In 2005, singer-songwriter Jason Collett temporarily
stepped away from the Canadian super-collective Broken Social Scene to
concentrate on writing and recording his own songs. He still occasionally
collaborates with his erstwhile bandmates—BSS/Apostle Of Hustle guitarist
Andrew Whiteman guests on Here's To Being Here, Collett's fifth solo
disc—but his new work is grittier, sparser, and more Mississippi-inspired
than anything BSS ever did. Collett occasionally succumbs to ye olde Bob
Dylan/Woody Guthrie fetish, delivering quips with a syntax that can feel
awkwardly familiar. But Here's To Being Here is the best kind of
homage, a folk-gospel-blues mash-up that sounds like it could be The Velvet
Underground's critically adored long-lost country record, if such a thing
existed.