Seamlessly blending and bending roots, rock, and traditional Cape Breton music, contemporary Celtic trio Hauler can you have you hanging on every lyric one minute and knock you flat on your arse the next. Steven MacDougall and Mike LeLievre, familiar faces from saltwater funk trio Slowcoaster, have been bringing hard-hitting pop-rock to the masses from Chéticamp to China for more than 20 years. Teaming up with fiddler Colin Grant—Instrumental Artist of the Year at the 2017 Canadian Folk Music Awards and a versatile musician who bounces between genres like a token fiddler should—Hauler represents a natural and timely return to their acoustic roots. The trio weaves together traditional Irish and Scottish ballads, indie folk originals, and traditional and contemporary instrumentals with a modern acoustic approach that proves Cape Breton music can reassuringly re-invent itself.