Thursday, December 21, 2006

The Waking Hour

"…his best album to date. The songs are strong and the musicianship is exquisite. Just another brilliant CD to add to his collection of great works"
Chopper MacKinnon, Canadian Spaces on Waking Hour

"The Waking Hour is so good it borders on spooky"
Brent Raynor, Now Magazine

Dave Terpeny, KyndMusic Editor on The Waking Hour
With a calm and assuring voice that is reminiscent of folk legend Cisco Houston, politically-tinged lyrical poetry reminiscent of folk legend Woody Guthrie and multi-layered contented strumming and picking reminiscent of folk legend Mississippi John Hurt it comes as no surprise that Canadian David Francey is, well, a folk legend.
In fact, he’s won numerous Juno awards (Canadian Grammy) and has been covered by artists like Del McCoury and James Keelaghan. But that’s not all. The magic of this album is how he manages to blend elements of traditional Scottish folk music, rural American music and a deep sense of wisdom seamlessly together. So why haven’t you heard of him before?
Well, my thought is that because you weren’t ready to hear of him yet. You see, David creates an amazing sense of place in his music and lyrics and sometimes those places aren’t pleasant. And sometimes he challenges you to think, to open your eyes and to believe in what you see. In short, the humble spirituality that comes through his music is not always easy to handle. You have to be in the right place.And if you are in the right place, you will hear an amazing collection of 13 songs that deserves and, in fact, needs to be treasured.


"(David Francey) shows his earthy, tradition-minded nature on "The Waking Hour", burning with the quiet grace and intensity of a young Bruce Cockburn" Jonathan Takiff, Philadelphia Daily NewsThe Waking Hour This is a really good CD. The first song, "The Waking Hour", is the best single of the year. The song is just amazing.
Benjamin Paul host of Alive, You are!

“what a relief … to hear something purer, simpler, more...folk… David Francey's album, The Waking Hour” “ Francey writes songs that feel like they've been sung a million times in a million places by a million voices. And I trust they will be.”
Judith Edelman , Puremusic

Seemingly out of nowhere, middle-aged David Francey burst onto the roots music scene five years ago with a stunning debut CD. Two more releases both netted him Junos for best roots/traditional albums by a solo artist. With those credits on his résumé, Francey headed to Nashville and recorded this gem with the Dead Reckoners – Kieran Kane, Kevin Welch and Fats Kaplin – providing rootsy, off-the-floor backup. Observing the scene in Montreal’s Berri Street bus station, or a small town in Ohio on the anniversary of 9/11, or the media reportage on the day of Timothy McVeigh’s execution, Francey creates compelling song-vignettes. There’s a bluegrass flavour to Wanna Be Loved and Tonight In My Dreams while Badlands is cast in an old-time country vein. **** Mike Regenstreif, the Montreal Gazzette on The Waking Hour

The Waking Hour wins Penguin Eggs Magazine's 2004 Album of the Year award

The Waking Hour is nominated for Canadian Folk Music Award - Contemporary Album of the Year

The Waking Hour is nominated for a JUNO in the Roots and Traditional - Solo category

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