I began a really busy Friday night by trying to hit as many of the 10 gigs happening in Lethbridge, Nov. 20.

 Luckily Lethbridge Folk Club gigs begin on time and early so it’s not as difficult as it may seem.

So I arrived in time to hear Shaela Miller and steel guitarist Danny Dyck playing  a pretty much all new set of twangy country music on a rare Lethbridge Folk Club Friday night show the Lethbridge College Cave.

Unfortunately only 27 ticket buyers  experienced this wonderful show.

“Loving Me” was the only old song of the set which focused on new material, emphasizing Miller's beautiful wavering voice and featuring Dyck‘s sighing steel guitar adding extra sting to the string of heartbreak prevalent in the duo’s set.
“Cheating and Drinking” was a catchy highlight of the set, which ended with a George Jones cover.

 After a quick changeover, Linda McRae, fiddler Scott Duncan and background vocalist Shara Gustafson played a beautifully heartfelt set full of stories, lots of songs and  a few jokes.
 Duncan played gorgeous fiddle solos that fit in perfectly with every song.

 Most of her first set set included music from her new CD “Shadow Trails” including the title track and the highlight “Flowers of Appalachia,” which she wrote with Ken Blackburn, a prison in the Folsom Prison who she met doing songwriting workshops with the inmates.

She told a long story abut the experience before playing  “Flowers of Appalachia.”

She plucked her banjo for most of the set, but brought out an electric guitar for much of the set to reflect the more electric direction of her new Steve Dawson produced CD.

She wound down her first set by bringing out the accordion for a couple of songs including a beautiful waltz.

The Wet Secrets played an eclectic show at Studio 54, Nov. 20.

While I missed local surf band the Atomicos, I caught most of the set of dark country music performed by the Dearly Departed, featuring Devin Gergel and Steve Foord plus  Megan Brown on fiddle.
 There were plenty of tortured murder ballads which sounded like Foord and Gergel'
Eclectic bill. 

While I missed local surf band the Atomicos, I caught a solid set from local death country band the Dearly Departed.

There was plenty of instrumental changeover Devin Gergel and Clayton Smith took turns on drums including a second snare drum on stage. Gergel played mandolin on a couple of songs.

They sounded similar to Foord and Gergel's other band the Necessities.
The Wet Secrets are always put on a fun show so I was surprised the room wasn’t full.

There was plenty  of room to move as the Edmonton band introduced a lot of new, toe tapping songs, when they took the stage just after midnight though numbers were lacking even through they didn’t start until after midnight.

They began with a couple of older songs including “Grown Your Own Fucking Moustache” and a couple of others to get the crowd dancing and moved on with some newer material.

The red and white band uniformed group  had  the room moving with lots of shuddering bass and plenty of horns.

— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor

Towers and Trees packed the Owl Acoustic Lounge with friends, family members and fans, Nov. 20.
 The Victoria based indie rock band sure know how to play to their audience.

They had  the room full of enthusiastic people clapping along and cheering and even singing along with their catchy melodies.
The title track of their new CD “West Coast” was an immediate highlight as was  “Free” which began with layers of voices drawing the listener into the song.

They had layers of sound and catchy “whoa whoa whoa” choruses. If there was any breathing room, let alone moving room, the whole place would have been dancing. Instead they shouted and cheered.

 Vancouver synth pop band Rococode drew heavily from the ’80s for their set of bright, upbeat, sometimes droning synth pop music at the Slice, Nov. 20, but they didn’t have many people there to hear them.

They didn’t mind. They were lost in their rhythms and ambient pop. 

Andrew Braun and Laura Smith stood centre stage, facing each other bobbing their heads and pounding their keyboard as their band grooved in the shadows.

Andrew Braun switched to guitar for some of their older, more rock influenced numbers, but the show was primarily about the pop and lots of it.

As a further nod to the ’80s they played  a original cover of INXS's ’88s hit “Never Tear us Apart.” They then slowed things down for more spooky, slower fare.