There was a lot going on, Aug 23, and I barely caught any of it, not even Helix at Whoop Up Days.


But it was still disillusioning to see only 20 people at an outstanding set at the Slice from Samantha Martin and the Haggard, who were playing as a duo including Samantha Martin and guitarist Mikey McCallum.
 

Their music ranged from twangy vintage country to smooth jazz  and all powered by Martin's massive voice. She sang about being a trucker's daughter, whiskey and heartbreak in her whiskey and cigarette smoke choked, raspy voice.
 

The receptive audience loved listening to her try out a few new songs including the outstanding and jazzy “Walk Away.”


 She honoured a request for some Janis Joplin from audience members, who had seen her at the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues festival and did a great job of it.


 She said “I don’t have the stamina to do the whole thing.”

She also played a hot cover of Chuck Berry's “Memphis, Tennessee” before that.


She stayed down south with a bluesy “Mississippi Sun” and kept in the blues vein by switching to a steel resonator guitar to play some slide guitar on “Dark Angel.”
 she finished off the night with a cool, laid back of blues rocker version of “ Going Down.”


— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor