The CD release party for local blues/rock trio Steve Keenan and Fat Baby Jake was a smash success, March 19 at Henotic.
A good sized crowd of at least 60 stayed seated and enjoyed a set of mostly original music from their new CD ‘Better than Gold.’
 The band, Steve Keenan, Geoff Stuckey and Shane Love were being filmed for their EPK, so they were in fine form , especially on the first set of originals. The classic rock sounding ‘Something New’  and ‘Whiskey Drinking Blues,’ were both highlights of the show. However Keenan showed he could sing slow blues pretty sweetly  as well. Though he shone the most on more uptempo numbers. He ended the first set with Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Voodoo Chile (Slight Return).

— by Richard Amery, L.A. Beat editor

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A late booked show by Cape Breton multi-instrumentalist J.P Cormier, which attracted approximately 70 people to the Wolf’s Den, Sunday, March 21 had  the guitar players in the audience drooling.
Cormier and guitarist Carl Elliott plus his brother Bill Elliott on stand-up bass, knocked everyone‘s socks off with a lot of firey guitar picking, a lot of  bluegrass, folk, country, some Chet Atkins finger-picking and even a touch of jazz.

And after knocking off one smoking solo after another, just when the audience  caught their breaths, Cormier would switch to another instrument and blow them away again with either a sizzling solo or a beautiful vocal melody or a Maritime reel on the fiddle.
One of many impressive moments in this show was watching Cormier and Carl Elliott harmonize complicated lead licks. In between fretboard wizardry, Cormier cracked jokes and chatted with the crowd.

— by Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor

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An almost  full house  relived their early ’90s pop-punk past, March 20 at Henotic as an almost full house was moshing to Fort Macleod/ Lethbridge’s Sophmore Jakes.
 They had a strong Blink-182 influence, a lot of energy and an affable stage presence, which the crowd loved.

Calgary pop punk band Chixdiggit have been around forever. I remember covering them for the Meliorist when they were just starting out in the early ’90s. Lead singer/ guitarist K.T Jansen had an innate charisma and stage presence then, which he hasn’t lost. The band played with tight intensity and Jansen must have added ‘Lethbridge’ into  the lyrics of half the songs on the band’s setlist as he jumped around, did punk rock splits and asked the audience to  “Give it up for … (insert random noun here like Lethbridge, Chixdiggit, the drummer’s name, Henotic).

 He knew how to play the crowd and kept joking they were going to play ‘another song we don’t know.’ It sounded like they knew them and the crowd seemed to agree as they were singing along with almost all of them including ‘Spanish Fever,’ My Restaurant’ and “Chupacabras’ as well as ‘I Drove the Cochahalla.’

— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat editor

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The south side  has two new venues which have recently opened  along Mayor Magrath.
 The Good Earth Coffee House, located next to Safeway  features acoustic acts intermittently through the week, but especially on Thursday nights from 7-8:30 p.m. when they have  an intimate, laid back, open stage.
 This past Thursday, Renee Werenka and her siblings Stephanie Poscente and Adam Kolankowski along with Jean Greer McCarthy and Karen Romanchuk, played guitars in the round just like they  were sitting around a campfire, but without the fire of course. All you needed was marshmallows.
It isn’t a big room, but it has excellent sound, there wasn’t a mic in sight, nor was one needed.
 Jimmy’s Pub next to the Future Shop at the far end of Mayor Magrath busted their live music cherry, March 20 with local singer -songwriter Jenn Pellerin and  the Boogie Brothers aka Darryl Düus and Papa King.
 Despite  high ceilings, the venue has excellent sound, so you can hear  the lyrics perfectly, though when the musicians speak, there is a lot of echo.
 Pellerin played a strong set of originals and covers including popular numbers including ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane.’
The almost full house enjoyed Papa King with his Dr. John like baritone and Darryl Düus ’ gravelly growl and tight leads plus superb slide.
 They played a variety of blues standards and some originals.
 Jimmy’s Pub is planning on having live folk and blues on the last Saturday of  every month.

— Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor

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