“NOW’s Top 10 Albums of 2011 “Filled with female backup vocals and guitar hooks, this album by Edmonton’s Sures (recorded in Toronto by Don Kerr) begs for repeated listens. There are lyrics about Latin America, revolutionaries and working on cruise ships, but he also touches on discovering the Kinks in high school and the complexities of love.” 4 out of 5 stars” -- NOW Magazine “Ben Sures is my modern day Paul Simon” -- Caroline Brooks (from Juno Award Winners The Good Lovelies)”

“The Best Albums of 2011”

“There’s a freshness to award-winning songwriter Ben Sures’s new album that belies his 20 years of making records. The Edmonton-based singer/guitarist sounds like he’s discovering new things on these simple, inviting songs about revolutionaries, American shantytowns, cruise ship work and residential school survival.”

“Sures remains a fresh, invigorating voice within the crowded Canadian folk market and is very deserving of the accolades that are sent his way. What is most notable about Sures is that he isn’t just a whiny folk singer with a guitar (not that there is anything wrong with that!). The production values of Gone to Bolivia are high and the instrumental accompaniment provided is substantial. With wonderful, fully realized songs of depth and with lyrical gems hidden throughout, Gone to Bolivia is an early favourite for Canadian folk album of the year. It will receive serious consideration for a place on my Polaris Music Prize ballot next month. Thanks for visiting Fervor Coulee. Donald ”

“nails everything that makes Sures such a superb artist – great lyrics, first-rate production and smooth, stylish guitars seamlessly flow together.”

“Peel off the veneer of crafted folk singer melancholy and you get the barely contained horror of Martin Sheen drunkenly inspecting the mirror in Hanoi.”

“Ben Sures would like people to know that he is not some angry protest singer, though he still wants to spread an important message: ‘We are all in this together.” This obvious but often forgotten truth could be the theme of his new album Gone to Bolivia – the CD release tonight at the TransAlta Arts Barns – which was created by a singer-songwriter who’s part journalist, part humanitarian, part activist and just happens to love Woody Guthrie (Ben was born the year Woody died. Coincidence? Yes). Whether he likes it or not, Ben Sures – recent recipient of an Edmonton Arts Council grant (story here) – is turning into a political folk singer. Don’t believe it? Consider the lyrical evidence:”

“stival Boréal, Sures said he likes performing at private homes because he can interact with the audience more and get them involved in the show. He said he even gets people involved in “folkarobics,” which he believes is “like playtime for grown ups.” Sures' visit to Sudbury is part of an Ontario tour. He said before he releases an album, he likes to take the songs from it to the road. So far, he's released four, if you don't count the cassette he made in his bathroom. The quirky Edmonton resident was also the winner of a number of song writing contests. He won the John Lennon songwriting contest's folk category for his song, Any Precious Girl. ”

“Most easily described as the best of Tom Waits combined with the best of Woodpigeon, Ben Sures is just as musically talented as he is a dynamic songwriter. And he is a wonderfully dynamic songwriter.”

“Sures may want to sing of loneliness, and he's got the instrumentation and arrangements to do it if he wants, but his voice always betrays a child-like adventurousness that sees him tackling love and its emotions as if he's on a field trip, not on a downward spiral.”

“Thanks to Sures and his golden pen, we have a new song (Winnipeg) that can finally replace that ubiquitous Weakerthan’s track on the same subject. 4 stars”