Hamilton/ Toronto based , Nova Scotia born band the Trews always put on a truly enjoyable show as  they returned to Average Joes to heat up a chilly night, Tuesday, Feb. 5 with a good, long, solid set of of a good long set of hits , new tracks and obscurities. It was lots of fun, lots of soul  and lots of solos.

 I was saddened to have missed opening act Altameda, but arrived three songs into a solid set of soulful contemporary Canadian rock music, which focused heavily on their brand new, long awaited new album Civilianaires.

I arrived during “Vintage Love,” the first track from new CD.“Leave it Alone” was also a highlight. But they interspersed  some of their bigger sing-along hots in throughout to the set like “Hope and Ruin,” and  their always popular “Sing Your Heart out,” which a  good sized audience was happy to do.
A newer song “ Bar Star” with the catchy refrain “electric in the dark” was a newer highlight.

 The Trews sure know how to heat up an audience, despite not having  a lot to say in between songs, frontman Colin MacDonald’s  vocals dripped with soul and oozed passion. His brother, lead guitarist John-Angus was happy to stay in the shadows of a dimly lit stage and knock out tasty solo after tasty solo, though he’d wander into the audience during the end of a set to stand on a pool table for a solo during one of many extended jams on their more popular hits.

 You could really notice how much the band has changed over the years upon listening to the more pop and alternative rock influenced newer songs compared to the massive riffs and blues influence of some of their older material.

 They stripped everything down to the bone for a very enjoyable acoustic set, featuring all of the band gathered in front of the stage strumming acoustic guitars, bass ukulele plus  a melodica plus random percussion. They ended that up with a new song “Amen” which Colin MacDonald said was about saying good bye to someone they have known for a long time. “No More Saying Goodbye” was similarly themed. They turned things back up again for “Power of Positive Drinking” and another new song “Jericho.”
 John Angus wandered  into the audience to solo on top of a pool table and returned to the stage to play his big Les Paul behind his back during one of the jams on one of their bigger hits.

Keyboards were also prominent throughout the show, with plenty of keyboard solos on songs like “Paranoid Freak,” one of many songs which had the audience clapping along.

They wound things down with a big jam on “Poor old Broken Hearted,” me,” which included a few bars of blues rock classic “Going Down” and the Trews played “Tired of Waiting” before leaving the stage for a while before returning for a long encore.
 That started slowly and picked up the pace with Highway of Heroes”,” which also had the audience  singing along, their lighters held aloft.

They played some of Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” and ended with “Hold Me In Your Ams, ” which included a mid song segue into the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage,” before breaking back in to “Hold Me in your Arms.” and calling it a night right before 11 p.m.

 Thanks to the community,  local University of Lethbridge based, community radio station CKXU has expanded their signal reach, so people all over Southern Alberta who are tired of mainstream radio have another listening option.
“ There is always room for more local content. The door is always open at CKXU to start your radio journey,” said CKXU program director Adrianna Smith said.
 After five years of planning, grant application and local fundraising, mostly from five Fundrives, CKXU is now broadcasting at 2,900 watts at 88.3 f.m., upgrading from the previous 150 watt transmitter, which means you can listen all the way out to Claresholm in the north, Fort Macleod in the west, down to Coutts in the south including most of the Blood reserve and out to Taber on the east. And depending on environmental factors and the strength of your car stereo, the signal reaches even further, even out to Vulcan.

“ All you need is a radio. You don’t need a computer or a streaming service, smart phone or app to listen to us now,” said  Smith, noting the station has over 40 local shows and 20 other shows  from across Canada, plus  several others in training.
“This transmitter is a long time coming and I feel privileged to be part of it,” she said.
“CKXU is 100 per cent community stakeholder driven. We have no affiliation to any outside entities. CKXU is as real as you and me,” said station manager Aaron Trozzo.

 The on air personalities include community members and U of L students who are responsible for their own programming.
 “It has been a real passion project. It has been a real long term goal for CKXU to become a bigger community presence,” Trozzo continued, adding the project took five years to complete including a long year of solid planning and another four years of fundraising and tracking down and completing matching government grants.
“ We started planning in 2013. And 2018 was the build year though there are still a few things to work out. It feels really great to have it completed,” he noted.

“It’s come with a new set of responsibilities financially and socially. We want to increase the quality of the programming so we will provide better learning opportunities for the DJs of our responsibilities,” he continued, adding that means staff must ensure additional training is in place to maintain and increase professionalism among the on air personalities.
“With the expanded reach there are 100,000 more possible listeners all over  Southern Alberta,” he observed.

 One of the big on air changes during the initial testing period was playing station IDS every 15 minutes about the signal change and giving  a phone number to call with concerns, which the station passed.

“ So we don’t have to play those anymore. The main reason for those was safety because a lot of different things use FM frequencies particularly airplanes. So those gave them a chance to call us if there was any interference, Smith said.

“ It‘s really been a long time, so we really appreciate everybody’s patience,” Smith said.

Trozzo said the transmitter cost around $120,000 including a combination of grants and the proceeds from four CKXU FUNDrives.

“We had to use a portion of the FUNDrives to keep the lights on in the station. But the transmitter is solid proof of where your dollars went to in the community,” Trozzo said.
The station is getting ready for the next FunDrive, which has the theme “Into The Radio Realm” which is March 16-22. Proceeds from this years $30,000 goal will go towards updating the CKXU website.

 There’s a lot of folk happening this week. But shake the snow of your shoes by dancing up a storm to the Celtic fire of Edmonton Celtic Rock band The Derina Harvey band.  They have released two albums and have released a couple new singles including “Fallen Man’s Daughter” which they entered in the CBC Searchlight competition.They play the Slice, Feb. 15 at 9 p.m. Admission is $10.

The Slice has  something completely different on Saturday, Feb. 16 as they feature a local hip hop showcase featuring the Psychonauts, Loyal & T Blaze, Sammy & the Fiend, Pyke, xRGx &Cliche, Kropp hopper, Ty the Aboriginal, D.N.U.T and DJ Disko. Doors open at 8 p.m. There is a $10 cover.

 Local folk musician Karen Romanchuk has a busy week. She plays solo at Brick and Mortar, Feb. 14  for the Traveling Dress project, a new art exhibit featuring the work of 10 local photographers who photographed their own interpretation of the same dress.The event begins at 7 p.m.
The Karen Romanchuk 3 also play the Watertown Friday and Saturday night.

For Valentines Day, James Oldenburg and Paul Holden play for your supper at the Firestone Lounge, Feb. 14 from 6-9 p.m.

 And Dale Ketcheson is playing classical guitar on Feb. 14 and 15 at the Mocha Cabana.

 And High River based country singer Bruce Peterson will be playing as Valentines Day Dance, Feb. 15 at the Lethbridge Legion. He plays the country music of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Admission is $10 for members, $12 for non-members. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The music goes until 11 p.m.

It is also a good week for open mics.
 if you think you’re funny, test your best jokes at Good Times’ weekly comedy open mic, Thursday, Feb. 14.

There is also an open mic at Thursday Thursdays at the Zoo at the U of L and at the Slice on Thursdays as well.

 Beaches always has an open mic on Wednesday nights and Honker‘s Pub has an evening open mic on Friday and their usual afternoon open mic on Saturday.
 The Lethbridge Folk Club also has their monthly open mic at Casa at 7 p.m. on Friday. It is the second Friday of every month.

Edmonton based Celtic rock band the Derina Harvey band make their annual pilgrimage to Lethbridge, Friday, Feb. 15, when they return to the Slice.
 They are getting ready to record a new Cd and have released two songs, “Up All Night ” and the more serious “ The Fallen Man’s Daughter,” which they entered in the CBC Searchlight competition.

“We‘re in Edmonton and getting ready to go up to Fort McMurray,” said Derina Harvey.
“It’s -26 and -28 and they have a few degrees on us there. I think they make snow and ice there,” she chuckled.
“ We have a lot of coast fans there but we‘ve been playing  there for 10 years, so we have a lot of Albertan fans there too. We try to get to Lethbridge once a year too,” she added.

 She noted “ Fallen Man’s Daughter” isn’t a true story.
“It’s about caregivers which can be family and friends,” she said.
“ Our bass player Ed Smith’s uncle was  a fisherman who was lost at sea. But the song isn’t telling his story, it is inspired by it. He was a fisherman and when the season was over, he’d work in the mines. And when that closed  he went back  to fishing and was lost at sea and came to untimely end  which happens a lot more often than it should,” she said.

“ We worked on the song for  a few years because we really wanted to be really sensitive about the subject,” she said.
“ But it’s about caregivers who are affected. My dad was a heavy machine operator in the mines and when they closed, he found another job because he had to. Because  in addition to being a heavy machine operator, he is also a father and a father’s job is to support his family,” she continued.

The song has resonated with listeners after plays on CKUA And CBC and a moving video, which got 100,000 views in a week it was released, Oct. 19.
“ We started getting messages and letters from people asking us ‘how did you know my story.’ Which meant a lot but it was also a little awkward,” she said, adding before that they releases another single at the beginning of summer.
“‘Up All Night’ is a lot more happy,” she laughed.
“ But we decided to enter ‘Fallen Man’s Daughter,” in the CBC Searchlight competition. The CBC Searchlight  competition has helped a lot of bands elevate to the next level,” she said.