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Herizon Magazine
Review by Cindy Filipenko

Cori Brewster writes songs that capture the essence of a place better than most. As usual, her subject is one of Canada’s natural national treasures: Banff. The Brewster family settled in the area in 1886 and according to the liner notes of Buffalo Street, they never left. A family residing in one place for more than 100 years generates its fair share of stories and Brewster has handily managed to turn these narratives into engaging folk songs.

Brewster’s mellow alto draws the listener in close to the tales, evoking strong visual imagery, whether she’s singing about running the Stoney/Nakota Aboriginal people out of the national park in the title track, or pining for a long forgotten homeland in “Take Me Back to Ireland.” The musicianship on Buffalo Street is top notch, with producers Adrian Dolan and Dave Clarke getting the most of the more than 25 artists who join Brewster here.

Buffalo Street is a small album, but an important one, as it represents folk music in the truest sense, recording history through lyric and melody, so that a culture’s important moments are not lost. Give this woman an Order of Canada for telling us about what Banff was before it became just another tourist Mecca.