Adam Puddington I am a deer in the headlights/ I am fish on a hook I’m a boat out of water/ I’m a car up on blocks I’m just one half of the scissors/ I’m a cut among the rest I have no notions of grandeur/ I am provincial at best. Adam Puddington is one of Almonte, Ontario’s golden sons, and he wears the legacy proudly. Rural Canadiana seeps into his songs, infusing his lyrics with the curious beauty of rivers, wildlife, rosaries and trains. Especially trains, for Puddington’s Canada is primarily two different worlds joined by a spine of railway; while his sensibilities are firmly rooted in Ottawa Valley soil, maritime themes in songs like “Deer in the Headlights” and “Footprints” betray Puddington’s affinity for the east coast. There he found kindred musical spirits in the Halifax scene, performing, recording, and having his deftly-crafted songs covered by many local musicians. In a sense, then, Adam Puddington has a foot planted in each place, shaping music that winds its way from Ontario’s Mississippi River to the Atlantic Ocean. As he sings in “St. Lawrence”: “I’m on my way, tires on pavement, gravel on bone/ the beaten path, rivers and bridges, field and lakes.” With songs fresh and moving, saline and tidal, Adam leads us on a water route from threadbare grief to a tentative redemption. His warm vocals and stark vulnerability unsettle our cynicism, startle us into the pleasures and possibilities of song. “Chin up,” Mr. Puddington gently urges in the song of the same name. “We all feel the frost and we all get by.” Here is a singer-songwriter freshfaced and worldworn--in his voice traces of all-too-certain trials and occasional sparks of grace. Delightfully, his craft is wholly original, and warmly familiar. While close listening offers traces of Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young, Ian Tyson and Blue Rodeo, Adam Puddington’s music arises from the hardwon and carefully tended ground he stands on, ultimately and unmistakably his own. A gift: to the world, from Almonte, with love.