John Hewitt - Which Side Are You On? (2025)

John Hewitt is a truly committed musician – he’s been playing guitar since he was nine years old and he’s immersed himself in the roots of the music he adores, Dylan, Young, Morrison, Petty, The Beatles et al. He currently performs around 150 shows per year (mainly in Canada), covering 20,000 miles per annum, and also performs in a band, The New Americans. Dedicated simply doesn’t do Hewitt justice.

There is a fascinating description of Hewitt that having listened to this album perfectly encapsulates everything about him. “Hewitt is a master, a choreographer of sound, a man of many hats all worn with style with a dream bigger than the world around him”. So true.

This is an album of one man, his guitar and harmonica and a set of lyrics that take the listener to another place of mystery and wonder. Each song is a masterful story, many of them based on true Canadian stories. The opener ‘Anne- Marie’s Secret’ set the tone of the album a gorgeous melody surrounded by Hewitt’s glorious voice and superb interplay between acoustic guitar and harmonica.

‘When The Gas Runs Low’ tells the true, desperately sad story of Ted and Rose Bates, who in rural Saskatchewan in December 1933 apparently murdered their seven year old son, Jackie. The story is a little more complex than a synopsis allows, and this eight minute epic allows the listener a fascinating insight into this notorious tale. Hewitt’s lyrics do sincere justice to young Jackie and it’s a moving and truly eloquent re-telling.

A similar true criminal case is explored by Hewitt in the next song ‘Sweet Angelina (Angelina Of Naples)’ where he gets under the skin of the first criminal case in Canada using spousal abuse as a defence. A woman, born in Naples, immigrated to Hewitt’s home town Sault Ste, Marie Ontario at the turn of the twentieth century and murdered her husband after years of abuse. Acoustic strumming, angry harmonica bursts and memorable, poetic lyrical imagery allow Hewitt to bring alive an important story, bursting with emotion.

The most memorable song on the album is ‘Have You Ever Seen A Ghost Kid?’, a song Hewitt wrote about the struggles of getting radio airplay and the challenges that these and other channels gave him not being allowed to have ‘their doors open’ for him. It’s certainly the most radio friendly and catchy song on the record, it’s fantastic.

Hewitt has made a fascinating admission recently: “I am desperately trapped in 60’s culture – but when making an album I take into consideration personal experiences – whether it’s someone you may have met on the road, or a character you saw in a movie – sometimes inspiration is just a feeling of desperation, anger, disappointment, love, humour of even outrageous fantasy”.

Hewitt is currently on a tour with other Canadian musicians with a tribute to Gordon Lightfoot and you can easily hear Lightfoot’s influence on many of the tracks on this album – as well as inevitably a strong Dylan feel. There’s not much variety on this set of ten songs, but the sheer quality on offer here is to what’s important. This is a really strong release that deserves to do well, both in and outside his native Canada. He also looks like a real dude.