Maverick Magazine: Felt Like a Sunday Night review/U.K.

Cam Penner and the Gravel Road
"Felt Like a Sunday Night"
Review: February 2006
4/5 stars

A Canadian troubadour of the highest calibre, Cam Penner is writing the songs that Steve Earle should be. His third album, recorded over the last 10 months, reflects on a period of significant change: those months of reflection and refocusing after splitting from a long term partner. But he doesn‚t weep and mope around the bush like he could have done. He gets off its knees, brushes off the dirt from his denim, and hits the heartworn highways with a swagger and a smile.

Racing through the seasons in a rusty pick-up, Cam takes in thunderous storms on the swift paced country rock of I've Got You, braces himself in the autumnal winds in the sole bluegrass effort October and relaxes in the warm summer nights on No Stars In The City. His voice roughens as it quietens, like John Prine on the The Last Train Home, while he croons and tugs at your heart strings like Townes Van Zandt on the classic Americana of Be Kind. But it's the pounding drum, twanging guitar lick and drawling snarl of Rye Whiskey that makes you know this album would have been the perfect follow up to GUITARTOWN.

HK