Best known as one third of Tri-Continental (with Bill Bourne and Madagascar Slim), Lester Quitzau is a perennial Vancouver Folk Festival fave. You get the sense that there’s nowhere this Juno Award-winning roots artist would rather be than at his West Coast home, tending his little corner of earth and making music. On The Same Light, Quitzau weaves the two together, offering them up as a panacea for the ills of the world and the loneliness of the road. Two gentle instrumentals, “These Blues” and “Ferris Wheel,” highlight Quitzau’s considerable skill on the acoustic guitar, while “Shape Shifter” plugs in and gives a taste of Quitzau’s bluesier origins. Lester’s wife Mae Moore is also present, offering her songwriting abilities on “The Only Cure” and lending her beautiful voice to backing vocals on “Let It Shine.” The album wraps with a cover of Pete Seeger’s “To My Old Brown Earth,” bringing it all back to the importance of having a little piece of ground.

All we need… all the wisdom and answers… lie within nature. To me, nature is God, and we are not separate from nature, nor are we separate from each other or any other living thing. We are one big life force, occupying this fragile, beautiful planet together, like a woven fabric.

The instrumentation on the album is eclectic, featuring Quitzau on vocals, Dobro, acoustic and electric guitars, and very effective steel pan drum, plus Joby Baker on percussion, electric bass and keyboards and Rick May on acoustic bass. A great voice plus excellent writing and production—be sure to give this one a listen; it may really open your ears, and don’t miss the “secret” final track. Soulful, soil-full, heart-full roots music.