The first thing Big Dave McLean will tell you about Pocket Full Of Nothin’, his newest release on Black Hen Music, is that it isn’t a straight-ahead blues album. For, even though Dave has been playing the blues since he first heard John Hammond perform at the Mariposa Folk Festival fifty years ago, he’s always been open to a variety of musical styles and approaches to presenting a song.  As Dave puts it, ‘Music is just music and when it’s good, you forget about the genre or whatever label you want to put on it, and just appreciate the beauty of what you’re hearing.’ Truer words were never spoken. It doesn’t matter if he’s playing country, folk, rock, R&B or blues. It all sounds right and true when Big Dave sings it.  

Hailing from Winnipeg, a city that has produced more than its share of great musicians, Big Dave’s Pocket Full Of Nothin’ is his most ambitious album yet. Until now, Big Dave’s recordings have largely comprised of songs written by musical heroes such as Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, and Elmore James. But for his seventh album and third record in a row with the award winning guitarist Steve Dawson producing, he decided to try something a little different. ‘I don’t usually stand on my own material. I’ve been happy to record my arrangements of other people’s songs, you know trying to bring something of a new perspective to them. Steve asked if I had written anything new since we last got together, so I sent him a bunch of songs and much to my surprise, he really liked almost all of them, so we ended up with nine original tunes on this record, which is the most I’ve ever recorded at one time.’

The release of Pocket Full Of Nothin’ coincides with the thrilling announcement that Big Dave will receive an appointment to the Order of Canada for his contributions to the nation’s cultural life. He’ll be in good company when he receives his medal alongside Garth Hudson of The Band to join past recipients that include such iconic musicians as Stompin’ Tom Connors, Gord Downie and Gordon Lightfoot.  And, when that day comes, there’ll be no better way to celebrate this long overdue recognition than to listen to Pocket Full Of Nothin’.