Bad ideas, VCRs, crumbling factories, hairy dogs, questionable tattoos…all are fair game for Nova Scotian funeral director-turned-songwriter Terra Spencer. And the songs are good ones, judging from the stack of awards her three albums have received and from the caliber of collaborators like Ben Caplan, Dave Gunning, and David Francey, who welcomed Terra as a co-writer and performer on his JUNO-winning album The Breath Between. Terra has just released her fourth solo album, ‘Sunset’, named the Penguin Eggs Album of the Year alongside Julian Taylor’s ‘Pathways’. Its dozen songs feature guests from East to West - Matt Andersen, The Bombadils, Ryan Cook, Ian Sherwood, Pillow Fite, and Stephen Fearing. Although her butterscotch voice, deft fingerstyle guitar, and gospel-charged piano make her a formidable musician, it’s her onstage ease and crackling homespun wit that make each show feel like a knee-to-knee conversation in a room of 5 or 500. “The real deal.” - Ron Sexsmith