Joey O’Neil has honed her nostalgic folk sound over a decade of Klondike winters. Bewitching audiences with emotive anecdotes from her woodland life and long-haul highway schleps, her critically acclaimed sophomore album Ever Ahead was brought forth in 2020. Produced by pedal-steel wizard Aaron Goldstein, it’s an undeniable road-trip record that Exclaim! deems is made up of “postcard-like, twanged-out folk tracks”, Canadian Beats dubs “an audiobook narrated behind bluesy, western melodies”, and CBC Arts declares “is rife with playful poetry and sees O’Neil casually bounce between tongue-in-cheek lyrics and a true sense of heartbreak.” Inspired by countless cross-country journeys with her trusty canine copilot named Oblio, her lyrics present a fresh, queer perspective to some classic country tropes. Thanks to vulnerable vocals, canorous string plucking, weepy steel solos, and a sincere emphasis on storytelling, this ode to the road reminds us to keep on truckin’ as the next adventure is ever ahead. Having shared stages with Julie Doiron, Basia Bulat, and Jennifer Castle, she often ventures between the Yukon and Ontario playing intimate shows along the way.