Music of the West
By Hugh McLennan
Feb-Mar 2007
Ride a Wide Circle
 Chris and Sharky Schauer
The Reins of Glory is a song Gary Fjellgaard wrote several years ago. It’s quietly spreading through the western music community as its inspiring words and beautiful melody capture the imagination of more and more musicians. Ed Stabler uses it close all his live shows. Jean Prescott recorded a couple of years ago and Chris and Sharky do a wonderful job with it on their new CD, Ride a Wide Circle.
Some of the absolute best of Western Canada’s players all come together on this collection. Sharky of course is well known for his classic dobro and guitar work and vocals. Chris has a voice as sweet as the fragrance from an Alberta wild rose. Allen Christie was the guiding hand behind the production; doing the engineering, mixing and mastering, as well as playing lead guitar, mandolin and banjo on some tracks.
More musical masters include Ben Crane on mandolin, guitar and banjo; Jake Peters on banjo, Riley Tubbs on bass, and Mark Massicotte on percussion.
There’s a good variety of songs and styles here. Some great swing styling on Don’t Fence Me In, a vivid picture of an aspiring picker on Wayne Nelson’s great story, Dad Burned my Dadburned Guitar, a great up-tempo piece called Alberta in the Fall, written by Sharky and the well-known poet Iven Bryant. There are inspirational songs like Master, The Old Man is Dead and Curly Musgrave’s powerful Father to Father.
There are a couple of guest performers on this one too. Manitoba’s talented Ed Brown recites his poem, Trail to Virtue, and Al Collins sings his composition Sharky’s Bible.
There are fifteen tracks here and one more that deserves a mention is Matt Johnston’s Right Outside Your Window.
Order from www.canadiancowboy.ca.
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