All it took to hook Jeremie Albino on performing live was when one or two people would stop for a minute to listen and nod their approval as he busked on a downtown street corner in Toronto as a teenager. That gratifying feeling never left him as he spent much of his 20s farming in rural Ontario, his presumed career path. He would feed his musical hobby each winter, playing in any venue he could in the off season, but always returning to farming when the snow melted.

Meeting a Toronto producer led to an early record deal and his first album Hard Time in 2019, which led him to Nashville and a circuit of folk and roots festivals. Albino continued to release music and at some point, a video clip of his caught the attention of the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach. This led to a collaboration resulting in Our Time in the Sun released on Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound label in 2024. A mature collection of soulful songs aided by a group of storied Nashville songwriters and players who had worked with legendary artists including Elvis Presley, John Prine and Amy Winehouse. Albino says Auerbach brought them in to be the “carpenters” for the house Albino was building. It’s a house filled with the sounds of vintage R&B, gospel, blues and folk. A house that more clearly defines who Albino is … after leaving the farm.

- Sean Myers