"Motorhead-meets-Merle Haggard- Rocks like some
Crackling 70s Outlaw Classic and would be top forty
in a saner universe"
                                                 - Richard Thornley (Penguin Eggs Mag) Edmonton

"When it comes to that critical third release, many artists stumble,
and lots of them fall flat." "I can assure you that this guy isn't stumbling,
he's picking up steam"

                                               - Don Grant, (Freight Train Boogie) Santa Rosa California

"A Canadian who delivers honest hillbilly music
that's more country than much of the pasturized
schlock coming out of major-label
Music Row these days."     -Clay Steakley (Performing Songwriter) Nashville TN

"One of the best roots country discs to come along
since Corb Lund's Five Dollar Bill."                - Heath McCoy  (Calgary Herald)

"Crazy Horse in better days"      - (Rootstime) - Roots reviews The Netherlands

"Canadian country-folk for a sound that harkens
back to The Band. Contemporary enough for mainstream
radio yet folky enough for the purists, Dave McCann seems
a natural for the festival circuit and a likely
candidate for major stardom."                 - Lynn McLachlan  (Rambles)  PA USA

"Dave's wonderful debut would've been huge 20 years ago.
With music industries being what they are today- it's difficult
for a real musician like this to get the exposure he so
desperately deserves. It's hard edged roots music at it's best." 

                                                                   - Robert Tisi (Welland, Ontario Canada)

"the perfect antidote to the plastic world in which
most of us live."                                                     - Michael Mee (NetRhythms) UK

YOU MAKE YOU ART
AND YOU TAKE
YOUR CHANCES
Country Medicine is just what
the doctor ordered for Dave McCann

COUNTRY MEDICINE
Dave McCann & The Ten Toed Frogs
© FFWD CALGARY'S NEWS &
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Music -   by: Mary-Lynn McEwen

Centred. That's how to describe Calgary singer-songwriter Dave McCann. With his ardour for hiking, camping and river rafting, you could say he's down to earth. You could mention how articulately soft-spoken he is, or you could slap him on the back for being the kind of songwriter that lends words to the emotions of the centuries and lures riffs away from the wind. But centred describes the man who is a contender in the category of the Calgarian Least Likely to Don Silver Pants in a quest to become an "entertainer."

Because no matter how much smoke blurs the spotlights at an endless gig in yet another bar in one more town, McCann can hear the river calling to him to wash those fumes away.

And as McCann prepares for the release of Country Medicine, his second album with his band The Ten Toed Frogs, he reflects on the reasons that the music industry will never eat him alive. He cites having a day job, his business as a graphic designer, as one key. "I always seem to have a parachute and I have life in perspective. You're just making music, just making songs, and if people don't like that, it's easy. You just have to stay positive. Don't react," McCann says.

Not that he's familiar with people not liking his music. Reaction to his first album, 2000's Woodland Tea, featured accolades from such diverse sources as Performing Songwriter Magazine in Nashville, Penguin Eggs and Americana Magazine in the U.K. And when McCann casually gave an advance copy of Country Medicine to Alison Brock, whose show Wide Cut Country runs Saturday mornings on CKUA, he began to hear dozens of on-air pleas and requests from people showing up at his gigs or on the street, begging for a copy of the album.

A listen to Country Medicine reveals this attention is warranted. The band is impeccable: Jenny Allen's backing vocals blur the edges of Sandy Switzer's pedal steel licks, the ubiquitous Danny Patton slicks down jagged musical edges with his rolling Hammond organ, and Dave Bauer, Mel Smith and McCann unleash electric guitar riffs that drive barbed-wire needles into the music's folky heart. While McCann's lyrical eye roves over topics like homelessness, drugs and wanderlust, the words are poetic and precise but never fussy. The album epitomizes artistry without artifice.

"You make your art and you take your chances," McCann says of the positive reactions. "People that you write for are people who think the same or feel the same as you do. I don't make art for a specific audience but you want to sort of make it for people who are going to see things along the same lines as you do." McCann has settled into the niche his last album carved when it succeeded on the Americana charts. "There's always the lure of bigger and better things out there. You could squeeze into a pair of silver pants and the next minute you're making really big dollars or something. But I've never been attracted to that style of music. I can remember listening to the radio when I was a kid and hearing songs like "Mr. Roboto" and thinking 'Fuck, there's got to be something else out there.' Then I got my first Bob Dylan record."

One reason McCann, a self-professed cynic, has stayed centred is he has separated the music industry from the entertainment industry, noting how the latter eats artists like Kurt Cobain alive. "Not anybody and everybody can enter the entertainment world, which is a circus. It's big money, it's just nuts. You need to flap your wings a lot harder to stay afloat in the entertainment industry than you do in the music industry."

"The music industry is full of parasites. The entertainment industry is full of bigger sneakier parasites."

THANK YOU MARY LYNN

OUT OF FOUR
The Country Medicine CD
as Reviewed By Heath McCoy The Calgary Herald

In a city dominated by roots music, Dave McCann has long been a standout. But with the release of his latest album, Country Medicine, recorded with The Ten Toed Frogs, he deserves to move to the forefront of the roots scene, locally and internationally.

One of the best roots country discs to come along since Corb Lund's Five Dollar Bill, the album's highlights include the irresistibly soulful country rocker, Sticks and Stones, the beautifully lyrical Brokewing Bird, and the sparse Joes Bones with its bleak visions reminiscent of Neil Young. The lazy country rock of the title track is also superb, with stinging electric guitar and superstitious "devil in the wood pile" hillbillyisms. As for the best track, its a toss-up between the raucous Cocaine Stole Her Brain, which recalls one of the Stones' country romps, and a fiery crop-dusting bluegrass version of Jethro Tull's prog-rock classic,

OUT OF FIVE
The CD Review By Don Grant - FTB  -  Americana Roots Releases 
Dave McCann and the Ten Toed Frogs - Album - "Country Medicine"

When it comes to that critical third release, many artists stumble, and lots of them fall flat. I haven't had the good fortune to encounter Dave McCann's first self-released work, but I did come across his second, Woodland Tea, after receiving Country Medicine, (thank you, Molly), and I can assure you that this guy isn't stumbling, he's picking up steam. Equally adept, he can slide from a mournful, almost traditional, lament like "Leaving This Town", through to "Brokewing Bird", as rocking a bit of Alt/Country as I've heard in a while, although, overall, this CD leans more toward the country and roots side of his earlier work. Originally from Ontario, now calling Calgary home, McCann, along with his excellent Frogs, have a grip on the Americana genre that must be the envy of some of his southern contemporaries. While it is a thoroughly enjoyable, Luther Wrightesque, reworking of Jethro Tull's "Locomotive Breath" closing the disc, one wonders why an original piece wasn't chosen. McCann's own songwriting is its equal. I can't finish without remarking upon the background vocals of Jenny Allen. Watch out Dave, I wouldn't be surprised if she spreads her wings and flies away from you.

The Country Medicine Review By
Richard Thornley Penguin Eggs Magazine

Well, it's about time we had something new from Dave McCann as I've just about worn out his debut, Woodland Tea; it's been my constant companion on long road trips, an infectious blend of Folk inflected country music perfect for my tone deaf vocal accompaniment. But now it's time for something new. And Country Medicine delivers. Sticks & Stones is the first track, and it picks up exactly where Woodland Tea left off, with a loping country backbeat, mandolin rhythm, and McCann's Canajun drawl: "Well the songs come down, down from the mountains, And they burned around in the Busted Towns, You can hear em now out amongst the wounded, Forgotten words seldom spoke by men." This is followed by the pedal steel laced Leaving this Town, with it's similarly evocative references to shotgun shacks and wind worn landscapes where the bones show through. I don't get it, most of the time, but it seems to connect with life out here on the prairies and I can't stop myself from singing along. Cocaine stole her brain (No Difficulties here) rocks like some crackling 70s country outlaw classic and would be top 40 in a saner universe. And the whole thing wraps up with the Motorhead-meets-Merle Haggard thump of Locomotive Breath (Although stay tuned for the for the hidden track that follows). The musicianship through out is top notch and I guarantee this one won't leaving the car stereo until the next Dave McCann record rolls down the pike. Start Your Engines.

Country Medicine Reviewed
by Michael Mee (NetRhythms)-UK

It's not that Canadian Dave McCann doesn't care about his music, every note, melody and lyric on this album screams otherwise. It's just that he comes across as the kind of man who doesn't compromise a whole lot. He makes his music and you can take it or leave it, mind you you'd be a fool to leave it. With a little tweaking and a little dumbing down, several of the tracks on Country Medicine would fit easily into the repertoire of any of the 'Shanias' of this world and guarantee a life of luxury for McCann into the bargain. Believe me he's a writer who knows how to put words and music together in a very entertaining way.

His 'problem' is that he demands so much more of his songs than they are just pleasing on the ear. You can smell the woodsmoke and fresh air on Country Medicine. It's not a 'raw' album as such but it is firmly rooted in real life. When he sings Leaving This Town there is absolutely no doubt that he has suffered the pain.

McCann has discovered the perfect blend on Country Medicine. Depending on your starting point, it's rock influenced country or vice versa. Brokenwing Bird is the kind of band track that is instantly a fans' favourite, while Joe's Bones has a solitary darkness that makes it unforgettable.

The effect of the album is a cumulative one, each track adds something a little different to the experience. None overshadows the other and certainly none are superfluous.

If there are standout tracks then it is comes down to personal choice. For me Sleeping With Gold is as close to the complete 'Americana' track as you can get, driving hard but full of honest feeling. Cocaine Stole is a runaway train of a song and to round things off there is an affectionate cover of Jethro Tull's Locomotive Breath. You're never going to get consensus about songs as good as this.

There's even the added bonus of an unlisted song at the end. It still mystifies me why they do that. Why not credit the track and make it 13 great songs instead of 12? It can't be superstition can it? Now that would be ironic because the one thing Country Medicine will not rely on is luck. In the midst of all this wonderful country rock, it would be too easy to overlook the contribution of the exotically named Ten Toed Frogs. To say that they aid and abet McCann in his envdeavours would be to suggest a supporting role. Forget it, Dave Bauer, Mel Smith, Sandy Switzer, Danny Patton, Ross Watson, Jake Peters, Jenny Allen and Gary Kurtz are the reason that Country Medicine is as good as it is.

There may seem to be a cast of thousands but their contribution is vital to an album that is the perfect antidote to the plastic world in which most of us live.

The CD Review by Tony Peyser
- Santa Monica Mirror. USA

I sometimes wonder if CD's are secretly placed on my desk like Gideon Bibles in hotel rooms. I don't remember asking for Dave McCann and The Ten Toed Frogs' Country Medicine but this dose of alt-country from Canada is just what the doctor ordered. It's like being in a town that's very familiar but has its own particular local landmarks. There's a laid back vibe with a rusted charm. The Band (who McCann reminds me of) made a splash with Music From Big Pink. Let's just call this Music From The Great White North.

The CD write up By
Miles Of Music - Hollywood Califoria USA
Canadian singer/songwriter Dave McCann delivers confident, heartfelt roots gems on his second solo release with his solid backing band, The Ten Toed Frogs. A feast of electric, acoustic and slide guitar, mandolin, dobro, pedal steel... you name it, it's likely contributing to the richness of this album's sound. As a vocalist, McCann is earthy and earnest, with the grit of a 70s outlaw and the impassioned lament of a soulful country rocker. From the campfire choruses and sweeping pedal steel of "Leaving This Town" to the fiddle-flecked title track, there are raucous rousers (especially "Cocaine Stole Her Brain"), and reflective roots-folk romps to fuel every facet of your alt. country addiction. There's even a blistering bluegrass reworking of Jethro Tull's "Locomotive Breath"!

The CD Review By
CLAY STEAKLEY Performing Songwriter Mag, Nashville, TN USA May 2001

Dave McCann is a Canadian who delivers honest hillbilly music that's more country than much of the pasturized schlock coming out of Major-Label music row these days. Woodland Tea is replete with harmonica, mandolin, banjo, jaw harp, pedal steel, and fiddle, and it clambers about in a Canadian/Appalachian hiterland somewhere between the surly twang of Steve Earle and Southern Gothic darkness of 16 Horsepower.

The sonic range of the songs is wide, but always appropriate. The creepy, scraping fiddle of the instrumental "Muskellunge" and the honky, percussive banjo of "Where'd I Turn Wrong Blues" intergrate easily with the old time feel of "Pocket of Love" and the straight-on alt/country of Left Behind."

McCann and the Ten Toed Frogs are too soulful and tasteful to fall by the country wayside. Their inteligent use of pedal steel and mandolin and mandolin is always purposeful and never a crutch, and McCann's lyrics are accessible and traditional with out being hackneyed or borrowed. Woodland Tea is sometimes dark and sometimes twangy, but it is consistenly true and well executed.

The CD Review By
LYNN McLACHLAN  Rambles #5   Lancaster, PA USA   January 2002

Woodland Tea by Dave McCann and the Ten-Toed Frogs is absolutely delicious. And like a good cup of tea (though I've never sampled the pine-needle brew described in the liner notes) it's something you'll want to savour as long and as frequently as possible.
A rare find among indie CDs, Woodland Tea is thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish, with well-written, memorable songs that create a cozy campfire mood. The polish of the album reflects McCann's length of time on the scene (this is his second full-length solo album) and his extensive touring experience. With his rough-hewn and embracing voice, McCann mixes strong Applachian influences with Canadian country-folk for a sound that harkens back to The Band. Contemporary enough for mainstream radio yet folky enough for the purists, Dave McCann seems a natural for the festival circuit and a likely candidate for major stardom.

It's hard to pick a favourite track on the disc because all the songs are strong. On first listen, I was drawn to "Mattawa," with its hummable chorus that invites campfire singers to add their own harmonies, and the dreamy "Farm Dog Free." Other standouts are the lead track "Gasoline and Sunshine," the bouncy "Where'd I Turn Wrong Blues" and the harmony-rich "Grain Car." Finally, I have to mention "Circle of Stones" ("There's a fire in the belly of the world tonight...") which is a timeless classic that has even more resonance in today's uncertain world.

The lineup of musicians is impressive. In addition to McCann's guitar and vocal work, we have Dave Bauer on guitar, mandolin and lap steel; Kevin Labchuk on accordion, Mel Smith, electric and acoustic guitars; Danny Patton on bass; and Ross Watson on drums, with additional contributions made by Sandy Switzer, Jake Peters, Paul David and Gary Kurtz. McCann co-produced the record with Danny Patton in Calgary, Alberta. I hope Woodland Tea brings Dave McCann widespread recognition across Canada and around the world. In the meantime, I'll spin the album again, gather some pine needles and make myself another cup of tea.

The CD Review By FISH GRIWKOWSKY Edmonton Sun
Earnest Wanderings Dave McCann & the Ten-Toed Frogs (Independent)

A good, solid country rocker from Calgary's Dave McCann is just what the witch doctor ordered.

Shades of Son Volt, Neil Young and, YES!, Dave McCann takes this disc through a series of earnest wanderings, woodsy folk songs and easy campfire music. It feels good and live, and McCann has an easy voice, full of reserved passion and dancing range. The song Mattawa makes you realize that Wilco may have gone too far down its own path, though Where'd I Turn Wrong Blues would go great on one of those Mermaid Avenue discs featuring them and Billy Bragg.

Lyrically confident, this is a CD which feels Albertan, and that's the best part of it. Too many local bands go for a sound outside our borders and there's nothing more fake than a Nashville accent on someone born in Spruce Grove. McCann's Woodland Tea is the perfect antidote, worth it for the fiddling alone.

Plus, aren't you lucky, he's playing here today, first at the Black Dog, then at Queen Alexandra Hall.
Be there.

Some of the Charts we've landed on over the years.
Top Releases of 2004 and, Airplay Lists .

Insurgent Country (European) Top Twenty for 2004

01 Loretta Lynn: Van Lear Rose; Interscore
02 Lila Downs - Una Sangre One Blood
03 Dave McCann & The Ten Toed Frogs - Country Medicine (Self Released)
04 Grey De Lisle - The Graceful Ghost (Sugar Hill)
05 Charlie Musselwhite - Sanctuary
06 Dave Alvin - Ashgrove
07 Tom Russell- Indians Cowboys Horses Dogs
08 The Sadies - Favourite Colours
09 V.A. - A Tribute To The Songs Of Alejandro Escovedo (OR)
10 Buddy Miller - House Of Prayer (Blue Rose)
11 Steve Earle - The Revolution Starts Now
12 Jim Lauderdale - Headed For The Hills (Dualtone)
13 The Redlands Palamino Co - By The Time You Hear This (Laughing Outlaw)
14 Tony Joe White - The Heroines
15 Eliza Gilkyson - Land of Milk and Honey ( Red House Recordings)
16 Patti Smith - Trampin'
17 Nashville Bluegrass Band - Twenty Year Blues (Sugar Hill)
18 V.A. - Hard Headed Woman: A Celebration To Wanda Jackson (Bloodshot)
19 Queen Esther: Talkin' Fishbowl Blues, EL Records
20 Tim Grimm - Names (Wind River)

THE TOP TEN FOR Vielen Dank (NL)

1. DAVE McCANN & THE TEN TOED FROGS - Country Medicine (Self Released)
2. NASHVILLE BLUEGRASS BAND - Twenty Year Blues (Sugar Hill)
3. TRACI LAMAR - Apasionada (Akashic)
4. BLAZE FOLEY - Oval Room (Lost Art)
5. CORNELL HURD BAND - Cen-Tex Serenade (Behemoth)
6. TIM GRIMM - Names (Wind River)
7. NELS ANDREWS - Sunday Shoes (Little Kiss)
8. COAL PORTERS - How Dark This Earth Will Shine (Prima)
9. ROD PICOTT - Girl From Arkansas (Welding Rod)
10. I SEE HAWKS IN L.A. - Grapevine (Eastern Seeds)
Frohe Weihnachten,...Gerd Stassen

Ten Best List of 2004 Thomas Kaldijk, Veendam (NL) Roots/Americana

1. Ellis Hooks - The Hand Of God
2. Tift Merritt - Tambourine
3. Buddy Miller - Universal United House Of Prayer
4. Dave McCann and The Ten Toed Frogs - Country Medicine
5. Jake Brennan & The Confidence Men - Love & Bombs
6. The Yearlings - Utrecht
7. The Blind Robins - The Origin Of The Wasteland
8. Walter Clevenger & The Dairy Kings - Full Tilt Swing
9. Stephen Simmons - Last Call
10. Alastair Moock - Let It Go

Thomas Kaldijk, Veendam (NL)

#22 on Heath McCoy's List (Calgary Herald)

# 46 on Albertas own CKUA

The top releases of 2004 Hollands Alt Country NL