NORTHERN EXPOSURE

Surburban heartthrob Hayden garnered much attention last year when an A&R feeding frenzy landed him on Outpost's selective roster (album forthcoming). Since then, Ron Sexsmith's second disc for Interscope has brought him critical acclaim. Now a third Toronto singer/ songwriter has attracted American interest.

Dan Bryk was almost unknown until an August showcase brought Smashing Pumpkin James Iha and Adam Schlesinger from Fountains of Wayne to the Horseshoe club to cement a deal with New York's Scratchie Records. The label, partly owned by Iha and bandmate D'Arcy Wretzky and run by Schelesinger, became interested after Bryk handed Schelesinger his indie CD, Asshole, and some new material at a Fountains of Wayne show several months ago.

Bryk joins Fountains of Wayne and Chalnsaw Kittens on the Scratchie roster with a debut CD of quirky pop called Lover's Leap, due out early in 1998.