One Good Friend (CD - 2004)

Personnel: George Canyon (background vocals); George Canyon (vocals); Steve Mandile (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboards, percussion, background vocals); Paul Franklin (slide guitar, steel guitar, dobro); Jonathan Yudkin (violin, fiddle, cello); Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Steve Nathan (piano, Hammond b-3 organ, Wurlitzer organ, keyboards); Matt Rollings (piano, Hammond b-3 organ); Dennis Wage (keyboards); John Howard, Michael Rhodes (bass guitar); Paul Brandt (background vocals); Steve Gibson (acoustic guitar); Brent Mason (electric guitar); Chuck Tilley, Eddie Bayers (drums).

Audio Mixer: David Thoener.

Recording information: Big One Three Productions, Nashville, TN; Emerald Studios, Nashville, TN; Quad Recording Studios; Reiny Dawg Inc.

Photographer: Kristin Barlowe.

One Good Friend is the American major-label debut for George Canyon, a Canadian country singer whose 1999 eponymous debut made a few waves in his homeland. It still took him a long time to cross over into the American market -- a long five years separates that record and the stateside appearance of One Good Friend in the fall of 2004. During that time, he went through the Nashville production line, shedding some of the Canadian quirks and winding up as a likable, straight-ahead neo-traditionalist country singer. Canyon has a nice tenor voice, one that he can twist into a good approximation of George Jones when he wants to (as he does on the novelty highlight "Workin' on Ten"), but this record is too smooth and friendly to be hardcore honky tonk. That's just used as a bit of flavor on a record that's cheerfully middle-of-the-road country: catchy but not too poppy; professional but not too labored; friendly but never pandering. Canyon doesn't yet have a distinctive on-record persona, but he's a friendly, ingratiating vocalist with good taste for engaging, if somewhat generic, material, and that makes this a good American introduction to this promising Canadian singer. It may not be a home run, but it's a straight-down-the-middle successful double. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine minimize