Huron Street

Canadian guitarist Don Ross is a multitechnique fingerpicker who sits comfortably in the company of Preston Reed and Leo Kottke. Rerecording compositions from earlier, Canadian-only releases, Huron Street's melodies arrive out of a confluence of folk, country, and a dollop of classical sensibilities that keep things from getting rustic. Alternating down-home grooves with plaintive ballads, he writes complex tunes that roam like a Jack Kerouac novel. Although he fingerpicks, and has the whole two-handed tapping technique down, Ross's approach is more rhythmic than most, with lots of chordal strumming used to effect dynamics. It gives him a hard-edged, linear sound that often seems more plectrum driven. That tack wears thin over the course of the album, as he reverts to strumming to keep the rhythm going instead of letting his melodies flow outwards. The string bass on a couple of tunes definitely helps and is the kind of lift Ross needs to separate himself from the acoustic guitar glut. --John Diliberto