THE OLD SOUL WHO ISN’T TRYING TO SOUND OLD
There are young musicians who discover Bob Dylan and immediately start looking for a hat.
And then there is JD Crosstown.
You hear a few songs from Takin’ My Time and the first thing that strikes you is how little of it feels like someone trying to recreate the past. The guitar, the stories, the country waltzes, the fingerpicking, the blues. He knows this language. Really knows it. Yet the music never feels like a history lesson.
That is a pretty good trick.
Crosstown grew up in Neyaashiinigmiing, on Chippewas of Nawash Territory in Ontario, surrounded by family, community and music. His father played folk music. Dylan was around. So were the old songs and the stories that tend to travel with them. He picked up a guitar when he was nine.
You can hear all of that.
You can also hear that he has his own life to put into it.
That matters.
Because there is a difference between knowing where a song comes from and knowing what to do with it.
Put on “Skyline”.
It starts with that feeling of wanting to get out. The road is there. The horizon is there. You are going somewhere, although you may have absolutely no idea what happens when you get there.
“I’m a heading for the skyline.”
There is something wonderfully uncomplicated about it.
And then comes the line about coming back around again, without knowing when.
That is country songwriting at its best. A big feeling, reduced to a few words that sound like something somebody might actually say.
Takin’ My Time is full of moments like that.
There are eleven original songs on the record, released in May 2025, and Crosstown moves around inside folk, country and blues without making a fuss about the borders.
“Wildflower” is a good example.
It feels old-fashioned in the best possible sense. A love story. Someone leaving. A ship. A letter. Winter. The kind of song where you can almost see the room in which it was written.
Then there is “Grey Goose”.
That one stays with you.
It deals with family, loss and alcohol, and there is nothing decorative about it. The song hurts because it feels lived in. The fingerpicking leaves plenty of space around the words. You can hear the sadness without the song having to announce that it is sad.
That is something Crosstown seems to understand instinctively.
Leave some room.
Let the guitar breathe.
Let the listener figure it out.
I like that.
I also like that he can sound completely at home inside an old folk song one minute and then suddenly lean into country or blues without asking permission. There is a looseness to it. A feeling that the songs are being allowed to become what they need to become.
His influences make sense. Bob Dylan. The Band. The older folk and country tradition. The music he heard around him growing up.
But I don't hear a young man desperately trying to convince us that he has studied his record collection.
Thank God.
There is no costume here.
There is just a guitar, a voice, a handful of stories and a pretty impressive understanding of how little you sometimes need to make a song work.
That comes across even more clearly when you look at the live side of Crosstown. He has played songwriter nights, festivals and venues across Canada and Europe, and has shared stages with artists including The Sadies, Digging Roots and Julian Taylor. He has also toured Germany with Matt Epp.
You get the feeling he belongs in those rooms.
Small stage.
A couple of microphones.
People sitting close enough to hear the strings.
Someone at the back eventually stops talking.
That is probably where these songs make the most sense.
And maybe that is why the title Takin’ My Time feels right.
There is no rush in this music.
Crosstown lets a story take the long way home.
Which, in 2026, is almost rebellious.
There are plenty of musicians trying to sound current. Crosstown sounds like he is interested in something else.
He wants the song to last the evening.
Maybe the night after that too.
I keep coming back to “Skyline”, though.
Play it once and it is a good song.
Play it again and you start hearing the road in it.
Then you understand what JD Crosstown is doing.
He knows where this music comes from.
He knows the old roads.
He just happens to be driving somewhere else.
Start with “Skyline”. Then “Wildflower”. Then “Grey Goose”.
And when you get to the end of Takin’ My Time, don't be too quick to put something else on.
Give it another spin.
I did.