There are all kinds of roots and blues shows happening this week. The Windy City Opry has an awesome line up on Wednesday, Oct. 10. Host Shaela Miller returns from tour and welcome Fosston, Saskatchewan songwriter Belle Plaine to the Slice in support of her brand new CD “Malice, Mercy, Grief and Wrath” which  is officially out Oct. 19. She has released the first single and video for “Golden Ring.”
 Yukon blues/ roots musician Gordie Tentrees is also on the bill with the D-Rangers’ Jaxon Haldane. As always, the Opry begins promptly at 8 p.m. Admission is $10.

 That same night, Texas songwriter Sam Baker stops by the Empress Theatre in Fort Macleod. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $28.

 The next night David James‘s Johnny Cash tribute Big River  performs at the Yates Theatre at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 11. Tickets are $48.50.
 Dueling pianos with Cal Toth return to Average Joes on Friday, Oct. 12.

It is only one of many cool local shows happening on Friday. Local funk rock trio Adequate bring the funk and the noise to Casino Lethbridge, Oct. 12 and 13. Max Hopkins opens for Manitoban songwriter Heather Jordan on Friday.

 And The Slice welcomes Edmonton based alternative rock trio Moving Bodies that same night.
Winnipeg blues trio the Perpetrators stop by the Slice on Saturday to knock out some high energy blues rock. The show is scheduled to start at 8:30 and Tickets are $15.
 That is competing with a lot of other shows.

Winnipeg blues trio the Perpetrators make a long awaited return to  the Slice, Saturday, Oct. 13.
 Frontman/ guitarist Jay Nowicki has been busy with family and worklife, but is excited to  return to Lethbridge.

“I love Lethbridge,” said Nowicki, adding the Perpetrators only play a couple times a month on weekend in places that are easy to drive to like Dauphin.
“I have a job as a tour boat operator on the river. So that keeps me pretty busy. It’s a lot of fun. It’s like a half hour show except without the music,” said Nowicki, celebrating his son’s second birthday party.

“Walter’s two and he’s already jamming with me. He love the guitars lying around the house and I’ll play and he can keep the time with me,” he said.
He noted it has  been a while since the Perpetrators released their last CD “Stick ’Em Up” in 2013.

Fosston, Saskatchewan singer songwriter Belle Plaine makes her Lethbridge debut at the Windy City Opry on Wednesday, Oct. 10 at the Slice with Gordie Tentrees and Jaxon Haldane.
Belle Plaine is releasing her latest CD “Malice, Mercy, Grief and Wrath.”

“It’s a lot different than the last albums,” she said, noting it is officially released on Oct. 19.

“The last album had more of a 1940s cabaret jazz feel. This album is more country and alt country, because I’m from Saskatchewan and it’s everywhere,” she said.

She enlisted a little help from fellow Saskatchewanites like Megan Nash,  Colter Wall and her partner Blake Berglund, but wanted to  do this record mostly on her own.
“Colter Wall sings one song with me ‘Is It Cheating.’ He’s done really well and he’s worked really hard,” she said.

“Blake has one co-writing credit on ‘Taxes and Death and You,” she said, adding she tried to do most of the CD on her own and had a hands on  role in pretty much everything from  PR to recording to artwork, so she didn’t use Berglund on much of the CD.

If you book them they will come. Well that depends on the band. Some bands are guaranteed draws in Lethbridge, others are a crapshoot.

 Hamilton trio Elliott Brood are in the former category even on a Tuesday night at the Slice, Sept. 25.

 I expected the show to start at 8:30 and the crowd was already starting to trickle in for what ended up being a sold out concert which didn’t start until well after 9 p.m. when opening act Steve Foord took the stage, turned off pretty much all the lights in the house  and howled his original, spooky, dark country music, accompanying himself on mandolin, guitar and suitcase percussion. I had heard most of his songs before including his cover of Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War.” but it has been while.

The lights went back up as  Elliott Brood’s  singer, guitarist, banjo player and ukulele player Mark Sasso observed they love playing Lethbridge and the sold out audience returned that love to them.

Most of them were up dancing in front of the stage from the first song on. Casey Laforet and Sasso took turns singing lead vocals in a similar gritted teeth Neil Youngish growl, while switching between guitars, banjo and ukulele for the last couple songs. Stephen Pitkin held down a massive rhythm on drums.

 As always the trio put on a compelling show. They included brand new songs, songs from their most recent CD “Ghost Gardens,” and some older songs like “Coming Home,” which had most of the audience singing along.

They dedicated an older song “Rock and Roll to former Slice owner Jesse Freed.

 Some of their more mellower, impassioned numbers reminded me of Leeroy Stagger.
They introduced a new song “Don’t Want to Go No More.”

 They are always a lot of fun and funny. Sasso played kazoo with an extended bell horn for one song.
They wound up their official show just before midnight with Sasso and Laforet breaking out the ukuleles for a couple of older crowd favourites, but were called back for an encore of a couple other old favourites including “I Miss You  Now,” which lasted past that.