Give Alberta, Canada, native Corb Lund a chance and I’m betting it won’t take long for him to charm you into helpless fanhood. A lifelong rancher and rodeo rider, he draws on the rich tradition of cowboy ballads to craft original tales of prairie life that are as witty and wild as any you’ll find. Losin’ Lately Gambler, his first album for a U.S. record label, carries forward confidently from the six Canadian albums that made his name north of the border. Throughout these dozen tracks Corb finds the shared humanity in every shaggy-dog tall tale, and the glimmer of hope in every seeming dead end.