the buzz LIVE MUSIC

It is a big week for jazz buffs in Lethbridge as the Lethbridge Jazz Festival.
   There will be live jazz music throughout the week at venues including the Slice, Tongue N Groove, Sterndale Bennett Theatre, plus there will also be a supper time jazz program throughout the week at Ric’s Grill, the Mocha Cabana, Plum and Streatside.
There will even be live jazz music at Galt Gardens, June 17 with Music in the Making featuring the University of Lethbridge Conservatory and Young Lions, which includes local middle and high school jazz ensembles.
Some highlights of the festival with be performances by Canadian jazz legend Tommy Banks at the Sterndale Bennett Theatre, June 18. As well, trombonist and vocalist Allen Jacobson returns home to Alberta for this one-off gig at the Tongue N Groove, June 17.
Young up-and-coming jazz classical guitarist The Alex Goodman Quartet will wind up things at the Slice, at 2 p.m., June 19.
The Slice is doing double duty this Saturday, June 18.
In addition to hosting an afternoon jazz jam with the Usual Suspects that evening, they will play host to the South Country Fair Songwriting competition finals.
There will be a variety of southern Alberta songwriters in two categories — beginners who don’t have a record out and experienced for musicians who do. The winner of each category receives a prize package including a chance to play their song on the main stage. The show begins at 7 p.m., always starts on time and is always packed, so don’t be late if you want to see some up-and-coming songwriting talent. After the competition, local musicians Matt Robinson and Leeroy Stagger will be performing.
The Slice is also doing double duty Sunday, June 19 as they have the Alex Goodwin Quintet winding up the jazz festival in the afternoon and will be bringing back upbeat alt-country band, Pernell Reichert Band, to perform in the evening.
Long and McQuade is celebrating its official grand opening all day Saturday with live music. It’s a natural fit as the staff make up a good chunk of the local music scene, so come and check out bands like the Necessities and Psychomantium and many others from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. who will be playing outside in the parking lot across the street.
Essies is bringing in live music this week, too, with One Bad Son with Krome, June 16. Saskatoon-born, Vancouver-raised One Bad Son have drawn comparisons to classic rock icons like Led Zeppelin, the Who, Thin Lizzy and more modern grunge bands like Soundgarden. Vancouver rock quartet Krome, who also have a raw classic rock sound down, are also on the bill. There is a $5 cover for the show, which begins at 8 p.m.
Also on June 16, Average Joes opens its “open for the bands” contest with the finals to see who opens for Sweet. Despite poor turnouts through the past month, the finalists are Dalliance Elixir (Murray Nelson and Jolene Draper with Bruce Roome) and Curt Young.
Several of those faves went head to head this past Thursday, June 9, for the “open for the bands” Nazareth finals. For the first time in a while, there was a decent turnout.
Lance Tailfeathers Society had a pretty inspirational set, with the tight band jamming on a variety of covers including the Doors’ “Break On Through,” plus a very cool Santanaish instrumental, a little bit of slide guitar-powered blues, a slower original and put their own inimitable stamp on Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick In The Wall Part 2,” which he ended again by ripping all the strings off his guitar to tremendous cheers.
Curt Young was up next to “jam with a few of his friends” including Lance Tailfeathers on bass and Murray Nelson on guitar. He said he was glad to be back in Lethbridge to jam with friends.
They began with a very pleasant traditional piece performed by Jamie Medicine Crane on native flute. The rest of the set was some pretty loose, fun, laid-back blues. There was some tasteful playing on all parts and a nice harp solo and even bass and drums solos which drew huge cheers. They picked up the tempo with some more upbeat blues rock on a song called “Smoke and Drink all night,”and Young even added a little bit of rap.
The last two acts made it a tough night for the judges.
Jolene Draper, Murray Nelson, Bruce Roome and special guest drummer Brady Valgaardson played a wickedly tight set of jazzy covers and one original.
Draper displayed her beautiful voice on a popular Macy Gray cover, then sang a laid-back jazzy original. She welcomed Jamie Medicine Crane up on stage to play native flute on it, then picked up the pace on another song.
They ended the set with an outstanding version of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit.”
They continued to show improvement and almost won it this time.
Gravity Crash ended up being the winners. They had an array of lights, a lot of big riffs and up tempo energy through an extremely tight set of original rock including a couple intricately played originals.
For a special treat they brought Kris Hodgson on stage to add some cello on a haunting yet upbeat original called “Love and War.”
They won the contest and will be opening for Nazareth, July 21.
But the “open for the bands” contest isn’t over yet. There is one more to go — the competition to open Aug. 11 for glam rock icons Sweet, who had several ’70s hits including “Fox On the Run,” “Little Willie,” “Ballroom Blitz” and “Love Like Oxygen.”
There will be some familiar faces playing this Thursday including Dalliance Elixir and Curt Young as well as Thursday jam stalwarts DeadVoice.
Crowd response is an integral part of the contest, so come on out and show your love for your favourite performers.
If you haven’t seen the local classic rock-inspired original duo, check them out at Cudos, June 17.

Reviews
Gurf Morlix resurrects Blaze Foley
While you might not know the name Blaze Foley, people like Lucinda Williams, Willie Nelson and John Prine do as they have either covered his songs or written songs about him.
One of Foley’s good friends, Gurf Morlix, was back in Lethbridge, Wednesday, June 8 to paint a clearer picture of this drunk, homeless, hilarious plus a few unprintable adjectives, but who was also an amazing songwriter. While I missed Kevin Triplett’s documentary on Foley (which started off the evening), who was murdered at the age of 39 defending a friend of his who was being abused by his son, Morlix painted a vivid picture of this fascinating character by telling a variety of colourful stories and playing his music for an attentive and intimate crowd of about 30 at the Geomatic Attic.
He started off by telling the story of how he met Foley, how Foley attached himself to him, and about dragging people to Foley’s first gig — in a disco — shortly after arriving in Austin.
Foley lived on Morlix’s couch for many years and Morlix helped him get his music out there on record. If Morlix’s performance was any indication, Foley was also a very talented guitarist. Morlix tapped out a beat on two blocks of microphoned 2x4s, while playing some impressive guitar and singing Foley’s heart-wrenching lyrics.
 He began with a cool one, “Big Cheeseburgers and Good French Fries” which was also on “Cold, Cold, World,” the only official CD of Foley’s music and then played some of his more popular hits made famous by other songwriters, “Clay Pigeons,” which John Prine recorded on “If Only I Could Fly,” which Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson both recorded.
He showed off Foley’s sense of humour by singing one of my favourites, “Wouldn’t It be Nice,” which he wrote after watching an elderly lady locking her doors after spotting him hitchhiking. Morlix then segued into a story about how his parents first met Foley and noting his mother recognized him hitchhiking.
He showed off Foley’s sensitive side by playing “Oooh Love,” which featured a beautifully tasteful guitar solo.
Morlix also played a song he wrote about Foley, “The music You never Made,” from his “Last Exit to Happyland ” CD. He wound things down with another whimsical song and the title track of Morlix’s new tribute album to Foley “Blaze Foley’s 113th Wet Dream” and ended with “Cold, Cold World.”

The F stands for Fun with the F-Holes
While Winnipeg folk/roots/ jazz band the F Holes may sound dirty, their June 8 show at the Slice was nothing but sweet and entertaining on a lot of different levels.
Approximately 20 people were having as much fun sitting in the audience as the band was on stage, playing a variety of original music.
The interplay between all of the instruments including a stand-up bass, trumpet, French horn, lap steel guitar and banjo plus drums, was amazingly tight. The musicians switched effortlessly between different instruments and the trumpet player was a sight as he writhed and blew jazz. they played numerous tunes from their self titled debut CD including one of many highlights “Don’t Feel Bad” and “Dixie Band,” which not only highlighted their musicianship, especially the New Orleans Dixieland side, but also their sense of humour.
They didn’t slow down, at least not much as they wound down their show with a Bob Dylan cover “You Ain’t Going Nowhere,” which was followed by a jazzy version of “16 Tonnes” which brought the night to a raucous close.

Metal health at Tongue N Groove
Lots of people came out of hibernation this week to take in some great music, which is a good sign.
And there was a little something for everyone, just on Friday.
The Tongue N Groove was packed with young metalheads and their parents, who were enjoying a pretty good set by Lock N’ Load, June 10. While it wasn’t the best performance I’d seen them play, they showed they have some pretty serious musical chops and plenty of punk energy, especially the guitarist. They started off slow, but picked up the tempo and the volume as they introduced several new songs. People seemed to like “Trial By Fire,” and their song about the police “5-0” was a crowd favourite — one of several which had the audience, jumping in front of the stage and shouting along.
Other crowd favourites were Judas Priest and Megadeth covers.
Speaking of musical chops, The Bohemian Cause, showed plenty of them, right after that.
The Bohemian Cause are more in the progressive rock vein, so they played many complicated originals, full of layers of sound and different time changes. There were plenty of  extended jams and guitar solos, long instrumental sections combining them both as well as wild bass lines all set to a hypnotic groove.
Unfortunately I missed Calgary’s Obey the Fist who closed the night.

Musical hypnotism with Raleigh and Dojo Workhorse
Hypnotism was the order of the night for a laid back show at the Slice, June 10 with Raleigh and Dojo Workhorse for about 25 people.
Calgary trio Raleigh put on an entertaining, mellow and hypnotic show. It featured haunting cello and vocals, guitar textures and drums featuring a variety of toms and shimmering cymbals, setting the mellow atmosphere.
The trio created a wide variety of textures with only three instruments and some looping effects. There were also a few appealing vocal harmonies adding to the ambience.
They set the stage for much more of the same with Dojo Workhorse, except with a lot more instruments and musicians creating the textures and more of an infusion of catchy pop. There were familiar faces on stage as  Dojo Workhorse included members of several other popular Calgary bands including Raleigh and the Dudes.
They sounded like a more roots based version of the Arcade Fire as they wove a tapestry of sound with a variety of instruments  including cello, lap steel, guitar, bass, keyboard and drums.
But each of the musicians performed like a good jazz band, sitting back and letting the others take solos, adding their parts when needed.
While they set a hypnotic vibe, the vocals were pure Stax era soul and R and B with a touch of pop.

LSCO rocks the block again by packing the park
Despite a few rain showers, the Lethbridge Senior Citizen’s Organization managed to double the number of people who packed the Park in the Civic Field (11 Street and 6 Avenue South) for their second annual LSCO Rocks the Block, June 11.
I only caught a few acts.
I was impressed by the cacophony of the Hibiyaki drummers, who played on through the rain as numerous people of all ages sat comfortably in lawn chairs in front of the stage, huddled in rain jackets beneath umbrellas.
A set of classic rock from Who’s Yer Daddy was all right, playing familiar hits by the likes of .38 Special, Free and other ’70s icons.
Paul Kype and Texas Flood began their energetic set of blues rock with on of my favourite Paul Kype originals “Freight Train.”
Guitarist Greg Gomola took on lead vocal duties on a couple of songs including one that sounded like a Los Lonely Boys song and another more reggae-flavoured song.
They also played their excellent version of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man.”
The music also featured Brent Hutchinson on saxophone.
Everyone was out Saturday night for several packed shows.
The Owl Acoustic Lounge was bursting at the seams, for a Most Vocal Poets fundraiser, June 11.
And while I missed a set by the Necessities, I caught the matt Robinson Family band, Lancaster.
Matt Robinson traded lead vocals with his father and brother on an upbeat set which included several extremely tight covers  of blues and blues flavoured rock including “Crossroads” and “Jealous Again.” The band completely connected with each other, and were having a celebration on stage.
Things were a little more subdued at the Tongue N Groove, June 11. Rob Taylor was in town to put on a one-man show for  an audience of about 25.
Taylor played some really pretty classically inspired pop and folk music which he augmented with some keyboards and some looping effects. He also sang some real pleasant vocals.
I was going to give the Sidney York show at the Slice a miss, June 11 due to exhaustion and having to go to Calgary early the next morning, but I was glad I didn’t. It isn’t often you see a bassoon in a rock band, but there was one in York’s band. I leaped into the middle of a massively, packed party at the Slice. The band was jumping around on stage, clapping their hands and getting the excited crowd to do the same.
This was another show that featured some impressive interplay between multitude of instruments including that bassoon as well as a clarinet in addition to keyboards, bass, drums, guitar and even ukulele.
York, who received an honourable mention in last year’s South Country Fair Songwriting competition, and won the year before that, has played the Slice four times, but I’ve never seen her with the orchestra behind her. She sang beautifully while alternating between guitar, keyboard and ukulele.
June 14
Tongue N Groove — Carmen Townsend
Slice — open mic with Rancho Deluxe
Bo Diddly’s — open mic
June 15
Owl Acoustic Lounge — L.A. Beat open jam
June 16
Essies — One Bad Son with Krome
SAAG — Lethbridge Big Band- Five Decades of swing
Average Joes — Battle of the bands Sweet Finals
Slice — Texting Mackenzie
June 17
Jimmy’s Pub — open mic with Cory Oryniak and Dave Tillsley
Mocha Cabana — Dale Ketcheson supper club
Galt Gardens — 1:15 p.m. Music in the Making Conservatory University of Lethbridge
2 p.m. Young Lions Jazz concert with middle School and high school jazz ensembles
Streetside — supper Club Jazz
Plum — Supper Club Jazz
Average Joes — Dueling Pianos
Ric’s Grill — Davidson Porter Trio
Lethbridge Casino — Suite 33
Slice — Sandwich jazz fest
Tongue N Groove — Contemporary jazz Works Jazz Orchestra with Allen Jacobsen
Owl Acoustic Lounge — For the Birds with The Barefoot Band
Cudos — Jackson E
June 18
Mocha Cabana — Dale Ketcheson supper club
Owl Acoustic Lounge — Church
Lethbridge Casino — Suite 33
Slice — South Country Fair Songwriting competition finals/ Jam session with the Usual Suspects
Streetside — Supper Club Jazz
Plum — Supper Club Jazz
Ric’s Grill — Supper Club Jazz
Tongue n Groove — Ray Charles Aretha Franklin Tribute
Average Joes — DNR
June 19
Slice — Alex Goodwin Quintet jazz Fest 2011 2 p.m.
Slice — Pernell Reichert band 9 p.m.
June 20
Essies — Mudmen
Owl — open mic
1010 Pub — open mic
June 21
Slice — Play Guitar with babysitter, Fist City and the Ketamines
Bo Diddly’s — open mic
The Stone — open mic
June 22
Tongue n Groove — Oka $10
Owl acoustic Lounge — L.A. Beat open jam
Slice — Minto with Red Cedar
June 23
Tongue N Groove — Jenn Grant $15 ($12 advance)
Slice — Blackie and the Triumphs ($10)
Average Joes — Dr. Hook with Dirt Road Dust
June 24
Cudos — Jackson E
Mocha Cabana — Herb Hicks Jazz Quartet
Casino Lethbridge — Bamboo Guppies
Average Joes — Dueling Pianos
Ric’s Grill — Davidson Porter Trio
Slice — Warped 45s, Joshua Cockerill
Owl Acoustic Lounge — Bubba Tres with Sonis McAllister and the Barracuda Orchestre

One way to keep the spirit of an old friend alive is to put together a musical tribute to him. That is what Austin’s Gurf Morlix has done to celebrate the life of Blaze Foley, who was murdered back in 1989.
“He was a real character. He was a homeless guy and an alcoholic and a songwriter,” said Morlix.
Numerous people have covered Foley’s songs including Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Lyle Lovett and John Prine, just to name a few. Lucinda Williams wrote a song about him called “Drunken Angel.” Morlix will be bringing his Blaze Foley tribute to the Geomatic Attic on June 8.
The evening will begin with an hour-long documentary by filmmaker Kevin Triplett, who never knew Foley, but spent 12 years interviewing people who knew him to make his debut film. Triplett himself joins the tour and will be answering questions after the film. Morlix will then play a set of songs from his new Blaze Foley tribute album, “Blaze Foley’s 113th Wet Dream.”
“It has all come together in the past year. Everyone who is involved with this is doing it for the right reasons,” said Morlix, who is pleased that Foley’s legend lives on more than 20 years after he was murdered for defending a friend of his who was being abused by his son.
“He just lived life on his own terms. He wanted success, but he wanted it on his own terms. I’m glad it is starting to happen now,” Morlix remembered.
“I’m doing all I can to spread the word about Blaze,” Morlix added.
Morlix is renown as a songwriter and producer in his own right, having worked with Lucinda Williams, Romi Mayes, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Ray Bonneville, to name a few. But for now his main focus has been the Blaze Foley tribute CD and tour.
Tickets are $25 for members, $27.50 for non-members, or $30 at the door. The show begins at 8 p.m.

The F-Holes
There are no dirty connotations associated with the name of Winnipeg “roots” quintet The F-Holes. A F-hole is actually the sound hole of a semi-hollow-body electric guitar.
They are looking forward to bringing their blend of rockabilly/country/Dixieland jazz and their quirky sense of humour to Lethbridge for the first time on June 8 when they play the Slice.
“We like playing a lot of different genres. I guess some people call us swing roots,” said Eric Lemoine, the F-Holes’ banjo player, pedal steel guitarist, resonator and electric bassist.
“We play a little bit of everything from a little bit of rockabilly to a little bit of Dixieland, so I guess we’re versatile.”
All of the band members play multiple instruments including several different horns.
“We played a lot of blues music. And we’ll switch it up during the show,” he said.
“It’s great. We’ll play the blues but we can cater to the crowd. When we come to Lethbridge, we’ll be able to play any style and be able to play something somebody likes. We have a variety of sounds.”

Raleigh
There is a Connecticut hip-hop crew called Raleigh, but they are definitely not Calgary-based trio Raleigh, who play the Slice, June 10.
 “That’s definitely not us,” said guitarist Brock Geiger, who, along with cellist Clea Anaïs, will also be playing in their other band, Dojo Workhorse.
 Hip-hop is probably the one adjective that doesn’t describe Raleigh.
“We like a lot of adjectives like prog, prog rock, folk, quirky pop, folk orchestra. There are lots of layers,” Geiger continued.
 The cello adds a lot to the trio’s heavily orchestrated sound. While they have played Lethbridge several times, this will be the first time they will have a CD in hand.
“All of the songs were live songs first. We had to adjust them for the CD,” he said, noting each part is integral to the sound.
“Clea does a lot of writing on the cello. All of the parts are important, without either the guitar, drums or cello, it just wouldn’t work,” he said.
Tickets are $10 for the show, which is scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m.

 Stellar Radio Choir
The Stellar Radio Choir are looking forward to their very first cross-Canadian tour, which kicks off at the Tongue N Groove,  June 13 with local indie rock band Planet Telex and Fernie post punk duo Mobina Galore.
The Golden, B.C.-based trio Stellar Radio Choir are looking forward to not only a couple high-profile gigs back home in Ontario, but rocking out at the Tongue N Groove along the way.
“Last time we played the Slice, but the Tongue N Groove is a new venue for us,” said bassist Todd Menzies. He is looking forward to touring with Mobina Galore.
“They are a two-piece pop-rock duo. I like to call them sugar rock, because they a have really loud grungy guitar sound and really soft voices. They get people moving, which is what we like to do too. It’s fast paced. We like to see people on the dance floor even if they don’t know the songs,” he said. “We play kind of a garage rock, blues rock with some psychedelia. A lot of my influences come from big riffs that just stick in your mind, like early Rolling Stones when they blended blues and rock and Chuck Berry, back when rock was great,” he said.

Who will open for Nazareth?
Be at Average Joe’s Thursday to help choose the local band who will be opening up for Nazareth on July 21.
Gravity Crash, Dalliance Elixir, Curt Young and Lance Tailfeathers are the finalists who will be performing. Crowd support is one of many factors the bands are being judged on. So be there. The winning band not only gets to play a 30-minute set opening for Nazareth and record a single, but get 15 free tickets to the show to give to their supporters. So come on out and show there is something to do in Lethbridge.

More cool shows
Another cool show happens on Sunday, June 12. Maritime rock band the Motorleague return to Lethbridge for a show with Underleaf.
There is another cool hip-hop show this week as well as Scratch of the Roots performs at the Stone with Maseo from De la Soul as well as Kyprios.
Advance tickets for the show, which begins at 9 p.m., cost $20.
While it isn’t music related, there are a variety of crafts related events happening this week in honour of Knitting in Public Week June 11-18. Activities begin Friday, June 10 with the Lethbridge Etsy Craft Party Scrap meet, which take place at the Parlour (407 2 Ave. S.) from 7-9 p.m. for you to trade in scrap material, yarn, paper, glues, scissors or supplies. Saturday, June 11 is International Yarn Bombing Day. Yarn bombing, yarnstorming, guerrilla knitting or graffiti knitting is described as a employing colourful displays of knitted or crocheted cloth to decorate walls, trees or other things with them instead of chalk or spay paint. Find out more at www.craftateria.blogspot.com
There is also a yarn picnic June 14 at the Henderson Lake picnic shelter from 6:30-10 p.m..

The week that was
The Owl also had a very cool show on Saturday, June 4. Quirky Victoria-based surf-instrumental duo Bible Belt Badlands sounded like a two-piece Shadowy Men From A Shadowy Planet with an upbeat set of original instrumental which had several members of a crowd numbering about 30, dancing and flailing in front of the stage. Sarah and Shamus Boss were affable and gracious hosts with Shamus agreeing to sign one excited fan’s hat as soon as he found a pen after the set.
 The duo traded time in front of the mic and on drums and guitar. Shamus sang a couple songs but it was mostly his catchy guitar playing which got the joint jumping. Their set was mostly originals, but they did cover A Shadowy Men From A Shadowy Planet song as well as a catchy Black Lips number called “Bad Kids” which ended the show.
***
The week in music started early with some poorly attended, though totally awesome shows.
While I try to take Mondays off, I couldn’t pass up a chance to take in the return of the Tom Savage Trio at the Slice in May 30. They didn’t have many people, but brought it anyway.
The Kingston, Ont. alt country blues trio started off with several tracks from their excellent debut CD “The County Line,” including the title track as well as “No Win Situation,” which they expanded with a long trippy, psychedelic bluesy solo. Superb solos were the highlight of this show, especially the first set.
 The trio played tight and frontman Savage told a variety of stories about driving for days across Northern Ontario and played a song from his solo acoustic CD about the experience, but electrified and amplified. He ended the first set with “Arizona,” a mellow note from “The County Line.”
He eased into the second set of all new blues-inspired material, a slight departure from their Drive-By-Truckers alt-country sound
I’m looking forward to their next CD if what I heard is any indication. They had plenty of superb playing and catchy hooks especially on one called “Tijuana Sun” and another I think called “Come On Down the Road.”
Throughout there was some slick slide guitar playing and endless energy.
Speaking of energy, Vancouver metal band Unleash The Archers brought energy and some to spare with an energetic and intense set at the Stone, May 30. I missed Enceladus and Caste of Shadows, but arrived in time for Unleash the Archers to unleash some big, fast guitar riffs, an unstoppable backbeat, and thundering bass plus operatic vocals from front woman Brittany Hayes as they played their latest concept CD “Demons of the Astrowaste.”
They had a cohort of 50-odd black clad headbangers shaking their heads and bouncing in enthusiasm throughout the room.
There were some cool guitar works and shuddering bass.
Hayes showed she could scream on key, while one of the other members added some bellowing, growling vocals for contrast from guitarist Brayden Dyzckowski.
***

A good-size Wednesday night crowd sent jesse and the Dandelions, Church on their June tour with a great show at the Slice on June 1.
The New Weather Machine, featuring Clayton Smith on drums, Jon Martin on guitar and Jesse Northey on bass, continue to get better and better as they started the evening off with a solid set of more straight ahead rock. Usually they are more progressive and experimental along the David Bowie and Mott the Hoople side of the ’70s spectrum, but for this show they brought the rock with a variety of uptempo originals, some obscure Clash and a lot more.
Church including Leigh Doerksen on guitar and vocals and Dan Puurveen on drums, also brought the rock with a solid set of Neil Young and Crazy Horseish originals.
***
The Tongue N Groove had an excellent country-folk show on Thursday, June 2 with Calgary’s Cam Penner and his hot band. His raspy, affable voice sounded like a more country Chris Colepaugh and the Cosmic Crew with a touch of Rodney DeCroo. He told stories and sang sedate songs about Texas gates in Montana and working late.
While most of the set I heard was pretty laid back , he picked up the tempo in a Fred Eaglemsith style train song which was very cool.
***
Friday night had something for pretty much everyone. I couldn’t resist hearing Bragg Creek teen Sarah Troy playing to a surprisingly full house at the Mocha Cabana on June 3.
I got there in time to hear ‘“Possibly Maybe,” one of my favourite tracks of their latest CD “ A Dozen Hearts”
 She sang appealing melodies, and showed excellent dynamics and range in her pleasing Sarah McLachlan meets Chantal Kreviazuk voice and played some pretty and mostly laid back piano. Her set included several tracks from her latest CD as well as some surprising covers of the ilk of Death Cab For Cutie and Radiohead.
She chatted with the crowd like a pro, though she admitted she forgot the lyrics for one of her songs. Her soft-spoken patter was tough to hear at the back of the room. She was going to call it quits around 8:30, but her mother, in the audience, told her to keep going. So she played a few more superb tracks off the CD including “In A Dream,” and “Foolish,” plus another mellow ballad which didn’t make it onto the CD.
It was a pleasant night of music over at the Owl Acoustic Lounge, June 3.
Eva Montgomery showed a lot of potential during her opening set of appealing covers including Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon,” and even the Beatles’ “ While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” She also played one really slow original. She had a good sized crowd cheering her on as well as Greg Gomola, who was adding his usual tasteful, blues solos as well as sang one of his own.
The main attraction was eclectic Victoria duo Dirty Grace or Betty Supple (Beth Stupple) and Marley Daemon (Marley Iredale) who ran the gamut from jazz, pop, bluegrass and a lot more.
 They switched between an array of instruments including mandolin, accordion, guitar and piano as well as adding some beat boxing and sexy vocal harmonies, which to borrow a line from one of their songs, sounded “so nice,” together. They grinned and sang together and were having a really good time.
The Slice got into the spirit of jazz a couple weeks before the Lethbridge Jazz Festival is set to begin.
HBO3 including saxophonist Dave Renter, Guitarist James Oldenburg and drummer Brad Brouwer with special guest Kurt Ciesla on stand up bass entertained an intimate audience with extended jazz jams and solos for everyone.
Ciesla, who usually plays with the Corb Lund Band set his bass on fire with blazing fingers while the rest of the band sat back and let him do his thing on a John Coltrane song Mr. PC. which allowed everybody to shine.
***
Steve Coffey and the Lokels played an entertaining show at the Tongue n Groove, June 3. He had a wicked band behind him including Lance Loree who was a character on stage, mugging for the audience of about 15 while alternating between Telecaster, pedal steel guitar and on bass of the last song of the night. they played a strong set of real, hurtin’ authentic Canadian country music. They kept a laid back groove, Coffey took a tender harp solo and ended the show on an upbeat note. They were called back for an encore by the appreciative audience as Loree took over on bass and the bassist played some impressive solos on lead guitar.
***
It is always a good thing when people turn out for a show. The packed house at the Slice got a treat at the Treeline/Sean Brewer CD release party on Saturday, June 4.
Cowpuncher started things off with an incendiary and loud set of upbeat, twangy alt country-rock featuring an array of guitars, a little banjo and a lot of energy. They provided intense energy with their country-tinged rockabilly muse which got a good portion of the audience up on their feet.
They sent a very cool song called “You Can’t Save The World” out to the hippies in the crowd and dedicated another about good friends to Treeline and Sean Brewer. They ended their exciting set on a couple more psychobilly style notes and made way for the main event.
Treeline brought it, tearing through their new CD “Prairie Sentimentalist,” as Ryan Dyck and Sean Brewer took turns singing lead. Brewer added banjo to a couple songs, while drummer Clayton Smith and stand up bassist Tyler Bird provided a rock solid rhythm. Lead guitarist Taylor Ackerman and pedal steel guitarist Darreck Anderson provided tasteful and tight solos.
In addition to a set of pretty much all originals, the band showed their roots through playing a couple Ian Tyson songs including “MC Horses” as well as an Andrew Neville song, plus a Hayes Carll song, who Brewer recently opened for.
Ackerman and Dyck both took lead vocals on one of my favourite older Treeline songs “Old Time Religion.”


June 8
Owl Acoustic Lounge— L.A. Beat open jam
Slice— The F-Holes

June 9
Average Joes— open for the bands/ open mic

June 10
Mocha Cabana — Dan Reeder
Lethbridge Casino—Hippodrome
Stone— Scratch of the Roots and Kyprios with band
Owl Acoustic Lounge—O’ Mally with Fairly Odd Folk
Slice— Raleigh with Dojo Workhorse
Ric’s Grill— Davidson Porter trio
Average Joes— Dueling pianos
Jimmy’s Pub— open mic with Cory Orniyak and Dave Tillsley
Tongue n Groove— Obey the Fist, Epidemic of , The Bohemian Cause, Lock n Load

June 11
Tongue n Groove— Rob Taylor
Mocha Cabana — Dan Reeder
Lethbridge Casino—Hippodrome
Owl— Family jam 2-5
Ric’s Grill— Cal Toth
Slice— Sidney York, Mike Edel, Steph Macpherson
Owl— Most Vocal poets Fundraiser with the Necessisties and Lancaster (Matt Robinson and Family)
Front Row Pub— Ah Bee Normal

June 12
Owl— Plugged in jam
Slice— The Motorleague with underleaf

 June 13
Owl Acoustic Lounge— open mic
1010 PUb— open mic
Tongue N Groove— Stellar Radio Choir with Mobina Galore, Planet Telex
Geomatic Attic— Gurf Morlix

June 14
 Tongue N Groove— Carmen Townsend
Slice— open mic with Rancho Deluxe
Bo Diddly’s — open mic
The Stone— open mic

June 15
Owl Acoustic Lounge— L.A. Beat open jam
June16
Essies— One Bad Son with Krome
SAAG— Lethbridge Big Band- Five Decades of swing
Average Joes— Battle of the bands Sweet Finals
Slice— Texting Mackenzie

The longest-standing open mic in the city is taking a summer break due to poor attendance.
The Lethbridge Folk Club is shutting down until its Sept. 17 presentation of Bill Bourne.
So that means there will be no Friday night bluegrass jams or open mics in the Wolf’s Den until then.
Poor attendance is the biggest problem, according to folk club president Morris Soenen. He’s not alone. A lot of open mics seem to suffer from that plague.
There is also a concern of over-saturation, though having a lot of different places for budding musicians to play seems like a pretty nice problem to have. The folk club will be missed this summer, if only because they seem to have the most supportive and friendliest audiences.
 There are a lot of open mics though; it seems like there is a new one every week. Now there are open mics at the Owl Acoustic Lounge and the 1010 Pub n Mondays; McGuinty’s, The Slice and Bo Diddly‘s on Tuesdays; L.A. Beat’s open jam on Wednesdays at the Owl Acoustic Lounge; and Average Joes’ open mic on Thursdays. The latter was going really strong over the past few months, in part to their “open for the bands” contest, but has completely dropped off over the past couple weeks. Jimmy’s Pub and Brasserie have the only regular Friday night open mic now. The Owl Acoustic Lounge also has an open family jam on Saturday afternoons.
Don’t let these things die to lack of interest because they are an invaluable part of creating a strong and diverse music scene. Open mics are where musicians go to meet each other, play with each other and try out new songs and old favourites on new audiences.
A new club opens June 1, which plans on joining the open mic fray.
The Red Fort Cafe International and Diesel Club, the newest residents of the old firehall building downtown, plan on having Tuesday night open mics, though I don’t know when they are going to start them.
They will be offering international cuisine from Dubai and London as well as a hookah lounge upstairs, and live DJs Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays.
 
Troy, 16, already an accomplished artist
June actually starts off slow with an uncommonly quiet week for Lethbridge.
But there are a couple good events happening.
First of all, talented young Bragg Creek-based singer-songwriter Sarah Troy plays the Mocha Cabana on June 3. Troy has four CDs to her credit already and she is only 16.
“I recorded my first CD when I was 10, but that was only an EP,” said Troy, who makes her Lethbridge debut at the Mocha Cabana on Friday.
She has a lot of relatives including grandparents in Lethbridge.
“I have a lot of relatives there and it’s going to be awesome, because I have never played for them before,” she said.
She has been busy playing a variety of events on the weekends including at the University of Calgary on Thursday before she comes to Lethbridge
She will be performing with guitarist/vocalist Aaron Pollock.
“It is going to be awesome. We are working on a variety of things. We have three hours of music, so we have some covers as well, ” she said.
She credits her parents for giving her an early start in the music business.
“My parents have really been nothing but helpful and supportive. They are always pushing me. They give me the loan for a CD and then I pay them back through CD sales,” she said.
“I think it really has been a privilege to be able to do all these things most people don’t get to do until they get older and go to school. But I’m getting all these experiences as a kid,” she said.
 She took up piano at age six and immediately took to it.
“I took some theory. I’ve never really taken lessons. I’ve never taken the Royal Conservatory.”
 She described each CD she has released as a learning experience.
“This is the biggest step I’ve taken. The others were basically baby steps. But I had a lot of faith in these songs, so this is the first one that we recorded in a professional studio with a producer,” she said.
She plays from 6-9 p.m. There is no cover charge.

Listen to Treeline live and get the new CD
The other big party this week is local alt-country group Treeline who will be releasing their latest CD with Sean Brewer on June 4. Cowpuncher is also on the bill.
Treeline’s new spilt CD “Prairie Sentimentalist” with Edmonton’s Sean Brewer of Sean Brewer and the Switchmen is a “coming of age” for the band, according to guitarist frontman Ryan Dyck.
“We got to know him over the past few years,” Dyck said from Medicine Hat.
“We’ve played together a lot over the past 18 months.”
They will be releasing the CD at a special CD release party at the Slice on June 4 with special guest Cowpuncher as well as pedal steel player Darrek Anderson.
Tickets are $20 and include a copy of the CD. Advance tickets can be purchased at Blueprint Music.
“He has a lot more experience than me. He was in the Uncas and he’s a guy I always looked up to. So this has been great for me,” Dyck said, adding half the songs are Brewer’s and the other half are his. They sent rough tapes to lead guitarist Taylor Ackerman, bassist Tyler Bird and drummer Clayton Smith, who learned them for the record.
“We did them totally apart from each other, so we didn’t attempt co-writing. But I sing a verse on one of his songs,” Dyck said.

Get your music heard
Average Joe’s begins a June full of finals for their Open for the Bands contest, this Thursday. Once again nobody showed up this past Thursday for a chance to open for British glam rock pioneers Sweet.
 who are best known for hits like “Ballroom Blitz” and “Fox On the Run,” as well as minor hits like “Little Willy” and “Love is Like Oxygen.”
They have a wild card playdown this Thursday, where the winners get chance to either open for Sweet or Nazareth. So show up. It is a great chance to get your music heard by a brand new audience.

The week that was
We had some outstanding midweek concerts in Lethbridge.
First off, Texas troubadour Hayes Carll made his Lethbridge debut with a soldout show at the Geomatic Attic on May 24, where he observed he wasn’t used to playing a room this nice.
 He combined elements of Bob Dylan and Todd Snider with just a touch of countrified Lou Reed and Waylon Jennings outlaw edge. He told stories and cracked wry jokes about hitting the casino afterward. He had an amazing band backing him, including Oklahoma songwriter Travis Lind, who alternated between pedal steel guitar, guitar and dobro throughout the show.
 He proved himself to be a strong songwriter in his own right and a wicked guitar player as he knocked off a wild version of Merle Travis/Chet Atkins’ quick finger-picking classic “Cannonball Rag.”
Carll played a wicked show that alternated between slower material and more country rock. It included most of his latest CD “KMAG YOYO ( & other American Stories)” That was one of many highlights of the show. His humour shone through on “Another Like You” as he sang both parts of the song which he recorded as a duet with Cary Ann Hearst, looking at half the room for the female parts of the song and the other side for the male parts.
 Another highlight was “Where Have all my Old Friends Gone,” which also displayed his humour.
 He donned the banjo for “Bottle in My Hand,” which he recorded with Todd Snider and Corb Lund.
 He also introduced a new song, which he wrote with Bobby Bare Jr. called “Two Girls, One Bed, Three Bottles of Wine,” which was hilarious.
 He played another which he co-wrote with Ray Wylie Hubbard called “Drunken Poet’s Dream.”
 His band was fantastic throughout, alternating between a variety of instruments including banjo, mandolin, accordion, pedal and lap steel guitar.
 He played a quick solo acoustic set, rocked it up and called it a night on a mellower note “Girl Downtown,” a song about a girl named Kate, only to be called back for an encore by an audience request for the outstanding foot-stomping “Stomp and Holler,” the first track from the new CD.

There were a couple excellent shows on May 25.
 It is always good to see Fred Eaglesmith band veteran Dan Walsh back in town. This time it was backing Edmonton/ Grand Prairie singer songwriter Cory Danyluk.
 Danyluk put on a solid show for about 20 people who weren’t paying attention and maybe three who were. He had a decent and appealing voice, didn’t say much in between songs, but was a little anti-climactic after seeing Hayes Carll the day before.
 Walsh was a blast to watch, trying to crack jokes, though nobody was laughing, but always adding supremely tasteful guitar leads to Danyluk’s appealing melodies.

I was glad I stopped by the Slice, one of six people taking in an exceptional and loud punk show from Ontario’s Adaptive Reaction and the Promonium Jesters, May 25.
I arrived at the beginning of Adaptive Reaction’s exciting set. the trio, a drummer, a guitarist Myke and a keyboardist vocalist, Amy, which lead to a contrast in styles. When Amy sang, she took the crowd back to late ’70s Vancouver/Victoria punk a la the Dishrags, mixed with more modern alternative and grunge era music like hole. She added some queer synth sounds which were something else entirely. When Myke sang, his DOA shirt said it all as his songs were pure adrenaline fueled DOA, style punk.
 The Promonium Jesters, brought more synth, a lot of energy and the spirit of the likes of Skinny Puppy and Rage Against the Machine. There wasn’t a bass in sight but the wall of sound they supplied shook the Slice to it’s very core, rattling beer glasses on vibrating tables. I was almost afraid the roof would collapse. They almost knocked you down with that wall of sound.
 They ended with four guitars creating the wall followed by the lead singer ripping the strings off of his.

There were several interesting shows, Friday, May 27.
 Sonis McAllister and the Barracuda Orchestre played a trucker themed show at Lucy’s diner in the north side industrial park. They had a good turnout including most of the Lethbridge art community, most of them taking to the trucker theme, dressed in ball caps, plaid shirts, and some creatively styled mullets. The band played a typically strong set of jazz/ experimental music featuring an array of unusual percussion instruments plus cello, violin and brass.
Hippodrome returned to get a good sized crowd at the Tongue N Groove dancing, May 27. I caught a good chunk of their second set. The full 11-piece band started slow with Juran Greene crooning “Try A Little Tenderness” then slowly picked up the steam and built up to an energetic set of R and b and soul music. The audience got dancing to one Greene sent out to the ladies in the crowd. The Shawna Romolliwa took lead vocals on another.
 Greene got everyone on their feet with “Land of the Thousand Dances,” while the always charismatic and hilarious Erica Hunt prompted them to do some pretty funky moves including one called “the Pee Wee,” which she observed, she couldn’t get through without laughing.

Tyler Bird made a long awaited return to the Slice stage with his alt rock project Queen of the Worms, May 27. He was backed by the crack rhythm section of drummer Clayton Smith and bassist Taylor Ackerman, who were locked in with each other and really made Bird shine through a set of mostly original upbeat alt rock and Husker Dü-ish post punk music.
 He also added a capable cover of the Ramones’ “I Want To Live.”
He displayed a variety of innovative rhythms ranging from rock to a very cool jazz tinged, groove filled number.

The Swollen Members returned to Lethbridge, May 27 for a one shot reunion with Moka Only. They killed it, as I could see around midnight when I arrived and they were just getting warmed up. Their rabid fans swarmed in front of the stage shouting along with an array of familiar hits. Mad Child got a work out running all over the stage, bumping fists with fans at the front of the stage. A couple of girls joined them for most of the show. A lot more of the fans jumped on stage to help sing “Too Hot to Touch.”
They also played some new music from “Daggermouth ” and some freestyle rap from one of the members Prevail. Moka Only fit in like he never left and everybody seemed to be having a good time.
Saturday night was the type of night where I wish I had a clone or three just to catch all the awesome shows happening in the city. As it was I had to content myself with catching parts of many instead of all of one.
The Lethbridge Folk Club wound up their season, May 28, with an exceptional, though poorly attended show by Winnipeg born, Toronto bred and current Edmonton based singer-songwriter Ben Sures.
 He always puts on a fantastic show full of wit, charm, laughter and some pretty cool guitar playing. This time he mostly played electric guitar.
 I caught most of his second set and was impressed as expected. This was the first time I saw him backed by a rhythm section. He had Chantal Koenig on bass who had her eyes closed in concentration, getting lost in the groove as Andrew Miller held down the beat on drums.
 They played subdued rhythm through a set of mostly new music from Sures’ new CD “Gone To Bolivia.”
 He had the audience of 28 singing backup for several songs and played some very cool laid black blues in Mose Allison’s “Everybody’s Crying Mercy.
 He told the story of “Embrasse Papa, Fais Dodo” on the Cd, which is a song about his grandma, whose dad was part of the French resistance during the Second World War, who used to kiss a picture of her dad before going to bed each night as he wasn’t around.
 Most of the new CD dominated the second set. Some live highlights were “Gone To Bolivia.” and “Her Prince.”
 He ended the set with a solo acoustic version of “Postcards,” the last track on the disc.
 Approximately 20 people were at the Tongue N Groove, May 28, for Billy night in Lethbridge.
 Local rockabilly trio Bent 8, featuring Ricardo Calderon on drums, alternated sets with Buzz Elroy and the Hayseed Rockets. Bent 8 rocked through a set of upbeat rockabilly including classics like Johnny Cash’s “Cry, Cry, Cry.”
Buzz Elroy continued to look uncannily like the ghost of Buddy Holly and sounded like him too.  Ricardo Calderon took up the stand up bass for a set of upbeat, authentic rockabilly music.
I only caught the last couple songs of the Colleen Brown band’s set at the Slice, May 28.
One fourth of Edmonton rock band the Secretaries sounded fantastic as always, reminding me a lot of Hannah Georgas. She played piano and sounded great through her set of upbeat pop tinged music. She carried gorgeous melodies and had a tight band behind her. They had a good sized crowd cheering them on.
Unfortunately I missed another fourth of the Secretaries, Amy Van Keeken, at the Owl Acoustic Lounge playing in “parlour folk” duo the Awesomhots. Apparently they reconfigured a typewriter to make cool music. I did catch a pleasant surprise though — 100 Mile House. The Edmonton folk rock group featuring Peter Stone on vocals and guitar and his wife Denise MacKay on vocals , guitar and snare drum and Scott Zubot on violin eased into their set with a solo acoustic song and quickly picked up the tempo with some peppy violin and very pleasant vocal harmonies backed by stand up bass from Tom Murray and Ty Armstrong keeping the beat going on drums.

May 30
Slice— Tom Savage Trio
The Stone— Unleash the Archers with Enceladus and Caste of Shadows
Owl Acoustic Lounge- open mic
1010 Pub— open mic
May 31
Slice— open mic
Bo Diddleys — open mic
Finnegan’s — open mic
June 1
Slice— Jesse and the Dandelions
Owl— L.A. Beat open jam
June 2
Tongue N Groove— Cam Penner $5
Average Joes— open for the bands contest/ open mic
Slice— Trevor Alguire
Good Earth Coffee House— open mic 7-8:30
June 3
Wolf’s Den— bluegrass jam
Average joes— Dueling Pianos
Ric’s Grill— Davidson Porter Trio
Mocha Cabana— Sarah Troy Clark
Lethbridge Casino— Tom and Curt
Slice—
 Owl—

June 4
Mocha Cabana— O ’ Reely
Owl— Family jam 2-5
Ric’s Grill— Cal Toth
Slice— Treeline/ Sean Brewer CD release party with Cowpuncher
The Stone— D12, Swifty, Bizarre, Kuniva, Kon Artis, Maestro with EPMD, WC and Trick Trick
Lethbridge Casino— Tom and Curt

June 5
Owl — Plugged in jam
 June 6
Owl Acoustic Lounge— open mic
1010 Pub— open mic
June 7
Slice— open mic
 Bo Diddly’s — open mic
McGuinty’s —open mic

June 8
Owl Acoustic Lounge— L.A. Beat open jam

June 9
Average Joes— open for the bands/ open mic
June 10
Lethbridge Casino—Hippodrome
Stone— Scratch of the Roots and Kyprios with band
Owl Acoustic Lounge—O’ Mally
Slice— Raleigh with Dojo Workhorse
Ric’s Grill— Davidson Porter trio
Average Joes— Dueling pianos
Jimmy’s Pub— open mic with Cory Orniyak and Dave Tillsley
June 11
Lethbridge Casino—Hippodrome
Owl— Family jam 2-5
Ric’s Grill— Cal Toth
Slice— Sidney York, Mike Edel, Steph Macpherson
Owl— Most Vocal poets Fun fundraiser with the Necessities
 June 13
Tongue N Groove— Stellar Radio Choir and others
 

It’s a good week for metal as there are two excellent metal shows.
Unleash the Archers play the Stone May 30 with local metal bands Enceladus and Caste of Shadows.
The other good metal show is Vancouver metal/screamo band Versus the Nothing who play the Slice May 29.
“I’m from Calgary before I moved to Vancouver so I know Lethbridge. I used to go to the college and hang out with my friends there,” said guitarist/vocalist Ande Otte.
“Last time we played Lethbridge was 2009. We were supposed to play in December, but we were living in an unheated bus for two months and it was minus 29 and two of us caught pneumonia,” he continued.
“You’ll be hearing a high-energy rock show. We put on a performance rather than just standing there and play the songs.”
 The band is just about set to release a new EP called the “Black Glove Ep.” The first single “Killer” has already been released.
 Their tour will take them out to Montreal, then down south into the United States, back through the Midwest and back to their hometown of Vancouver. Then they will head down south again along the West Coast.
“It’s been non-stop touring. We’re on the road non-stop. We were down in the United States for the first time and are starting to build a following. It’s interesting to see. There will be one or two kids at the show, then next time they will bring some friends or some more people saw us on YouTube or something.”
 For people who live the blues with a touch of Drive By Truckers Tom Savage, of the Kingston based alt-country trio the Tom Savage Trio, is looking forward to returning to Lethbridge, even if it is on another Monday. He plays the Slice May 30.
“We’re looking forward to being back at the Slice. It’s on a Monday, but we’ve got to fill every day. That’s just the way it goes,” Savage said from Wawa, where the band is beginning their latest cross-Canadian tour.
The band, which often draws comparisons to other alt-country troubadours like the Drive By Truckers and the Bottle Rockets, has been moving towards more of a jam band/bluesy sound.
“It’s going to be a good rock show, high energy, with new songs and songs from the ‘County Line.’”
In addition to introducing new drummer Jeff Harman, who they have been playing with for the past couple of months. The trio will also be road testing some new material which will be recorded on a follow-up CD to their “The County Line” CD which was released in 2008.
“Over the years, blues has seeped into the live show. We like to represent what we’ve been doing on stage. So it’s going to be interesting,” he said.
On the other hand, rap fans have something really special to look forward to — a one-off reunion of Moka Only with his former crew, the Swollen Members, May 27 at the Stone.
Music promoter James Nishima, aka DJ Booda, thought it would be a cool idea to get a reunion with Moka Only for Lethbridge. Both parties jumped at the opportunity.
“It will be a one-off show. He’s a professional and we’re professionals, so we know the songs. We didn’t rehearse. We don’t choreograph anything because you never know where we will end up — on a speaker, or in the crowd. There’s a few little things like crouching down on ‘Bring it Home,’ and getting the crowd to jump up and yelling ‘Opa’ after ‘Watch This.’ This is the real thing. There’s no fakeness,” said Mad Child, who is glad to be back on the road with the Swollen Members.
“There is going to be a little of everything. We’ll be doing songs from Dagger Mouth and some of the old singles. Moka will do the parts of his songs. And we’ll probably throw several of his songs in.”
 It will be a mix of old and new music.
“Everyone coming to the show should expect to have a good time, because that is what people are going to have,” he continued.
He is pleased with the new CD “Dagger Mouth” and being clean and “sober,” describing the new music as a return to form for the Swollen Members. So in addition to a lot of songs about the gangster life, there is a lot of pop-culture references about movies, superheroes, comic books and the like.
“If you listen to it, a lot of it is about walking away from the gangster life. There are not a lot of old gangsters. People are being sold a lie. You make a lot of bad decisions when you are on drugs. It’s all the devil’s work” he said.
“On ‘Armed to the Teeth’ we were glorifying negativity. But being on drugs, you make bad decisions. People say it’s like a family, but you have to do this drug or shoot this person. It‘s peer pressure.”
He added the new music is more classic Swollen Members, with poetic stories and pop-culture references.
“That’s just who we are,” he said.
He considers himself lucky to still be able to have a career making music after getting off drugs and alcohol.
“I like the love and respect of a family without having all of the peer pressure. You can be part of something cool, and just hang out with friends and listen to music.
“A lot of guys who come off the stuff like I did have to like get a job moving furniture for $15 an hour. I thank God every day that I can make music,” he said.
The show is May 27 at 9 p.m. Advance tickets are $30. It also includes special guests King Dylan and the City Prophets.
 For something completely different, Ben Sures returns to the Lethbridge Folk Club Wolf’s Den May 28.
Sures is known for his wit and his tight songwriting talent. He is a winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Competition and is a regular performer on CBC radio. He has released four CDs so far and is about to release his fifth CD “Gone To Bolivia.”
Other great shows this week include the return of the Colleen Brown Band May 28 with Church and Brenna Lowry at the Slice.
 And related to Colleen Brown, who is also part of energetic Edmonton rock band the Secretaries, will be the Awesomehots, who play the Owl Acoustic Lounge May 28. The parlour folk duo includes Amy Van Keeken, who is also a member of the Secretaries.

Concert reviews
There were no winners for the Average Joe’s open for the bands contest this week because nobody showed up.
 So the finalists are Curt Young, Jolene Draper and Murray Nelson and Deadvoice. They compete for an opening slot for Sweet June 16. The winners open for Sweet, Aug. 11.
All of the finals for the Average Joe’s Open for the bands are in June.
The Nazareth finalists are Dalliance Elixir, Lance Tailfeathers, Gravity Falls and Curt Young June 9. The winners open for Nazareth July 21
Dirt Road Dust won the Dr. Hook episode of the open for the bands competition. They will open for Dr. Hook June 23.
The Magnetic South Music Festival was a blast and a success. All four venues, Blueprint, the Owl Acoustic Lounge, the Slice and the Tongue N Groove all had steady crowds during the festival’s debut May 19.
As promised, there was excellent music and a wide variety.
Leigh Doerksen and Dan Puurveen aka Church opened things up by entertaining approximately 20 people at Blueprint.
They played a solid, sometimes psychedelic, always grooving and often rocking set of Neil Youngish originals.
Montreal’s Silver Dapple was first up at the Owl Acoustic Lounge. They played a fascinating set of loud garage meets modern rock with haunting vocals from lead vocalist Emily. They sounded pretty similar, but played a strong set, which sounded like a more stripped-down Arcade Fire.
Local band the Ketamines were first up at the Tongue N Groove with a solid set which took the audience into the psychedelic ’60s.
They played their typically loud and raunchy set full of screeching organ and howling vocals from Paul Lawton, which were often drowned out by the band. They had a solid groove and a lot of energy. The delay-laden guitar is as much a cornerstone of their sound as the organ is, and this time they added a tambourine player who was wild, jumping all over the stage and having a blast.
Over at the Slice, Mary-Anne McTrowe and Dan Wong, who are usually known as the quirky art-inspired local duo the Cedar Tavern Singers, donned Lone Ranger masks, plugged in and turned up as the Secret Works Progress Administration.
They put on a very innovative show. McTrowe electrified her ukulele and Wong incorporated a synth app on his iPad which he alternated with an electric guitar.
And, like always, whenever you try to hit multiple bands at multiple venues, a few great shows got missed.
I caught the beginning and the end of strong set by the Necessities, but missed Sleeping with Tuesday, both at the Tongue N’ Groove.
One I did not want to miss was the long-awaited return of Ottawa’s Gunsmoke, who closed off the evening at the Owl Acoustic Lounge.
They were fantastic, combining rockabilly standup bass groove and Gretsch mayhem with punk intensity in a super tight and a super fast set.
They played a wild set at the Owl, which left a good-sized crowd in awe.
Another mind bending band was Vancouver’s Role Mach at the Slice.
They came across as a more jazz-influenced Talking Heads as they had a trumpeter, a saxophonist and a clarinet player adding a touch of jazz to an energetic set of weirdness which sounded like Nomeansno meets the Talking Heads.
 Everybody from all the venues ended up at the Tongue N Groove where Sonis McAllister and the Barracuda Orchestre were holding crazy court. They were all dressed in white and had the whole crowd on their feet with their own unique brand of jazzy, beatnik strangeness.
 There was manic cello and Mary Anne McTrowe in a white eye-patch pounding out percussion with a hammer on a tray full of pipes as drummer Aaron Trozzo sported a lampshade over his head. McAllister had an array of strange percussion instruments of his own.
To finish things off, a stripped-down Red Mass showed everybody how garage rock is supposed to be played in their Lethbridge debut.
They played a blisteringly fast set of high-energy punk/garage rock, which a psychedelic elements added by heavily flanged guitar and amazing bass playing.
 The Ketamines’ Paul Lawton and Jane Edmundston joined Red Mass on guitar and keyboards respectively on stage midsong and didn’t miss a beat as they joined in the fray. It was impressive and a wicked way to end the first-ever Magnetic South Music Festival.
What’s on this week:

May 25
Slice — Promonium Jesters
Owl — L.A. Beat open jam
Tongue N Groove — Dan Walsh and Cory Danyluk

May 26
Slice — Brent Mah Jazz Quartet
Average Joe’s — open for the bands contest/ open jam
Good Earth Coffee House — open mic with Renee Werenka and friends

May 27
Tongue N Groove — Hippodrome $10
Casino Lethbridge —The Chevelles
Stone — Swollen Members with Moka Only
Mocha Cabana — Herb Hicks Jazz Quartet
Owl — Erin Ross
Jimmy’s Pub — open mic with Cory Orniyak and Dave Tillsley
Lethbridge Folk Club — open mic
Ric’s Grill — Davidson Porter trio
Average Joe’s — Dueling pianos

May 28
Owl — Family jam, 2-5
Mocha Cabana — Herb Hicks Jazz Quartet
Casino Lethbridge — The Chevelles
Wolf’s Den — Ben Sures
Slice — South Country Fair songwriting competition finals or Colleen Brown Band, Church, Brenna Lowrie
Owl — Awesomehots
Tongue N Groove — Buzz Elroy and his Hayseed Rockets with Bent 8 $10 9 p.m.
Ric’s Grill — Cal Toth
Empress Theatre — Music Unwrapped Family concert

May 29
Slice — Versus the Nothing
Owl Acoustic Lounge — Plugged in jam

May 30
Slice — Tom Savage Trio
The Stone — Unleash the Archers with Enceladus and Caste of Shadows
Owl Acoustic Lounge — open mic
1010 Pub — open mic

May 31
Slice — open mic
Bo Diddleys — open mic
Finnegan’s — open mic

June 1
Slice — Jesse and the Dandelions
Owl — L.A. Beat open jam