For about 20 years, Guy Smith has been a musical presence in the Edmonton socialist and labour movement. He, his guitar and his songs have been such fixtures at rallies, picket lines and other social political events that many have dubbed him "Edmonton’s Billy Bragg." There’s no doubt that people have been waiting a long time for Smith to release recorded material and finally those dreams have come true. Red Square Dance is surprisingly his first piece of recorded material (you expected he would have more), a 13 song disc of sincere heart-felt music. It’s the kind of disc people of been expecting from the present Vice-president of the AUPE.

Sort of.

Red Square Dance actually presents two faces of troubadour Smith. First off, it’s just like the many times you’ve seen him before on a cold picket line or on stage at a heated rally – Smith and his acoustic guitar railing against injustice; a man influenced by the power of Billy Bragg and/or channeling the ghost of Woody Guthrie. In those songs, there’s stark realism, a beautiful yet raging simplicity of spirit when he sings: But they taught me how to rejoice, they taught be to be wild, but they taught me how to fight like a warrior and how to be a child, lines from Ghosts of Ireland. And while Smith’s voice may not be the sweetest one in the bunch, it’s authentic. And that’s more important.

But there’s another side of Guy Smith that he flaunts on Red Square Dance and one the loyal live audience may not be prepared for. Smith shows an intuitive pop sensibility, an instinctive ability to craft a catchy tune. He’s never been a one-trick pony but Smith has never had the chance to showcase this side of his music – it’s easier to lug a guitar to a rally rather than set up a full band. The voice may harken to Billy Bragg but the vocal phrasing and the turn of the song pay homage to former Jam frontman Paul Weller, especially in the opening song, Stumble or the playful protest of Dance of Resistance. "So this is what it’s like to push it to the edge/ from the Battle of Seattle, Genoa and Quebec/ wherever they met we’ll be there with our voices and our feet, doing the dance of resistance," he sings as the band rocks out in a funky groove. This may have been Smith’s first exposure to playing with a full band, but it seems like he’s been doing it forever. It helps when you’re relying on an all-star cast of supporting members including Tom Murray, Scott Lingley and Shuyler Jansen of Edmonton’s alt-country kings, Old Reliable. But the songs are smartly written and it’s that strength that comes through in the end.

Red Square Dance is a strong debut CD and a welcome addition to any collection whether you’re a big fan of protest music or not. Smith’s got something to say, but he’s going to be quietly didactic about it rather than beating you over the head. In other interviews Smith says that he plans to move on from the protest singer phase of his career into something else and based on what’s he’s built with Red Square Dance, it’s a move in the right direction.