Man Descending

Justin Rutledge's third album, "Man Descending" was released on April 8, 2008 through Six Shooter Records. The album is named after a 1982 collection of short stories by Guy Vanderhaeghe, also called "Man Descending". Rutledge was inspired by a line from Vanderhaeghe's book, "A man descending is propelled by inertia; the only initiative left him is whether or not he decides to enjoy the passing scene." He says of the line, "It really resonated with me. As I continued to read the stories, I realized that all these characters in the book were dealing with the same kind of static or inertia in their lives. I kind of took little threads and wove them into songs."

The album features Ron Sexsmith, Jenn Grant, Catherine MacLellan, Hawksley Workman, Melissa McClelland, Joey Wright, Jim Bryson as well as "What Rutledge calls the best band in town; David Baxter, Bazil Donovan and Blake Manning; Burke Carroll and Bob Packwood."

"Man Descending" was long-listed for the Polaris Music Prize. Other praise for "Man Descending" in 2008 included the #5 spot on Exclaim's Wood, Wires & Whiskey top 10 and a nomination for Contemporary Album of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards.

According to an interview, "Compared to 2006’s The Devil On A Bench In Stanley Park, Rutledge feels Man Descending is a much more patient, intimate and mature album, despite recording it in just three days."

The songs "Alberta Breeze" and "San Sebastian" were written for "In The Fall:" - the album that Rutledge scrapped in 2006, and were rerecorded for Man Descending.