A beautiful gift to ring in 2022! Maria Dunn’s 2021 album Joyful Banner Blazing made many a Top 10 list compiled by Folk DJs and music journalists for the year 2021 including:

#6 on Alberta-wide CKUA Radio’s Top 100 albums played in 2021: https://ckua.com/read/top-100-albums-of-2021/

#2 on The Penguin Eggs Critics Albums of the Year 2021 (Roots Music Canada): https://www.rootsmusic.ca/2022/01/03/the-penguin-eggs-2021-critics-album-of-the-year-allison-russell-outside-child/

#3 on Donald Teplyske (Fervour Coulee) Favourite Roots Albums of 2021: https://fervorcoulee.wordpress.com/2021/12/16/fervor-coulees-favourite-roots-albums-of-2021/

#6 Mike Regenstreif (Folk Roots/Folk Branches, CKCU) Top 10 folk roots and folk branches albums of 2021: https://frfb.blogspot.com/2021/12/top-10-for-2021.html

Huge gratitude to all the radio programmers, journalists (and many more not listed above) and their audiences for tremendous support (esp. in these unpredictable times) in listening, spinning and writing about Joyful Banner Blazing in 2021!

Profound gratitude to all these musical friends for helping to create the album: Producer Shannon Johnson, musicians Solon McDade, Jeremiah McDade (of The McDades) and Andrew Hillhouse who helped w/ song arrangements, and to all guest musicians incl: Audrey Ochoa, Joel Gray, Jeff Bradshaw, Curtis Appleton, Dawn Cross, Debbie Houle, Dana Wylie, Byron Myhre and Campbell Wallace !

And profound gratitude to the following funders for their support: the Edmonton Arts Council and the City of Edmonton, the Province of Alberta through Alberta Foundation for the Arts