I forgot how much fun the South Country Fair Songwriting competition is, if only because it shows how much talent there is in Southern Alberta. The event didn’t happen last year, but it returned in style to the Slice, Sunday, May 7. 
A lot of people missed it, as the Slice was standing room only, as it usually is for the competition, for a more-or-less quiescent crowd. Host Corlee Torok was forced to shush some of them, as were the audience members, which I still find more distracting than people talking during a song.
A lot of people have been hard at work writing great songs. Judges George Arsene, Jesse Freed and John Wort Hannam were doing the devil’s work of choosing the best song from an impressive slate of performers featuring a lot of familiar faces from the Lethbridge music scene like Jon Martin, Cathy Hawley, Megan Brown, George Fowler and several folks who have frequently played here including Carter Felker, Chris Gheran, Jay Bowcott and Amy Nelson. And some folks who returned to play like Michael Granzow and a couple I had’t heard including Emily Triggs, Chris Drew and Maddie Conrad.
Most of the ones I saw accompanied themselves, but a few others brought accompanists.
The competition was so close, the judges added a fourth prize, which went to Chris Drew for the Whiskey Song. Cathey Hawley, who won the competition a few years ago took third place. George Fowler won second place for his song Raven Bairne. Carter Felker, who has played Lethbridge a lot in the past couple of years won first place and the opportunity to play his song “Ain’t Got Time For” on
the south stage of the Fair. Fowler will also be playing his song on the South Stage during this year’s Fair, July 21-23.
Artistic Director Jana MacKenzie and East stage co-ordinator Gillian Moranz announced some of the highlights of this years fair including Jaxon Haldane and Gordie Tentrees doing a tribute to Willie P Bennett, Eliza Doyle, Ben Rogers, Joe Nolan and the Dogs. Other highlights will be Scott Nolan, Lindsay Beaver and the 24th Street Wailers, Chicken-like Birds, Bad Pop and much more, which can be found at http://southcountryfair.com/
