"Echoes of Paul Simon and Neil Young...authoritive and humble at the same time" — The Province

"An honest and wondrous collection of songs that very well may hold the power to change people’s lives" — Mass Movement

“An undeniable little gem of an album” — This Great Society

“Whitewater shows off Pick's knack for melody” — Given & Taken in Ink

It feels like I’ve been listening to more music this year than ever, but I probably say that every year. My collection keeps growing, increasingly scattered between CDs, Vinyl, and all sorts of bits and bytes — I keep meaning to get it organized, digitized, or cloud-ified (if that’s a word), but then get distracted listening to something and forget about it.

Whatever the format, I’m sure most of us are usually listening to a mix of things classic, current, and/or eclectic, which makes it hard to narrow down favorites, especially in 2011 — a year full of brilliant records. Fortunately, I've decided to consult my iTunes/Rdio play counter and this is what I've been listening to the most out of the year's releases (I've also put together a playlist to sample on iTunes):

1. James Vincent McMorrow - Early in the Morning
2. Emmylou Harris - Hard Bargain
3. Wilco - The Whole Love
4. Dawes - Nothing Is Wrong
5. Bry Webb - Provider
6. Paul Simon - So Beautiful or So What
7. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
8. Bon Iver - Bon Iver
9. The National - High Violet
10. Feist - Metals

Honorable Mentions:
Lisa Hannigan - Passenger
The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow

Notable Locals (friends):
Jonathan Inc. - Lost Time
Noah Gundersen - Family
Joshua Hyslop - Cold Wind EP
Ryan McAllister - Music for a Rainy Town
The Belle Game - Sleep to Grow EP

A few weeks back I wrote and recorded a Christmas tune, called 'Finding Christmas', which as of today is  available for streaming and download through Bandcamp or on iTunes.

Recorded at Buena Vista Audio with the help of Jonathan Anderson (Aidan Knight, In Medias Res), it features my debut on record behind the drum kit and glockenspeil as well as some pretty smooth organ and guitar licks from Jon. We had a great time working on this one - super relaxed and fun. Just like the best parts of the Christmas season. Hope you enjoy it.

As of today, the long-coming 'Whitewater' EP is available for your listening pleasure from my BandCamp store. It'll be up on iTunes very soon, and shiny compact discs are also on the way and should start shipping out on December 1st (though you'll get an immediate download of all four tracks if you order one before then).

And should you choose to support my musical endeavors with your hard-earned cash before November 29th, and I'll give you the new Christmas song I've just recorded as a bonus download, before it's officially released.

Helpful link to where you can listen and stuff: http://zaacpick.bandcamp.com/album/whitewater-ep

There will be tour dates coming early in the new year as well—I'm excited to finally try and connect the dots across this huge country we call Canada (that's Canadia to our dear American friends).

I hope you enjoy listening to these new songs as much as the band and I have enjoyed making them.

Thanks for all the support gang.

It was a labour of love to be sure, since these boats are made of paper and don't exactly like being in real water, or listen particularly well to instructions. Hit the full-screen button, sit back, and enjoy the ride.

There'll be more show dates and details posted soon, so in the meantime, have a look around the newly designed website. I think you'll find it rather er, refreshing.

Check out the EP cover and tracklist below:

Tracklist

1. Whitewater
2. Out of Fashion
3. Heavy
4. Modern Times

Three live recordings from my stipped-down show at The Streaming Cafe this past June are now available for your listening pleasure HERE - including a couple of unreleased tunes. Accompanying me on these are the multi-talented cello, mandolin, and Casio stylings of one Mr. Brian Chan. First up is one from the archives, a song called 'Good Intentions', followed by a stripped-down version of 'Drifters', and the first recorded version of a brand-new track called 'Whitewater'. Happy listening.