A few weeks ago, during an end-of-summer outdoor arts festival presented by mnartists.org (where I work for my day job), I heard Brian Laidlaw for the first time. He was closing out the day’s performances with an acoustic set around the campfire, playing with the Family Trade, one of a handful of ensembles and solo musicians with whom Laidlaw performs regularly.

He’s got a buttery, singer-songwriter sort of lilt and an easy, fluid hand on the guitar. His deft take on the indie folk sound is appealing, no doubt, but his lyrics — intelligent, sometimes poignant, sometimes witty and often unabashedly and refreshingly earnest — are what have driven me to seek out more of his work. Turns out, he’s got a new CD coming out shortly: “wolf wolf wolf.”

That he’s also a poet (really – he’s got an MFA in poetry from the University of Minnesota), is evident from the carefully crafted narrative line in each song on the new album. In fact, “wolf wolf wolf” is billed as an “audio counterpart to his master’s thesis.” He claims the work of another fine lyricist, Neil Young’s “Harvest”, as his inspiration for the new suite of songs; Laidlaw and his band recorded the songs for the new album live, in one room, and tracked the entire CD over the course of three days with producer Brett Bullion (who’s known for his similarly stripped down work with musicians like Haley Bonar, Dark Dark Dark, and Halloween, Alaska).

As I listen, I find myself struck by the gentle but insistent old-fashioned decency and community spirit behind these tracks. They’re a composite anthem to the Heartland in hard times, revealing the soul of an idealist, albeit a melancholy one. From “Shorebird:” “lift all the safety latches/we’re gonna turn into ashes sometime/they said it’s not the smartest/I said I’m gonna be an artist/I’m gonna pay it forward/sometime.”

It’s no surprise, really, that Laidlaw is also a member of a new project, the Yes!Let’s Collective — a collaborative effort by a number of like-minded musicians and artists who play and make work together. I’m charmed by the group’s indefatigable hopefulness and “we can do something so cool together!” spirit; and the collective’s various members’ musical talents are pretty impressive as well.

The video up top features a song by Laidlaw and Ashley Hanson as part of the new duo Alpenglow. Start the player just below the video to listen to a number of tracks from the new CD, courtesy of the artist and SoundCloud.

Laidlaw will celebrate his CD release for “wolf wolf wolf” with a big show on Thursday, Nov. 17 at the Turf Club, 1601 University Ave., in St. Paul, Minn. Tickets are $6; doors at 9 p.m. In addition to Laidlaw and some other artists from the Yes!Let’s Collective, Martin Devaney Band and Bella Ruse will also perform.