Chad Hatcher

Chad Hatcher’s Tunnels and Pathways is truly a concoction of Canada’s East coast, specifically the greater Halifax area, which encompasses the hometowns of Hatcher (Dartmouth) and producer Luke Boyd (aka Classified), who hails from Enfield, where the album was produced. The album gives an often-hilarious look into the subculture of this area via interludes containing lyrics about Donair’s, the Penhorn mall and shopping carts. With that said, it would be a disservice to the album and the two artists involved to write it off as sheer comedy due to the self reflexive humour. It is an acoustic guitar-driven, hip-hop-infused look into the life of a 28-year-old man and in true Maritime fashion, it is about upliftment but also sadness. It’s never fair to compare an artist but this album falls somewhere between the more rugged Everlast’s Whitey Ford Sings the Blues and the works of the mellow Jack Johnson. While Boyd and Hatcher haven’t come up with anything groundbreaking, it is enough to get nation-wide exposure for Hatcher and set him on a career path that should see him gain a strong niche following. And the sentiment is that he would be more than happy with just that: the ability to live comfortably, performing for a living.