I only caught the encore from an intimate and hilarious show by Edmonton singer songwriter Ben Sures, who returned to the Lethbridge Folk Club on Saturday, April 27. Approximately 30 people were in the audience, some of whom were calling out their requests for their favourite Sures songs.
Sad songs have never sounded so happy in Sures’ sure footed hands, as he stroked and plucked pretty melodies on the strings of his guitar.
He focused on his latest album, 2022’s “ The Story That Lived Here.” Percussionist/ vocalist Stephanie Suchy and upright bassist Chris Brzezicki added background vocals and solid rhythm.
As I arrived, he was playing“ Nobody Will Remember You,” one of the last tracks on the album.
It has been quite a few years since Sures played the Lethbridge Folk Club, and people wanted to hear a few songs from that visit.
The trio was called back to play a few requests as encores including “American Shantytown,” from his 2014 album “ Gone to Bolivia.”
Also from “Gone To Bolivia,” the host wanted to hear “ The Boy Who Walked Backwards through the Snow,” a touching story about a boy who escaped from a northern Ontario residential school on winter break, by walking backwards in his tracks through the snow and hiding in the forest until the nuns stopped searching for him.
Sures called Karen Romanchuk, who opened the show, back to the stage to lead the audience in a sing-along of “ In A Perfect World,” to bring the show to a close.
— By Richard Amery, L.A. beat Editor
