Featuring a deep, rich and gritty voice that seems far older than the 27-year-old Canadian it emanates from, Colter Wall has burst onto the country and roots music scenes since the release of his self-titled debut effort in 2017. Following in the footsteps of fellow Canadians like Gordon Lightfoot, Shania Twain, Lindsay Ell, Tenille Townes and Neil Young, Wall helps to cement the already strong reputation of country artists originating from north of the border.
With an equally plainspoken and descriptive songwriting style that is succinct one moment and ultra-descriptive the next, Wall's easily recognizable croon carries with it a weight of nostalgia that most other artists can only dream of capturing themselves. However, with Wall it comes so naturally that he hardly has to give it a thought, further illustrating the depths of his talent.
To celebrate Wall's impressive and fast-growing catalog we've compiled our eight favorite songs (so far) from the Saskatchewan-born singer-songwriter below.
8. "Codeine Dream"
Wall deals with loneliness, addiction and depression on the somber ballad "Codeine Dream." The tale from 2017's self-titled debut album showcases the gut-wrenching side of the artist's storytelling as he drinks away his sorrows and memories of the one he loves but can't have, singing "Every day it seems / My whole damn life's just a codeine dream / But I don't dream of you anymore."
7. "Saskatchewan In 1881"
With a harmonica humming in the background, Wall sings about the Toronto man pestering a farm worker on the prairie humor filled "Saskatchewan in 1881." While not a direct historical perspective, the tune does shed light on the harsh working conditions of the late 1800s as Wall belts out "It's so damn cold out here, the wind'll cut you half in two / I ain't kiddin' now, my old plow is frozen to my mule / I've been livin' off of ice-cold rainbow stew."
6. "Rocky Mountain Rangers"
This boot stompin' ditty from Wall tells the story of the Rocky Mountain Rangers, a volunteer militia brought together during the Indigenous Métis people's 1885 rebellion against the Canadian government in Saskatchewan that inspired the song's name. The song glorifies a rag-tag group not good enough for the Scarlet Mounties, dandy dude townies or drunkard down and outies because "There's none any stranger / Rocky Mountain Rangers / Well equipped for danger / Mounted high in the year of 85."
5. "Thirteen Silver Dollars"
Some of the best songs are left unfinished with only the listener to think of what happens next. This is the case for Wall's "Thirteen Silver Dollars," a dark story that sees Wall waking up in a snowy embankment with a police officer fast approaching. After a brief exchange Wall ends up in cuffs with the cop mocking him for supposedly not having anything to his name, leading Wall to sing "Well, I got my health, my John B. Stetson / Got a bottle full of Baby's Blue Bird wine / And I left my stash somewhere down in Preston / Along with 13 silver dollars and my mind."
4. "The Devil Wears A Suit & Tie"
A gritty tale reminiscent of Charlie Daniels' iconic "The Devil Went Down To Georgia," "The Devil Wears A Suit & Tie" provides listeners with some of Wall's most vivid storytelling to date as he sings of a man "White as a cotton field and sharp as a knife" who notices Wall to be a six-string picker by the state of his hands and goes on to offer to teach him "a few turns to make all the girls dance."
3. "Sleeping On The Blacktop"
Wall sings of the different people and happenings he's coming across during his life on the road on "Sleeping On The Blacktop." Despite its reference to death, the song is mostly an upbeat tune from Wall as he sings of the joys of not being tied down to one place and the characters, such as the "High heel lady spitting at the nickajack / Business man with a needle and a spoon / Coyote chewing on a cigarette / Pack o' young boys going howlin' at the moon" that he meets along the way.
2. "Motorcycle"
After hearing Arlo Guthrie sing of his motorcycle on the second side of Alice's Restaurant, Wall was inspired to write "Motorcycle," an equally happy-go-lucky and dark song that sees the artist longing for a motorcycle and all the possibilities, good and bad, that come with it, including wrapping "her pretty little frame around a telephone pole" and riding "her off a mountain like ol' Arlo."
1. "Kate McCannon"
Delving into the long tradition of murder ballad from ace songwriters who've come before him, Wall takes a spin himself on the often utilized story concept on fan favorite "Kate McCannon." A story of love gone sour, Wall sings of a man who finds the love of his life in a holler and begins saving a quarter of his pay from the coal mines to buy her a diamond ring only to come home one day and find her "with some other lover."
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