In addition to a plethora of Whoop-Up Days-related entertainment this week including April Wine on Wednesday who will be opening for Hippodrome, country musicians Tatum Williams, The Original Caste (who had a ’60s hit called “One Tin Soldier”) and Trevor Panczak perform Thursday.
As well, rising Canadian country star Shane Yellowbird (who has several Top 40 hits on modern country radio including “Pick-Up Truck,” “Bare Feet on the Blacktop” and “I Remember the Music”) and local classic rockers Fast Times and DNR perform on Aug. 27, not to mention the Chevelles plus pop star Karl Wolf on Aug. 28, there is a lot going on in Lethbridge this week.
Local musician Andrew Scott has returned from Japan to visit for a couple of weeks to play a couple of local shows. He has a solo acoustic set at the Mocha Cabana, Aug. 26 and has another show the next day at the Slice, Aug. 27 with Jesse and the Dandelions, the Necessities and Sleeping With Tuesday. Another long lost face, Mike Grabow, is also back this week with a gig at the Owl Acoustic Lounge, Aug. 28 with special guest Greg Gomola. Grabow spends much of the year performing down in Mexico.
The Lethbridge Casino is going outlaw on the weekend as well with outlaw country band Diezel performing. So is Coyote Joes, bringing in the Cropdusters both Friday and Saturday.
If you just want to dance, a new dance club called Pulse is opening in the old Roadhouse building, Aug. 27 as well.
Most of the local music community will be at Bigwood III outside of Lethbridge on Research Road. This semi-private party is also a fundraiser for the Lethbridge Food Bank. But there is a full slate of entertainment performing all day including the Skilletlikkers, Treeline, Phantom Creeps, New Weather Machine, Randy Shaver, Rob Ursel, Duus Blues Band, Mr. Personal, The Bookies and Dirti Speshuls.
The Slice has a couple of excellent roots shows this week as well, with Blackberry Wood on Aug. 26 and Diana Catherine and the Thrusty Tweeters with special guests George Arsene playing on Monday, Aug. 30.
On the weekend, Winnipeg quartet Oh My Darling are looking forward to returning to Lethbridge, Aug. 28.
The old-time country quartet Oh My Darling are looking forward to being back at the Slice. Their CD release tour came there back in May.
“We’ll be playing the music from the CD and featuring some of our members. It will be an upbeat, fun performance. Overall we’re hoping to see some familiar faces and hoping to meet some new ones,” said Vanessa Kuzina, Oh My Darling’s lead singer and guitarist, adding she is enjoying performing their latest CD “In The Lonesome Hours.”
“We’ve been super pleased with it,” said Kuzina, who wrote most of the lyrics to the CD, but is already looking forward to getting back into the studio to record the next one.
“We’re hoping to be back in the studio over the winter,” she said.
“I wrote most of the lyrics to this one, but the next one will be more collaborative.”
The current CD includes a couple of tracks from their previous self-titled EP — the beautiful fiddle powered instrumental “Pixou Falls” and the upbeat gospel tinged “Won’t Need My Shoes (on Heaven’s Floor).
“This band is so much stronger now,” she said.
April Wine likes to rock at Whoop up Days
Canadian classic rock icons April Wine, who play Whoop -Up Days, Aug. 25, were excited to be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame during the Juno Awards in April.
“How cool is that?” asked April Wine guitarist Brian Greenway over the phone from his Montreal home, where he is taking it easy in between a busy summer full of weekend shows all over the country.
“I feel really good about it. We all do,” he said of their induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, adding the band was beginning to think it wasn’t going to happen.
“It’s a nice award to get, it’s a nice achievement to have. And the fans were there for us, writing letters. It’s nice to share that with so many great entertainers,” he continued, adding the ceremony itself was an experience as a lot of the acts couldn’t make it because of heavy fog.
“Bryan Adams couldn’t even make it from Europe because of volcanic ash,” he said, adding he is enjoying the current summer tour which mostly consists of weekend festivals and big outdoor shows.
“We just play weekends, now. So Thursday through Sunday, we’re travelling. And when we get home there’s just enough time to wash our clothes, see the kids and get ready to go out again. We don’t even see each other. And we’ve been really lucky with the weather,” Greenway said.
The band, who have a string of radio hits including “Just Between You And Me,” “I Like To Rock,” “Roller,” “Oowatanite,” “Weeping Widow,” “Sign of the Gypsy Queen,” and countless others, play Whoop-Up Days on Aug. 25.
They are looking forward to playing Whoop-Up Days.
“That’s a funny name,” Greenway laughed.
“We’ll be playing a lot of rock songs, a lot from ‘Nature of the Beast.’ And everyone is going to be featured,” he said.
“I’ve been in the band for 33 years and I love doing it. I love getting the feedback from the audience and the reception after each song. And the excitement of it all. I love what we do. We all feel that way. If you don’t like doing it, you’d better just stop,” said the 58-year-old Greenway. They are on stage at 7 p.m., to be followed by Hippodrome at 9 p.m.
There were several really intense shows this week.
Vancouver’s barefooted Bocephus King laid down a solid groove and didn’t let up through a good hour of hypnotic jamming at the Slice, Aug. 19.
They basically mesmerized the 10 people in the audience, but as more trickled in.
They started the show with a djembe-powered, groove-fuelled version of blues classic “I Got My Mojo Working,” then moved on to a reggae vibe. He had a full band behind him this time including Dave McCann’s steel guitarist Charlie Hase, who grooved along no matter what the beat.
The launched into a reggae vibe while Bocephus King tuned into his inner Los Lobos and didn’t interrupt his entrancing jam with much chit-chat.
He got plenty of applause especially after on track called “That’s How the Story Goes.” Then he added a variety of other influences including some jazz and even a little gospel.
The second set was a little more electric as Bocephus King switched to a Gibson Firebird while his standup bass switched to an electric bass, but they kept the laid-back feel throughout as he showed a little more of an Elvis Costello influence.
Cheyne Kohl
Saskatchewan’s Cheyne Kohl showed an acoustic guitar and a computer could co-exist on stage without overshadowing each other much, Aug. 21 at the Owl Acoustic Lounge. Kohl played upbeat folk and acoustic music for a good-sized crowd.
He had his computer playing keyboard and piano lines and sometimes drums while he played acoustic guitar over it. It sounded great together though sometimes his guitar was drowned out by the keys and the vocals at times. He had a pleasant tenor voice reminiscent of the Grapes of Wrath’s Kevin Kane.
Leeroy Stagger’s last stand with current band
If you’re going to leave, you might as well be on a high note.
An Aug. 21 performance at the Slice was likely the last for the current lineup of Leeroy Stagger and the Wildflowers as bassist Tyson Maiko and drummer Kyle Harmon are more than likely moving on to other pursuits.
While Leeroy Stagger can play it mellow, this definitely wasn’t the case as they came on full bore and didn’t stop for the entire show. Some of the highlights were upbeat country numbers like “Hell of a Life, ” “I Believe In Love,” and one that sounded like “Count Me Out.” They ended their upbeat first set with “Stormy” off of his CD “Everything is Real.”
The second set featured several special guests including Matt Robinson who sang a decent rendition of Neil Young’s “Cortez the Killer.” Paul Kype also joined the band on stage to add some excellent guitar, while Stagger’s new guitarist played lap steel.
The band played an impressively tight and upbeat set.
Owl Acoustic Lounge offers variety
Owl Acoustic Lounge had a diverse set of acoustic music, Aug. 22.
Matt Robinson played his original folk and blues, and though I only caught the last couple of songs, the audience was into it and his set was tight.
A surprise was Tim Mulgrew who borrowed Robinson’s guitar for some upbeat and impressive instrumental classical style fingerpicking featuring intricate playing and chiming harmonics.
Devin Gergel and Steven Foord of the necessities were up next to play a couple tracks from their new Cd then acoustic renditions of a variety of covers including Blue Rodeo’s “Five Days in July,” Pink Floyd’s “Mother and ending with a superb version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”
Low Flying Penguins play Beatles
It is always fun to see a new band playing around the city
I caught a new band called the Low Flying Penguins at the Slice, twice, on Wednesday as well as Aug. 21.
I don’t know what this band’s vision is yet, but it includes several familiar faces including bassist Paul Holden, Braw Brouwer on djembe and Jon Martin, and in the case of Saturday’s show, James Oldenburg on guitar and a couple others I didn’t recognize. They played a set full of early Beatles hits including “Help,” “Hard Days Night” and “Back In The USSR,” to name a few. Jon Martin has a heck of a voice and together, they had the ’60s pop sound nailed as well as the vocal harmonies. They definitely have potential.
Billie Vegas rocks at casino
Billie Vegas aren’t exactly a new local band; the first time I saw them was one of their first gigs at a Slice open mic, but I was glad to catch one of their Saturday night sets at Casino Lethbridge, Aug. 21.
They had a group dancing in front of the stage through a selection of popular hits including Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance,” the Tragically Hip’s “Blow At High Dough,” “Life is a Highway” and even a decent version of AC DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long,” sung credibly by lead singer Allison, who asked the audience what they wanted to hear next, Kiss or Heart, after which they ended with a sizzling version of Heart’s “Barracuda.”
Aug. 24
Slice — open mic
Exhibition Park — Whoop-Up Days Grandstand — Colin James with Unzipped, 6 p.m.
Pioneer Park — Dusty Boot Band 7:30 p.m.,  Aaron Lines 9 p.m.
Aug. 25
Bar One Lounge — open mic with Ben Brown
Exhibition Park — Whoop-Up Days
Owl Acoustic Lounge — open mic
Grandstand — Rodeo Slack 5 p.m.; Pioneer Park — April Wine 7 p.m., Hippodrome 9 p.m.
Aug. 26
Slice — Blackberry Wood
Mocha Cabana — Andrew Scott
Good Earth Coffee House — open mic
Exhibition Park— Whoop-Up Days Grandstand - CPRA Pro Rodeo 7 p.m.; Pioneer Park - Tatum Williams 5:45 p.m., The Original Caste 7 p.m., Trevor Panczak 9 p.m.
Aug. 27
Slice — Sleeping With Tuesday with Andrew Scott and Jesse and the Dandelions and the Necessities
Wolf”s Den — open mic
Lethbridge Casino — Diezel
Mocha Cabana — Dale Ketcheson
Exhibition Park— Whoop-Up Days Grandstand — CPRA Pro Rodeo 7 p.m.; Pioneer Park - DNR 6 p.m., Fast Times 7:45 p.m., Shane Yellowbird 9:30 p.m.
Coyote Joes — Cropdusters
Pulse — Grand opening
Owl Acoustic Lounge — John Greenshields
Aug. 28
Slice — Oh My Darling
Lethbridge Casino — Diezel
Mocha Cabana — O’Reely
Taber Corn Fest
Exhibition Park— Whoop Up Days Grandstand CPRA Pro Rodeo 2 p.m.; Monster Truck Mania 7:30 p.m.
Pioneer Park — The Chevelles 7:45 p.m., Karl Wolf 9:30 p.m.
Research Centre Road — Bigwood III with Rob Ursel, Skilletlikkers, Dirti Speshuls
Coyote Joes — Cropdusters
Owl Acoustic Lounge — Mike Grabow and Greg Gomola
Aug. 29
Cudos Lounge — open mic 6 p.m,.
Aug. 30
Slice — Diana Catherine and the Thrusty Tweeters with George Arsene
Owl Acoustic Lounge — open mic
Aug. 31
Slice — open mic
Sept. 1
Owl Acoustic Lounge — L.A. Beat open jam
Bar One Lounge — open mic with Ben Brown
Sept. 2
Slice — Jodi King
Good Earth Coffee House — open mic
Sept. 3
Slice — Kill Matilda with New Weather Machine
Coyote Joes — Shane Chisholm
Lethbridge Casino — Who’s Yer Daddy

It seems like everybody and their dog is a musician in Lethbridge. But a common complaint among all of them is there is no place to play. This is most definitely not the case. Open mics abound at numerous locations around the city, but pretty much all of them are plagued by a common malady at Lethbridge gigs — poor attendance. Poor attendance is the death of a many a music scene. It would be a shame to see it happen here.
Granted it is summer and the students are gone for another couple weeks and a lot of people are on vacation or drinking on their balconies on the odd evening we have sunshine, but still open mics are a fantastic forum for up and coming as well as experienced musicians to strut their stuff, road test new material or just meet other musicians. I’ve even been known to play at some of them though I haven’t for a while due to other commitments and taking care of family business in Calgary. That and still having trouble remembering my own lyrics, not to mention still trying to stave off stage fright.
Fortunately audiences at most open mics in the city are pretty forgiving; unfortunately not many people are showing up to them which has resulted in the cancellation of several of them.
Thursday used to be open mic night in Lethbridge, but unfortunately this is no longer the case, at least until September.
Beaches Grill and Pub shut down their popular Thursday open mic back in July due to poor attendance during the summer. This week, Coyote Joe’s shut down their Thursday live karaoke/open mic until Sept. 9 upon which it will return better organized and just in time for the students to return.
Also the popular Owl Acoustic Lounge open jam has been moved from Thursdays to Wednesdays. The first Wednesday open mic at Owl suffered from — you guessed it — poor attendance. They still have a really popular open mic on Monday nights, though, which is great as the 1010 Pub shut down its Monday open mic due to several reasons, not the least of which was poor attendance.
It’s been a while since I’ve been to the other Wednesday open mic at the Bar One Lounge in the Sandman Inn. Host Ben Brown injured his arm so is unable to play but has been getting guest hosts and they have a pretty steady turnout which is great. And where one open mic closes, another seems to sprout up. Cudos Lounge on Mayor Magrath just started an open mic on Sundays beginning at 6 p.m.
Late start times are something that tend to keep people from cool shows, especially on workday nights. Luckily, the Owl is adamant about starting its open stages earlier as well as its Friday and Saturday shows, usually around 8:30 p.m., 9 p.m., ditto for Bar One, as long as people sign up.
And Cudos starts at 6 p.m. which helps stem those bleary-eyed late-night work-day blues at the source.
The Slice’s Tuesday open jams are always a pleasure because of these magical musical moments where musicians who may only be vaguely familiar with each other get up on stage and play with each other, though mostly it is the same familiar faces. This summer the Slice has been bringing in bigger shows on Tuesdays like Fred Eaglesmith and Said The Whale, but it is usually accepted knowledge there will be a Tuesday jam when no bands are booked though the host is usually announced at the last minute. A lot of really cool bands form at these open mics.
Even the Folk Club’s open mic in the Wolf’s Den on the second and fourth Friday of each month has been plagued by poor turnouts this summer, though this past Friday had a good crowd, some new faces as well as familiar faces like Leon Barr and Bill Letouzel performing.
After all, open mics are great way to see a bevy of local entertainers while enjoying a bevy or two while hearing new music, popular covers and sometimes moments of musical magic. And even better — they are free to attend.
In addition to lots of open mics, there is a lot of roots/country music happening this week to get you in the mood for Whoop-Up Days.
Leeroy Stagger and the Wildflowers return to the Slice Aug. 20. He is also opening the Lethbridge Folk Club’s new season on Sept. 11.
On Aug 19, The Slice has an unusual roots musician performing — Vancouver’s Bocephus King.
The Mocha Cabana brings in Herky Cutler Aug. 21 and local country/folk musician Karen Romanchuk Aug. 20.
For people who are a little more rock and roll, Billie Vegas plays Casino Lethbridge this weekend and Whoop-Up Days kicks off on Tuesday with a couple of big shows.
Saskatchewan blues/jazz man Colin James is playing the grandstand at 6 p.m. with local classic rockers Unzipped. Plus Calgary-based country singer Aaron Lines, who has just been named the most played country artist in Canada, opens up the Pioneer Park stage with local country band the Dusty Boot Band beginning at approximately 7:30 p.m.
Lines is looking forward to help kick off Whoop-up Days, Tuesday, Aug. 24 in Pioneer Park.
“It’s been three or four years since I’ve played Lethbridge. It’s hard to forget that name — Whoop-Up Days. I remember having fun there and my keyboard player Brian Burn is from Lethbridge, so we have a lot of friends there,” said the Fort McMurray-born, Edmonton-raised Calgary resident, adding his success has allowed him the luxury of moving back home to Alberta to renovate his house in Calgary and spend time with his wife and brand-new daughter.
Lines is the most played country artist in Canada thanks to a string of Top 10 hits including “Cheaper To Keep Her,” “Moments That Matter,” “Somebody’s Son,” Let’s Get Drunk and Fight,” Waitin’ On The Wonderful, “It Takes a Man,” “Turn it Up — I Like the Sound of That” and the latest single “The Trouble With California” from his most recent CD “Sunday Afternoon.”
“When I was growing up, I was always a shy kid. Playing was always my passion, but performing, I never wanted to do it because I was shy but people kept asking me to. I’ve grown to enjoy it,” he said, adding the live show includes selections from all of his albums and a lot of music from his new CD, for which he wrote all of the songs for or co-wrote with friends.
“I have 16 or 17 Top 10s so I play a lot of songs people recognize. I keep it uptempo and fun. I usually try to get people to sing along and have fun,” he said.
“I want people to have fun so they’ll want to come to the next show.”
The week that was
I was expecting a better crowd for an outstanding by Toronto-based musician Sean Ashby at the Mocha Cabana, Thursday, Aug. 12. After all, he’s an established Canadian talent who spent 12 years touring with Sarah McLachlan, a couple years with Ginger (featuring former members of the Grapes of Wrath), the Wild Strawberries and even toured with industrial acts Delerium, featuring members of Skinny Puppy, and he has had songs placed in movies and television, fronted his own indie rock band Jack Tripper. That’s all in addition to having just released his fine sophomore CD “24 Hours of Daylight.”
“I’m not used to playing coffee houses. I’m running out of mellow stuff to play,” Ashby told the handful of people braving the pouring rain, after finishing a tender version of Steve Earle‘s “My Old Friend The Blues.” The song featured Ashby playing lap steel guitar as well as acoustic guitar. He also threw in a Dwight Yoakham cover and then donned a beautiful green Gretsch for a subdued but incendiary version of surf classic “Mirsirlou,” which included a few bars of the James Bond theme. The band sang some superb background vocals as well.
 “I’m not used to playing this quietly,” he joked to the audience before alternating through six different guitars including a beautiful Weissenborn, on which he played some sick blues slide before playing several tracks off his new CD including “Leone Western,” “Sweet Tuesday,” “Centre Line,” and then ended on a quieter note with the mournfully steel guitar powered “3 Sides.”
The Slice featured an excellent roots trio Aug. 12 as well.
 Vancouver’s Willy Blizzard played several originals including a really cool gospel-tinged song called “Rolling that Rock,” as well as covers of Neil Young, Van Morrison and Tom Russell. They sounded like a more rootsy Gordon Lightfoot, featured stand-up bass and superb three-part vocal harmonies.
They began their second set with an excellent version of bluegrass standard “Fox on the Run,” which had another handful of people enjoying themselves.
Local singer/songwriter/tarot card reader/fire spinner Becky Johnston entertained an almost full house at the Owl Acoustic Lounge. In between readings, she took the stage and sang sweet jazz-tinged melodies accompanying herself on acoustic guitar and ukulele.
A soldout Slice said so long to popular local indie rock, pop, folk and jazz-tinged band the Record Holder Aug. 13. Jon and Mike Granzow alternated between bass and guitar and sang some immediately appealing melodies as they worked their way through the laid-back, hypnotic music from their debut CD in addition to several other original songs. Sadly, my favourite, “Amsterdam,” wasn’t on the set list, but they had most of the crowd dancing/ swaying in front of the stage in time to some pretty intricately played and mellow songs with a laid-back groove.
 Violinist Nicole Hembroff added the jazz influence as well as some classically inspired violin playing. She danced and also sang a couple excellent jazz-tinged songs.
Both Jon And Mike Granzow are leaving Lethbridge to pursue other opportunities at Stanford University and McGill respectively.
Scores North welcomed Dave Brown to their management team by having a party with local hard-rock band 2 Cubic Feet Aug. 13.
The band rocked a crowd of approximately 50 people by playing a variety of popular covers including “Sex is On Fire” by the Kings of Leon and Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” as well as the Counting Crows’ “Mr. Jones,” which had a couple people dancing.
Vancouver-based roots quartet Johnnie Ninety-Nine brought a mainly sedate set of roots music to the Slice Aug. 14. The band, which has only been together for a few weeks (though Johnnie and fiddle player Ariel have been playing together for several years), started on an upbeat note playing several up-tempo originals which featured fiddle, stand-up bass and vocal harmonies.
Stand-up bassist James Green took a turn on guitar for a couple of covers including “Highway Song” by a mystery Saskatoon band and Bruce Springsteen‘s “Atlantic City,” as well as one of his own which sounded like a Ridley Bent song.
They ended up playing a pretty sedate set and even had a couple of slow dancers but played an impressive first show for Lethbridge. The band features members from all over Canada, including a couple members of the Buffaloswans including Johnnie Ninety-Nine.
The Owl Acoustic Lounge featured Colin Rink and Johnny Good who played individual sets. Colin Rink started it all off with an upbeat set of acoustic folk which had a Celtic feel, added some uptempo harmonica solos and unstoppable lyrical flow. He broke a string midsong but quickly changed guitars while Johnny Good changed it for him.
He used a couple of digital delay samplers to record shaker and tambourine rhythm that he played and sang over, which garnered him a huge round of applause.

Aug. 18
Bar One Lounge — open mic
Owl Acoustic Lounge — L.A. Beat open mic
Aug. 19
Slice — Bocephus King
Good Earth Coffee House — open mic
Aug. 20
Casino Lethbridge— Billie Vegas
Slice— Leeroy Stagger
Mocha Cabana — Karen Romanchuk
Owl Acoustic Lounge — Cheyne Kohl
Aug. 21
Slice — Flying Penguins
Casino Lethbridge — Billie Vegas
Mocha Cabana — Herky Cutler
Owl Acoustic Lounge — Matt Robinson with members of the Necessities
Aug. 22
Cudos Lounge — open mic — 6 p.m,.
Aug. 23
Owl Acoustic Lounge — open mic
August 24
Slice — open mic
Exhibition Park — Whoop Up Days
GRANDSTAND  — Colin James, 6 p.m., Unzipped, 6 p.m.
PIONEER PARK — Dusty Boot Band, 7:30 p.m., Aaron Lines, 9 p.m.
Aug. 25
Bar One Lounge — open mic with Ben Brown
Exhibition Park — Whoop Up Days
Owl Acoustic Lounge — open mic
PIONEER PARK —  April Wine, 7 p.m., Hippodrome, 9 p.m., Trevor Panczak, 9 p.m.

Say farewell to popular local jazz-tinged indie-rock/pop band the Record Holder this week. They are playing the Slice Aug. 13 for their last show in a long time, as frontmen Mike and Jon Granzow are both leaving Lethbridge to pursue other opportunities. Jon is beginning his doctorate at Stanford on a full scholarship while Mike leaves shortly after this show to go to McGill in Montreal with his girlfriend.
It is sure to be a fantastic show as Jesse And the Dandelions are also performing.
This is an excellent week for local music, with local country/pop musician Alyssa McQuaid performing at the Front Row Pub, Aug. 13-14 and James Oldenburg at the Mocha Cabana, Aug. 13-14 as well. Plus local country duo Tom and Curt play Casino Lethbridge this weekend.
Progressive rock trio Lustre Creame have a Sunday night show at the Slice with Toronto progressive metal band the Isosceles Project
The Mocha Cabana has a special show this week with Sean Ashby, who plays guitar for the likes of Sarah McLachlan and Ginger, on Aug. 12.
Ashby, who has appeared on several Diamond and platinum-selling CDs, as well as has played the Grammy Awards, the Tonight Show, David Letterman and Saturday Night Live, is touring in support of his second solo CD, “24 Hours of Daylight.” The show begins at 8:30 p.m.
As always, there are open mics left right and centre, including a new Sunday open mic at Cudos Lounge, plus several of them on Thursday at Coyote Joe’s, the Owl Acoustic Lounge and the Good Earth Coffee House.
The Lethbridge Folk Club has its open mic on Friday at the Wolf’s Den.
The Slice has a couple of roots acts this week including Willy Blizzard Aug. 12, who sound like a cross between Bruce Cockburn, Murray McLachlan, and Gordon Lightfoot with steel guitars. On Saturday, female-powered B.C. roots band Johnnie 99 is visiting the Slice.
The week that was
There were a couple of outstanding blues/country based shows this week.
Like the proverbial cat in the song, the Mason Rack Band came back to the Slice and tore up the place, Aug. 4 for approximately 40 people with their special blend of Tom Waits-tinged blues rock spiced with wah-wah-soaked Weissenborn guitar and crazy drum solos.
Australia-based Mason Rack put on his usual intense show, told stories in his gravelly Tom Waits’ voice and played a lot of deadly slide guitar.
But he stood aside and let his band show they had a few tricks up their sleeves, such as letting Joel Purkess take the first drum solo while Rack and new bassist Kris Stangeland stepped outside for a smoke.
He told most of the stories and played all of the music featured on his latest live CD “Live in Canada.” One highlight was an uptempo blues rocker called “Deep Wholly Woman.”
They came back and Rack and the band did “the old switcheroo” by trading instruments during “Baby Please Don’t Go,” with Rack getting behind the drum kit, Stangland picking up Rack’s Gretsch and Purkess grabbing the bass.
Then they switched back and lit into a gospel-tinged rave up about the five things you want to do before you die called “Five Things.” Then it was time for Rack to do his patented drum solo on the kit as well on a beer keg which he rolled through the audience whilst rapping on tables, chairs , the floor and everything else in the bar during “ Who Do You Love?”
After a quick break, they blew away the crowd with some of the more up tempo numbers off the new CD including crowd favourite “Seen Her B4” and a groove-filled “90 Days.”
Then they were only too happy to fill a request from the cheering crowd—“Tom Tom Turnaround.”
They also put their stamp on a few old blues numbers including “Flip, Flop and Fly.”, played a couple Jimi Hendrix tinged originals and wound up their set with  a three man drum solo extravaganza, with the trio pounding at two beer kegs and a drum , throwing their drumsticks back and forth to each other and not missing a single beat. It was impressive.
Sometimes tribute acts suck, other times they don’t. So I had to check out Big River — Almost Johnny Cash at Coyote Joes, Aug. 6. The B.C. based tribute act featuring Dave Pittet, who is a dead ringer for a young Johnny Cash and even Joaquin Phoenix’s Johnny Cash from the movie, definitely had the look down and they definitely had the sound. They played an array of Johnny Cash hits, alternating between familiar standards, like “Cry, Cry , Cry”, and “I Got Stripes” and more modern songs like his covers of “Hurt,” Rusty Cage” and “Solitary Man.”
He also played several I’d never heard before like “One Piece At a Time” about a Detroit auto plant worker who steals one piece of a Cadillac at a time.
Pittet had a magnificent baritone like Cash and had his moves down and quite a few people from the good sized crowd trying to two step.
Winnipeg singer/ songwriter Romi Mayes gets better and better every time I see her. I’ve been following her career for years and seen her evolve from solo singer/songwriter folkster to full fledged rocker chick. Especially now she has Perpetrator’s guitarist Jason Nowicki in her band who adds huge dosed of the blues to Mayes’ music
I’ve never seen them play a tighter set than their Aug. 6 show at the Slice.
Two fifths of the Skilletlikkers, George Arsene and Pat MacNamara, opened the set with several upbeat acoustic originals and choice covers of Fred Eaglesmith’s “Freight Train,” and the D-Rangers’s “Trois Rivieres.”
Mayes kicked thing into high gear right from the get-go with my favourite “The Other Dame” and then a couple tracks from her most recent 2008 CD “Achin’ in Yer Bones.” including a highlight “Tire Marks.”
Mayes owned the stage as per usual, but Nowicki easily stepped up with some searing Hound Dog Taylor style dirty blues solos, and her rhythm section played as tight as a drum skin.
I loved her “aggressive sex song” “Make you Love Me and that just was one of many highlights which had a decent sized crowd of about 50-60 people moving and grooving to Mayes’ roots-rock groove.
Somehow her voice is reminiscent of country stars like Miranda Lambert, but comes across as a lot more authentic when she sings of shooting whiskey shots and smoking more than she drinks and falling in and out of love.
She ended her first set with an amped up version of “ Styx and BTO,” (which is a bluegrass song on her debut CD) by request of George Arsene.
They came back after the break for a more laid back blues flavoured set which featured a lot of new music and ended their set with “Sweet Something Steady,” and then were called back for an encore of “Bible.”
She had a decent sized Lethbridge crowd for one, though she usually plays mid week rather than a weekend. But a monster talent like Romi Mayes deserves a big, appreciative audience like the one at the Slice, Aug. 6.
The David Harmon Experience played an excellent acoustic set at the Owl Acousitic Lounge, Aug. 7. They played an array of ’90s style pop rock hits hits by the likes of the Foo Fighters and ever the Buggles‘ “Video Killed the Radio Star” and pulled them off ell as an acoustic act.

August 11
Bar One Lounge — open mic with Ben Brown
Owl Acoustic Lounge — open acoustic jam
August 12
Mocha Cabana — Sean Ashby (Sarah McLachlan’s guitarist)
Slice — Willy Blizzard
Good Earth Coffee House — open mic
Beaches Pub — open mic
Coyote Joe’s — live karaoke and open jam with Paul Kype
Owl Acoustic Lounge — open mic
August 13
Wolf’s Den — open Mic
Mocha Cabana — James Oldenburg
Front Row Pub — Alyssa McQuaid
Slice — Record Holder’s last show
Lethbridge Casino — Tom and Curt
Sound Garden — Project Mayhem
Owl Acoustic Lounge — Becky Johnston
August 14
Lethbridge Casino — Tom and Curt
Slice — Johnnie Ninety Nine with Matt Robinson
Mocha Cabana — James Oldenburg
Front Row Pub — Alyssa McQuaid
Owl Acoustic Lounge — Colin Rinks and Johnny B
Aug. 15
Slice — Isosceles Project with Lustre Creame
Cudos Lounge — open mic — 6 p.m,.
Aug. 16
Owl Acoustic Lounge — open mic
Slice — Give Em Hell Boys
Aug. 17
Slice — open mic
Aug.18
Bar One Lounge — open mic
August 19
Slice — Bocephus King
Good Earth Coffee House — open mic
Beaches Pub — open mic
Coyote Joe's — live karaoke and open jam with Paul Kype
Owl Acoustic Lounge — open mic
August 20
Casino Lethbridge — Billie Vegas
Slice — Leeroy Stagger
Mocha Cabana — Alyssa McQuaid
Wolf’s Den— open mic
August 21
Slice — Red Light District studios
Casino Lethbridge — Billie Vegas
Mocha Cabana — Herky Cutler
 

It’s another exceptional week for live music beginning tonight with Australia’s Mason Rack Band who return to the Slice Aug. 4.
“You guys have so many music festivals here. It seems like every town has a music festival in the summer,” observed guitarist/vocalist Mason Rack from a stop in Edmonton.
“It’s so cool. I’ve played about 120 shows in Canada and I’ve never seen one fight. In Australia, I’d play 120 shows and there’d be about 50 fights,” he continued.
“Everyone is so friendly and nice in Canada,” he said, adding he enjoys the live performance.
“We might not make thousands of dollars touring, but we make thousands of smiles, and that’s the real payoff of playing live,” he said.
One of the things about a Mason Rack show, in addition to his deadly slide guitar and Tom Waits on steroids growl, is his drum duel with Canadian drummer Joel Purkess, which involves Rack wandering into the crowd wielding a pair of drumsticks, hitting everything from tables, chairs, beer kegs and the floor as well as Purkess’s drum kit. This tour it has been expanded to a three-person drum duel.
“It’s a new one involving all three players. It’s just going to be blues rock on steroids,” he described.
Livin’ the Joan Jett dream
Winnipeg blues/country/rock singer Romi Mayes is living her Joan Jett dreams.
She is on the road for about six months of the years spreading her brand of blues, rock and folk all over the world.
But this week, she is looking forward to playing Lethbridge on the weekend for the first time ever, Aug 6 at the Slice.
“It is kind of nice, don’t think I’ve ever played Lethbridge on the weekend. I’m excited, because I’ve done smaller, private shows and I’ve played the Slice during the week, but I’m kind of excited to rock the Slice on the weekend because I have lots of friends and fans there who I know can really party hard, so it will be a really good time I think,” she said during a grocery-store stop in Saskatchewan, where she and her band are in the middle of their latest Canadian tour that began at the beginning of the month.
“It’s like a little bit of every album and a lot of rock. The show just gets stronger every time. If you like what we’ve done in the past then don’t miss this show because it gets better with the band with Jay in the band from the Perps and Dave and Ryan the rhythm section.
“It’s really fun, I love my band,” she said.
“It’s really super fun, we had some really great turnouts on certain nights I just didn’t expect you know it’s like a Sunday or Monday night show in a small town, or something passing through and there were some good turnouts and some really excited people. So we just rocked them. We just got on stage and started slaying them so it’s been super fun.”
Spending so much time on the road has allowed her to tighten her set, but she has also been writing a few new songs
“Well, I just keep adding a song here and there where ever I can. Like I’ve been writing so I’ve been talking with the guys about finding some time on the road to rehearse some new tunes. The fun part is mastering the set too, right, like having a couple hours worth of material that gets better and stronger all the time. I mean if it gets boring, then we’re in trouble,” she continued.
“I think it was Ray Wylie Hubbard who said never write a song you’re not willing to play for 30 years on stage just in case people like it. So I kind of have that in mind. I like my songs and enjoy playing them. So I’m not too bored with the set yet. But I’m doing some writing right now,” she said, adding a new live album is in the works featuring the band — Jason Nowicki from the Perpetrators along with bassist David Landreth and drummer Ryan Voth.
Cancer Bats landing here
Toronto punk band Cancer Bats are spreading their wings all over the world, but are looking forward to a quick Canadian tour which includes a stop in Lethbridge Aug. 9 at Scores North. The Living Luca are also on the bill.
“Lethbridge is one of those out of the way places where we can have a great show any day of the week because the scene is so strong there,” Cancer Bats frontman Liam Cormier said from Dallas. “We’ve only ever really been there to play shows, but they’ve always consistently they’ve always been good been good. It’s one of those places where you know it’s going to be a good just because the scene is strong and people just want to have fun.”
For more previews, reviews and listings, visit www.lethsuntimes.com.
“That’s why we chose these stops when we decided to do this quick run through Canada. We know the shows are going to rule in Lethbridge, and we know the show is going to rule in Red Deer and we”lll save Calgary and Edmonton for next time. But this is going to be the real no holds barred fun show we can do any time of the year, any time of the week, we just know it’s going to be awesome so that was our main thing we’re getting stoked on,” he said adding Lethbridge can expect a solid set of heavy music.
“We’re all hard core, punk rock kids. For us, That what we grew up going to. And that was where. I think the best place to see a band is when you’re right in front and you’re spitting on each other and having a good time and mixing it up like get a good sweaty pit going. For me that’s where punk and hard core are always going to live.”
Cancer Bats blur the line between punk/hardcore and metal thanks to a plethora of big, beefy guitar riffs mixed with liberal doses of bad attitude.
“That’s the thing where we definitely blur that line. It depends who you ask. We’re playing this tour and we’re considered a punk band on it whereas where we play more punk rock shows, that’s where we we come off as more of a metal band. Or when we play hardcore stuff, more Black Flag and fun. Our band ourselves is all over the place, But I think that’s because we overall just fans of music and not specific to any one genre, it makes it tough on people,” he said adding they are enjoying being the only punk band on the Cool Tour 2010 metal tour including Underoath, As I Lay Dying, Between the Buried and Me, the Acacia Strain, Architect and War of Ages.
Wax Mannequin is also back in Lethbridge, Aug, 9 at the Slice.
For something a little more country, Coyote Joes has a Johnny Cash tribute performing Aug. 6. Rig River and Almost Johnny Cash play beginning at approximately 10 p.m.
This week was a wild one for innovative shows.
Vancouver pop/rock band Said the Whale packed the Slice, Tuesday, July 27.
Victoria’s Aidan Knight started things off with a hypnotic Radiohead groove which captivated an almost capacity crowd through the use of a variety of instruments. A violin cut through the chatter coming through the back and the keyboardist played some piercing French horn simultaneously, while the violinist doubled on bass. Knight expressed surprise at the extended cheers his band received.
If Aidan Knight put any of the crowd to sleep, the crazy keyboards of We Are The City woke them up with their own brand of upbeat pop which had most of the audience up dancing almost immediately. The drummer was a wild blur of energy who channeled the Muppets’ drummer Animal.
But everyone was there to see Said the Whale, who kept the crowd dancing through an intense set of upbeat pop songs, mostly from their new Cd. They featured hair raising sugar sweet vocal harmonies, chiming guitars and addictive melodies. They also displayed prowess on unusual instruments. The keyboardist added extra xylophone and they wound down their set by bringing out the ukulele, which left the audience screaming “Said The Whale” over and over again until they came back to play a couple encores.
The Slice had another interesting act, not to mention a lot of people for a Wednesday night, July 28 with Maria In The Shower.
The four came on stage dressed like old country gentlemen in old style hats, white shirts and suspenders holding up black pants. Unusual as they looked, musically they combined an old time country look with an old time country sound, adding elements of jazz thanks to the trumpet and accordion, rockabilly thanks to a big stand-up bass with ’60s-’70s R and B thanks to impressive vocal harmonies. They even added a touch of gospel thanks to a song about Jesus being their Valentine.
They grinned ear to ear and were impossible not to like. I’ve never seen any band grin while singing about murdering their girlfriend.
They put on a show. The stand up bassist stood on his bass, slapping out a rockabilly groove, even the trumpeter stood on the bass while blowing a fantastic solo during St. James Infirmary Blues.
The Slice had yet another full house, July 29 for the Necessities and a return visit from the Sunparlour Players.
The Sunparlour Players’ intense, loud and amazing show was a drummer’s paradise as the three members exhibited mind-blowing prowess on a variety of instruments, usually simultaneously.
The main drummer also doubled on bass and accordion, plus xylophone.
The lead singer, Andrew Penner, played several guitars, broke most of the strings and didn’t miss a beat or a melody, plus added bass pedals, drums when needed as well as banjo. They keyboardist added bass at the same time, plus drums and banjo during the band’s encore— an unusual version of AC DC’s ‘Thunderstruck.’
In addition to the astounding multi-instrumentalism, they band also displayed some cool vocal harmonies and unstoppable energy, which kept the dance floor crowded with revelers.

August 4
Bar One— open mic with Ben Brown
Slice— Mason Rack band roots
August 5
Good Earth Coffee House— open mic
Beaches Pub— open mic
Coyote Joes— live karaoke and open jam with Paul Kype
Owl Acoustic Lounge— open mic
August 6
Mocha Cabana— Herb Hicks Jazz Quartet
Slice — Romi Mayes
Coyote Joes— Rig River and Almost Johnny Cash
Lethbridge Casino— Ah Bee Normal
August 7
Mocha Cabana— Herb Hicks Jazz Quartet
Slice— Paul Kype and Texas Flood
Lethbridge Casino— Ah Bee Normal
Aug. 8
Slice— Tom Fun Orchestra
Aug. 9
Slice— Wax Mannequin
Scores North— Cancer Bats with the Living Luca
Owl Acoustic Lounge— open mic
1010 Pub— open mic
Aug. 10
Slice— open mic
Aug 11
Bar One Lounge— open mic with Ben Brown
August 12
Mocha Cabana— Sean Ashby (Sarah McLachlan’s guitarist)
Slice— Willy Blizzard
Good Earth Coffee House— open mic
Beaches Pub— open mic
Coyote Joes— live karaoke and open jam with Paul Kype
Owl Acoustic Lounge— open mic