Winnipeg based New Orleans style brass band The Dirty Catfish Brass Band are making jazz music fun again.
 They played an energetic Show at the Slice, Wednesday, Nov. 21 for a surprisingly good sized Wednesday night crowd of approximately 30, some of whom remembered them from their Windy City Opry show almost exactly a year ago at the Slice.

 It’s hard not to smile when hearing this cadre of upbeat horns, and  frontman Todd Martin‘s castrati vocals.

 Martin was impressive, alternately singing an a wavering, soulful falsetto and playing  Mellophone and harp.
 There wasn’t a guitar in sight. The horns did all the work, supplying additional bottom end to throbbing bass as well as punchy melodies.
I arrived in the middle of a jam on a song called “Lil’ Liza Jane.”

 The septet beamed as they rotated in place in between trading solos.

They played a lot of brassy New Orleans  jazz punctuated by  gang vocals and lots of energy. But they also turned a few popular pop songs into jazz songs.

 By request, they blasted into a hit jazzy cover of Stompin’ Tom Connors ’ “The Hockey Song.” They introduced it with a few bars of “Iko Iko” and  Saxophonist Graham  Dion  did a credible  version of a goal  and period ending buzzer on baritone saxophone to add to the humour.
 They ended their show around 11 p.m. with an encore– a mix of two songs including Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ’Til you Get Enough.”

I usually try to take Monday nights off, but I made a point of catching alternative rock supergroup Seas. And I was glad I did as their incendiary show at the Owl Acoustic Lounge, Monday, Nov. 19 was an excellent candidate for best alternative rock/ punk show of the year.  As an enthusiastic audience of approximately 25 would likely agree.

 The band, which blends members of Moneen, Choke, Molten Lava! and Black Mastiff bassist Clay Shea, have been around long enough to know their stuff and showed it.

 They sounded like a more souped up Lemonheads and a heavier Doughboys thanks to vocalist Crisp Hughes, whose voice was a dead ringer for both bands’ lead singers.

 They had an abundance of energy, with the towering Hughes leaping all over the stage and bobbing his dreadlocked head.

 Main members  Crisp Hughes and  Adrian Mottram flew in for this set of Western Canadian shows picked up a massive rhythm section of bassist Clay Shea and drummer Tristan Helgason a scant few days before, but sounded like they had been playing together for years.

 The rhythm was h absolutely massive with thundering drums and  floor shaking bass reverberating throughout the room
 Musically they were an almost perfect blend of heavy and melodic.

 As a bonus, it being a weeknight, their set was short, sweet and to to point, focusing on their new CD “Cursed,” as well as bringing out a couple of older songs, ending the show nice and early.

 I missed an opening set  from local alternative rock band Supervoid, who apparently were playing a lot of new songs.
They were called back for an encore including a Dinosaur Jr. song.

 I keep missing punk and psychobilly shows, so I made a point for catching the Gutter Demons at the Smokehouse, Sunday, Nov. 18, especially as I missed their May visit.

 They had an enthusiastic audience of around 20 punk rockers, some of who started up  a brief mosh pit but quit due to lack of enthusiasm.
 I missed local band the Hockey Moms, but was in time for Edmonton’s  The “Devil’s Sons.”

 They have a horn section on their new EP “Black Moonshine,” but brought the core four piece including upright bassist Fernando De Les Diablos, drummer Q Mike, vocalist/guitarist Brad Graves and lead guitarist Kylie Wyote.

 They played all of the new Ep and quite a few more. Some of the highlights were “Revenge is Mine,” and an old rockabilly style number which Elvis Presley recorded called “I Got Stung,” which took on more of a punk rock feel in the hands of The Devil’s Sons. They showed off their’50s side again on “Bye Bye Baby Love.”

As I missed the Gutter Demons’ May visit, I was glad I caught them this time.

 I previously  compared them to Motorhead playing rockabilly music, which was an apt comparison, as they even cover Motorhead’s “Damage Case” on their latest CD  “No God, No Ghost, No Saints,” which they focused on for this show. They ended with an encore of “Damage Case,” around 10:10 p.m., which was really welcome on a Sunday night.

 The Montreal based trio played that and a lot more supercharged and super  fast rockabilly, rock and roll and psychobilly music.
“ Devil’s Hand” was one of several songs featuring some hot guitar playing.

 I haven’t seen Breanne Urban and Southern Flyer for a few years, so I made a point of catching one of their sets, Friday, Nov. 16 at Casino Lethbridge.

 They were a delight as they worked though a solid set of  a variety of country and rock hits.

Breanne  Urban took turns  singing lead vocals with  Tom Hudson, backed by lead guitarist John Malcolm, drummer Bob Gammon and bassist Les Kesler. Bruce MacKay played keyboards and even busted out the accordion for a couple of songs including John Cougar Mellencamp’s  “Cherry Bomb” just as I arrived.

Breanne belted out an excellent version of Gretchen Wilson’s “Redneck Woman,” but for the most part was holding back and was almost completely drowned out by the band, though she sang subtle vocal harmonies which usually broke through.

Hudson belted out an excellent version of  “Cadillac Ranch” and an excellent version of Confederate Railroad’s “Trashy Side” and the Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Woman.”

 Guitarist John Malcolm even sang lead on Hal Ketchum’s “Small Town Saturday Night.”

 The room was full with most of the people two stepping and having a good time, with a couple of birthday parties celebrating to local live music and plenty of familiar hits.