Matt Patershuk 'DOG. TIGER. HORSES' Out Today Via Black Hen Music

One of Canada’s finest unsung musical heroes, Matt Patershuk releases his new album DOG. TIGER. HORSES today via Black Hen Music.

Patershuk’s music offers a priceless snapshot reflecting the small moments we all share. The latest single “Good Road” captures the inherent struggles of living a good life. “God, it’s hard to be good isn’t it? I mean, really,” says Matt. “Sometimes there’s no right choice. Sometimes our choices are limited. Sometimes we just pile up and do something wrong, because we’re human. It takes a great effort to do even half the job. As my Grandad said though, God loves a trier.”

Listen/Share: Matt Patershuk “Good Road”

Available now on all music services.

DOG. TIGER. HORSES. follows the critically acclaimed 2021 An Honest Effort, which earned the La Glace, Alberta based songwriter of the year nomination at The Canadian Folk Music Awards and continues the music dialogue between Patershuk and Steve Dawson, the Juno winning, Nashville based guitarist and producer. The album title stems from a Hemingway quote “There isn’t any symbolism. The sea is the sea. The old man is an old man....” And so for Matt, he chose the title as there is a song about a dog, a tiger and a couple of horses which ties into Matt’s approach to music- never being one to overthink a lyric or push a melody.

DOG. TIGER. HORSES. bubbles with an organic energy that comes from recording spontaneously and mostly live off the floor during their sessions in Nashville. Like Matt, Steve and the top notch musicians that he gathered for the session favour an approach that relies on feel and authenticity, rather than perfection. The core band of Jeremy Holmes (bass), Jay Bellerose (drums), Steve Dawson (acoustic and electric guitars, pedal steel, weissenborn), and Tim O’Brien (fiddle, banjo, mandolin) play with an ease and confidence that makes the listener feel like they’ve been playing these songs for their whole lives rather than creating the music as it unfolded in the studio. Along the way, Fats Kaplin (fiddle, mandolin), Dave Jacques, Mike Bub (bass) and Justin Amaral (drums) dropped in to create some tasty understated rhythms on a few tracks, while Ruth Moody and Ana Egge added background vocals