Someone’s been listening to Johnny Nash in Canada. Nash, the Texan soul-folk singer who became one of the first Americans to incorporate Jamaican rhythms into his primarily acoustic ballads has a number of spiritual counterparts up here in a place that’s far from Texas and even farther from Jamaica.

Canadian performers like Montreal’s Paul Cargnello have combined the tradition of folk protest singing with reggae’s roots radical groove and created a new offshoot of world music—something definitely international, but distinctly Canadian as well. If you haven’t heard of Cargnello, don’t worry—I hadn’t either. I stumbled upon his set at a Winnipeg club, opening to an audience of about six people at an otherwise unfortunate evening called “Indie Rock Night.” The night was a bust, but Cargnello’s performance had an effect. An eloquent, politically-charged bilingual singer-songwriter, Cargnello, in songs like “L’Amour Perdu,” which deftly switches between English and French over a snaking, acoustic-based reggae groove, has developed something that is clearly reggae, but doesn’t sound like it. It’s kind of like what the Police did on their early albums, but with bizarre French Canadian sounds instead of 80s pop. Cargnello’s two albums, Lightweight Romeo and Between Evils (he also has a live one with a band) are unfortunately treated with the “who the hell is Paul Cargnello?” reaction at most record stores, but they’re gems if you can find them.

Another gang of Canucks riding the acoustic-reggae wave are Bedouin Soundclash. Unlike Cargnello, this Montreal three-piece has achieved massive success (at least in Canada) with the smash “When the Night Feels My Song,” the first single from their award-winning Sounding a Mosaic record. Although they experiment with straight-ahead reggae, ska, calypso, and other styles, Bedouin’s finest moments are when singer/guitarist Jay Malinowski goes unplugged. “Jeb Rand,” which should be a single, as it’s killed both times I’ve seen them live, is a perfect example of this—a dark, haunting tale of sorrow and deception, with an unmistakable upbeat reggae rhythm propelling it along. Although it doesn’t have the powerful hook of “When the Night,” “Jeb Rand” might be the trick up Bedouin’s sleeve. It’s a slice of raw emotion that suits Malinowski’s voice perfectly. His vocals, which often sound thin on the more electrified numbers, creates a dreamy atmosphere. Considering the album was produced by Bad Brains bassist Darryl Jenifer, it’s not surprising that Sounding a Mosaic has managed to make excellent use of a voice that’s not conventionally “good.”

Of course, you can’t talk about folk-reggae without mentioning the king, Chris Murray. Murray, an ex-pat Canadian now living in LA, was the founding member of Canada’s legendary ska group King Apparatus and did some vocals for reggae supergroup One, but he’s best known as Venice Shoreline Chris, a guy with an acoustic guitar, a four-track recording unit, and a love for Jamaican music. Murray, on some of his finest tracks, manages to convey all of the energy and urgency of classic reggae and rocksteady with a very limited set of equipment. He’s expanded his instrumentation in recent years, on songs like “Let There Be Peace,” which, despite its full sound and electric instruments, manages to sound as stripped-down as his acoustic material. Despite being a cheesy white dude from Ontario, Murray’s sound feels completely authentic, even with its “one love” politics.

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