Indeed, the 29-year-old singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist - the son of '70s Canadian rock icon Randy Bachman of Guess Who/Bachman-Turner Overdrive fame - may be something of a late bloomer by pop's youth-obsessed standards, but that hasn't stopped critics and fans from embracing his self-titled debut disc. On the 12-song album, meticulously crafted widescreen pop tunes like "She's So High" (which has received exposure on TV's Melrose Place, Dawson's Creek and Charmed), "You Don't Know What It's Like" and "Darker Side of Blue" reveal Bachman to be an accomplished tunesmith and magnetic performer, while "If You Sleep" and "Beside You" demonstrate a compellingly introspective streak.

Not surprisingly, Tal grew up surrounded by music, teaching himself to play guitar, piano and drums and eagerly absorbing his father's record collection. He abandoned music for several years, studying political philosophy at a small university in Utah until he "realized I was a musician trying to masquerade as something else" and re-embraced his first love.

So Bachman quit school and spent the next three years woodshedding intensely at his dad's house in British Columbia, crafting his own compositions and demoing them in his father's home studio. After writing 150 songs and being rejected by no less than 50 labels, he scored deals with EMI Publishing and Columbia Records, which teamed him with renowned Canadian producer Bob Rock to record Tal Bachman, which strikes a decisive blow against what the artist calls "the endless kitsch and irony" of much contemporary rock.