Biography

Americana, roots music, rough-around-the-edges folk. Canadian songwriter Lynne Hanson prefers “porch music with a little red dirt.” Hanson songs are like a favorite pair of jeans. They're rough around the edges, faded and worn through in spots, with a bit of honestly-acquired dirt ground into the seams.

Hanson grew up in Ottawa Canada, and starting playing guitar when she was 14, learning on a hand-me-down from an older brother. She released her award-winning debut album – Things I Miss – in 2006, and with tales to tell, two more albums quickly followed – Eleven Months (2008) and Once the Sun Goes Down (2010). Each new release garnered critical praise, earning Hanson a Canadian Folk Music Award nomination in 2009, an invitation to the Kerrville Folk Festival as a New Folk Finalist, and a year later the prestigious Colleen Peterson Songwriting Award handed out annually by the Ontario Arts Council.

Then … silence: A four-year hiatus from recording. It was time to kick dirt over the tracks on the trail. Lynne took some time to take control of her personal life and with it, a new approach to song writing. Her fourth studio album slated for release in Fall 2014 – River of Sand – is the creative output of that very personal journey.

On River Of Sand she’s been fortunate to work with Juno-winning songstress Lynn Miles as producer. “The songs on this record are honest and fearless” say Miles, and the search for truth that’s always guided Hanson’s work takes a turn to the raw.

It’s still as Hanson has always described it: “porch music with a little red dirt” – but there’s a little more dirt and the dirt is just a little bit darker. No topic is off limits, and the 11 songs run the gamut, painting a candid canvas of whiskey-soaked heartbreak and personal struggle, all contrasted against hope that better times are coming. And of course the requisite murder ballad that has become a trademark of Hanson’s albums.

Hanson’s songs may be full of grit, but her live performances are polished, whether she’s playing solo or with her band The Good Intentions. And she’s managed to get around having toured Canada, the US, Europe and the UK. She’s played showcase gigs in Austin, Phoenix and Memphis (Folk Alliance), toured in support of Grammy nominated songwriters (Gretchen Peters, Steve Forbert), and performed at several historic music venues, including the legendary 100 Club in London England and the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville.