Things are starting to pick up on the music scene this week, about the same time I’m going on vacation on the Outlaw Country Cruise from Tampa to the Bahamas and back.
There is a lot of fun to be had right here in Lethbridge. Start off the week on Wednesday, Jan. 23 with Calgary based alternative rock band Krowns featuring the music of Kyle McKearney, Shade McKearney and Adam Casey.

 Megan Brown has returned from her travels and has a busy week.  In addition to playing the songwriter’s showcase at the Slice, Jan. 26, she will also likely be celebrating Robbie Burns Day at the Owl Acoustic Lounge with the Junkman’s Quire, Jan.  24. That will be preceded by the Owl Acoustic Lounge’s poetry open mic which begins at 7:30 p.m.
I’ll miss a couple of awesome shows on Jan. 25.

 Up at the Watertower Grill, one of my favourite new classic rock bands, Blame Andi, including vocalist Andrea Roberts, bassist Shawn Worden, lead guitarist Sheldon Arvay and drummer Ryan Dyck,  will be holding court from 8-11 p.m., playing all of your favourite classic rock and pop hits on both Jan. 25 and 26.

 One show I am really sorry to miss will be at the Owl Acoustic Lounge. Regina based indie rock band Bears in Hazenmore will be playing with the queen of Vancouver Island, Carolyn Mark and as a bonus, Vancouver based surf/ rock/ folk duo Kitty and the Rooster. So bring your sense of humour, the filthier the better. Kitty and the Rooster aka Jodie Ponto behind the cat mask and the drum kit and Noah Walker, sporting a rooster mask and wielding the axe, are playing in support of their new CD “One Gig Hard Drive.”
Admission is by donation.
There are a lot of excellent shows on the weekend.

If you feel the urge to get on stage, auditions are coming up for a couple of big productions happening in the spring and summer.

 Up first, Hatrix Theatre is excited to present Neil Simon’s farce “Rumours”, set to run May 29-June 1 at a location to be determined.
 Auditions are Monday, Jan. 21 from 6-8 p.m. at Casa. Callbacks will be the next day at Casa at 7 p.m.
 The production requires a large cast of 10 to play four couples and two police officers.

“We’d like to start rehearsals right after auditions,” said director Karolyn Harker, who is excited to tackle a Neil Simon play.
“I’ve done Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite twice, once as an actor and once as a director,” she said, adding comedic timing is essential for the play to be a success.

“Neil Simon died last year at age 91. He grew up in a home with a lot of marital discord so he tried to find some humour in that. He always considered Rumours to be his first actual farce,” she said.

Rocanville, Saskatchewan based country star Jess Moskaluke has a lot to be excited about over the last year and indeed the past 10 years.

 She was a hit at Whoop up Days  in 2017. Since then  she earned a platinum record for her hit “Cheap  Wine and Cigarettes,” the only female artist to win one since Shania Twain.

She also took home her third CCMA award for  female artist  of the year and just got a gold record for “Kiss Me Quiet.” A few of this year’s highlights include winning best album for her third album “Past The Past” at the 2018 CCMA awards, playing a tribute to Shania Twain, charted several hits including “Past the Past” and “Save Some of That Whiskey”  and, oh yes, also married her long time boyfriend in August.

“It’s been a great year,” Moskaluke enthused from her home in  Rocanville, getting distracted by her frolicking  dogs, noting the highlight is getting married, though she has no plans to turn him into a musician and teach him guitar.

“He works in the oilfield. But it’s funny you ask that. I can barely play guitar myself, but I have a guitar and he’s expressed interested in learning how to play it. It will give him something to do while I’m away,” she laughed, adding juggling a busy music career and a marriage won’t be difficult.

“ We‘ve been making it work ever since I started this career,” she observed, noting she is gearing up for the first big tour of the year — The Journey Tour with Paul Brandt, High Valley and fellow Saskatchewanites the Hunter Brothers, which stops by the Enmax Centre, Monday, Jan. 28.