Edmonton songstress Ann Vriend brought her own band to the Owl Acoustic Lounge, Friday, June 22.

I caught Vriend winding up their first set by belting out a soulful version of Aretha Franklin’s “R-E-S-P-E-C-T,” so was glad they played a second set.

 She had a solid band behind her including a talented keyboardist Brennan Cameron, who allowed her to let loose on the microphone, such as on a beautiful version of “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman,” which opened the second set.

 They had  a lot of groove a throughout. Vriend’s voice dripped with soul throughout as set of a few choice covers and mostly original material including the outstanding “Everything is Going to be Fine,” which she noted will be on her next album.