Dreamland

Dreamland, the fourth album by the Prince Edward Island quartet Gordie MacKeeman and His Rhythm Boys, is a welcome entry in the contemporary roots category. Produced by Nashville veteran Robert S Field (Steve Earle, Justin Townes Earle, Stoney LaRue), the 13 tracks represent an entertaining and eclectic mix of covers and originals drawing on styles ranging from folky bluegrass (‘Just Want to Be Loved by You’ and ‘Morning Train’) to Cajun two-stepper (‘Sittin’ in a Bar’) and traditional lullaby (‘Dreamland’). Add a dose of rockabilly, a helping of old-time country, a dash of Irish/Celtic and a polka rendered on lap steel and you've got a polyglot repertoire worthy of any back porch, roadhouse floor or festival stage.

If there is a bone to pick with MacKeeman's quartet it's the absence of a compelling vocal component. It's not that the members who sing can't sing; it's just that they have unremarkable medium-register voices, which, individually and collectively, sound like a thousand other singer-instrumentalists. Put a fiery chanteuse with a twang up front and these Rhythm Boys would really turn things out.