’s career.

When John Wort Hannam started to write songs for his 8th album, ‘Long Haul,’ he didn’t have any particular theme in mind. Locked down in the early days of the pandemic, random ideas began to coalesce into a unified whole and eleven songs later, a unified vision had clearly emerged. With (its) narratives that trace small victories earned through faith, resilience and humour, the songs on ‘Long Haul’ reach beyond our current sense of isolation to share a sense of gratitude for what we have, and grief for what we have lost. Balancing personal and universal concerns, the songs on ‘Long Haul’ offer intimate reflections of everyday life and experience. “I’ve become more comfortable writing about myself than I ever was in the past. Recently, I’ve realized that the things that I go through are meaningful and that I don’t need a crazy, drunken, bound for the jailhouse kind of life to write good songs.”