Known by his fans as both a first-rate singer-songwriter and a gifted guitarist equally at home playing rock or instrumentals, Jamie Dunphy returns in 2021 with a superbly crafted pop-rock CD called Dark Night, Bright Morning. Featuring Jamie in the studio with his band, Jamie Dunphy & True North, the album’s lead-off track, “Time” perfectly sets both mood and tone with Jamie’s acoustic guitar framing the song's lyrical message, supported by a sound that combines a timeless mix of folk and country. With its haunting lyrics, “Time” is, in some ways, the theme of the album and the song, in an abridged haunting version, is reprised again as the album-closer. While “Time” may provide an opening theme on Dark Night, Bright Morning, the 10-song, 44-minute album settles quickly into a solid pop-rock groove with more than a nod to lyric-heavy folk-rock. Key to Dark Night, Bright Morning is Jamie’s fluent guitar skills which, especially well-recorded in this setting, ranges from deft acoustic finger-style to solid rock riffing often framing his loud, cheering anthemic song hooks. Likewise, on Jamie’s 2019 debut with True North, the 2021 release of Dark Night, Bright Morning features Jamie's songs in a trio context with his long-time associates Seth Peterson (bass) and Tod Salmonson (drums). On Dark Night, Bright Morning, Jamie and his uplifting lyrical messages and vocal tonality sounds influenced by first-generation folk-rock legends such as Dylan, Phil Ochs and Don McLean, and like those early giants, highlighted by another big influence, the late Stuart Adamson of Big Country, Jamie proves to be a rocker at heart. For example, track 6 "Ships", features a cool mid '60s PF Sloan style vocal / melody approach complete with jangly guitars and Byrds-style beat. “The Girl In The Boat” has a kind of Marshall Crenshaw country-pop beat with a rapid fire Dylan-esque volley of lyrics. Folk-rock with the accent on rock, Dark Night, Bright Morning places Jamie Dunphy’s influential music into a most favorable sonic perspective.