Mike McKenna Jr. – ‘Smokey Mountain High’ [Album Review]

Montreal-based folk/Americana singer-songwriter Mike McKenna Jr. recently released his fourth studio album, Smokey Mountain High, marking McKenna’s return to Cape Breton after spending a decade in Montreal.

McKenna explains, “I bought an old campervan with my dad, turned it into a mobile writing cabin, and found a safe space to create. I’d camp in the Highlands, hike, take mushrooms, and just let the island’s beauty sink in. It was during these moments that I wrote songs like ‘Smokey Mountain’ and ‘The Old Country.’ This album became my way of processing everything, from losing my relationship and release tour to reconnecting with my homeland.”

Produced by Quinn Bachand, who also played multiple instruments on the album, Smokey Mountain High also features the talents of Beatrix Methe (backing vocals), Clayton Linthicum (pedal steel guitar), and Colin Savoie-Levac (electric guitar). The album was mixed by Charles-Émile Beaudin.

The record begins with “Grassfire,” a personal favourite because of McKenna’s evocative, slightly raspy vocals. Co-written with Nashville’s Makayla Lynn Parry, the lyrics narrate a past, all-consuming love that, in the end, burned itself out. Linthicum’s crying steel guitar gives the tune savours of sad nostalgia.

The delicious swaying motion of “Smokey Mountain,” highlighted by Methe’s harmonies, soft and glowing, evokes wonderful, wistful memories. There’s a beckoning, shimmering glow to the short instrumental “1971 Interlude.”

Mike McKenna Jr., photo by Annie Diotte

“The Ballad of Donald Marshall,” a song dedicated to the memory of the late Donald Marshall Jr. of Membertou First Nation, Unama’ki, a Mi’kmaw man wrongly convicted of murder, is drenched in the poignant tones of McKenna’s revealing vocals.

“A Hill to Die On,” whose title refers to the precious, rigid beliefs people cling to with dogged resolve, allows McKenna to unveil the tender, thoughtful side of his remarkably affecting voice. This song was also co-written with the aforementioned Parry.

On Smokey Mountain High, Mike McKenna Jr. delivers a wholly captivating set of songs, searching for meaning among memories.

Tour Dates:

12/19: P’tit Ours, Montreal QC
01/15-01/19: Your Roots Are Showing Ireland’s Folk Conference, Killarney IE
02/19-02/23: Folk Alliance International Conference, Montreal QC

Smokey Mountain High Track Listing:

1. Grassfire
2. Smokey Mountain
3. The Old Country
4. 1971 Interlude
5. Long Sable Isle
6. When I First Came to Caledonia
7. The Ballad of Donald Marshall
8. Way Down Interlude
9. A Hill to Die On
10. High Times and Low Times

Run Time: 28:40
Release Date: November 1, 2024
Record Label: Independent