"It's the biggest thing I've ever done," the humble, soft-spoken Ottawa-based songwriter says.vCrediting the swings between blind panic and dismal waiting that the Covid Lockdowns have wrought upon his normally steady tours, as his inspiration: “I never had time to pause like this before,” Cardiff reveals. “It scared the hell out of me at first.”
Always being able to find the light in the darkest of situations, he then continues by saying, “It became a positive. We were able to access some players we wouldn't have been able to otherwise. And the time to sit with the songs and the recordings — that was critical."
While All This Time Running is his first album of new material in six years, Cardiff has independently released an astounding total of 25 albums and EPs since his debut release in 1997. He has been nominated for a JUNO award for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year for his 2012 album, Floods And Fires, as well as a Canadian Folk Music Award for Contemporary Singer of the Year, in the same year. He credits the likes of Bob Dylan, Paul
Simon, Elvis Costello and Leonard Cohen as being inspirations for his music.
All This Time Running is a splendid album laden with nimble frets and melodious keys, accompanied by gentle snares and pleasing plucks of the banjo. The musical elements are serenely aligned with Cardiff’s signature warm, scratched, and mellow voice taking the helm. If the music is the driver, the uncompromisingly human and poetic nature of the lyrics are, undoubtedly, the vehicle for this single.
Over the years, Cardiff built up a name for himself writing songs that offer pithy little bits of hope for people to hold onto. Cardiff sings songs that expose the human condition, putting a magnifying glass to our clumsier and less proud moments. He can turn any setting into an intimate affair, infusing his music and lyrics with an uncompromising humanism.
The title track is all about the journeys we go on through our lives, that ultimately wind up bringing us back home, even as our concept of home changes over time. "Emm & May" is a delicate song about young love and discovery. "Yellowknife" captures the experience of living on an isolated remote corner of earth, and the tight community bonds that form there.
A prolific songwriter, Craig has released 21 albums and Eps independently and has found a global online audience that has streamed his songs more than 100 million times. All This Time Running is Craig’s first release on True North Records. This 11-track album includes 6 bonus tracks of some of his best-loved songs including “Dirty Old Town” that has generated millions of spins on Spotify.
