You can accomplish a lot in a day if you put your mind to it. I could only make it to  Saturday of the South Country Fair, in Fort Macleod, July 21 and made the most of it catching most of the acts, until losing power physically and camera battery wise around 11:30 when Hank and Lily were supposed to take the stage.  If you want a taste of the fair,  a lot of my favourites are performing today. As well as a few of the favourites from Friday night.

 Saturday featured a lot of familiar faces, including local performers and people who have played Lethbridge a lot in the past year. But there were some pleasant surprises. And even though there were more little kids running around than ever before, that didn’t stop the performers from unleashing hilarious, bawdy drinking songs and stories on a laid back crowd.

  Shaela Miller, who was on the South stage on Friday, played a workshop called the pros and Cons of Collaboration with Carolyn Mark and Ndidi Onukwulu. There wasn’t a lot of collaboration in the workshop other than on  “This Little Light of Mine,” which Shaela Miller lead the other performers through. But most of them played their own songs with their own band mates other than Onukwulu’s lead guitarist who added tasteful guitar solos for much of the workshop.

 Carolyn Mark sang a few of my favourites including “Everybody’s a Whore,” and “Get it Up, Get It In,” as her upright bassist Terri Upton laid down a toe tapping groove. Shaela Miller sang a couple of my older favourites including “Country Love Song” But Mididi Onukwulu was a powerhouse and a highlight, belting out powerful blues and soul with just a touch of gospel. I’d never heard of her, but she has released six CDs and often collaborates with Madagascar Slim. She performs  today at 4:45 p.m.
 

The other highlight, one of many, was Rev. Sekou. He and his hot band, Sweden’s Dimpker Brothers ripped on an afternoon set of blues, soul and gospel music with just a touch of reggae. Though this isn’t your grandma’s gospel.

Well maybe it is, if you were to go to a Southern Baptist Church in the deep southern U.S. The tiny reverend, dressed all in white with long dreadlocks flying everywhere, belted out his music, fairly dripping with so much soul that it would touch even the Devil’s heart, which was reminiscent of Gary Clark Jr. and Robert Cray.  In between impassioned pleas for peace and brotherhood. He told stories about being in Charlottesville during  the neo Nazi march in 2017 and sang a song inspired by that experience. He ended with a beautiful version of “Stormy Monday Blues.”

Do not miss him today at the Sunday Gospel Workshop at 3:15 with Boosh and the Dip who performed on Friday and the Wooden Horsemen, whose, high energy set of saxophone powered rock and roll I heard from the campground.

There was a lot of great music. As most of the camp was still recovering from the Friday night party, Saturday started slowly as a few people wandered up and relaxed in front of the stages. So most of the  acts started with their more laid back material, including Calgary’s Amy Nelson on  the east stage, who played a set of twangy, bluesy tinged country and blues music. She switched  between a couple of acoustic guitars and a resonator. Her lead guitarist played deadly slide guitar.

 Red Deer’s Red Hot Hayseeds, who have played Lethbridge quite a few times, slowly picked up the pace with toe tapping western swing, ending with  their set on the East Stage with Bob Wills‘ “Roly Poly.”

If that didn’t wake everybody up,a  song swap between Hank  Pine and Kris Demeanor on the East stage sure did. I was running between that and the collaboration set on the South Stage, burt definitely heard the absolutely brilliant “Never Doing That again — Hilarious” which was a blend of slam poetry and loud rock and roll involving Demeanor telling a long and involved story about a crazy night out  on the town with the boisterous chorus “I’m Never Doing that Again.”

 Things were a little bit mellower on the South stage with John Wort Hannam, who played his usual earnestly heartfelt set of  folk music. He introduced some newer songs and old favourites like “Church Of  the Long Grass,” and “Chasing the Song, which he wrote for his wife the first time he forgot their wedding anniversary.

He told a story about being asked  to play the Fred Eaglesmith picnic and completely missing the gig because he hadn’t realized how long it takes to drive across Ontario, and played “Great Lakes,” which was inspired by the trip.
He also joked about how he used to look forward to getting b dumped because it would inspire a song and maybe two.
After that, there was another highlight  on the East Stage with  Yardbird Sweethearts, a clarinet powered western swing band from Vancouver who  were awesome  with their jazz tinged , bright music.

Also on the East stage, Whitehorse duo  Soda Pony added the alternative indie rock portion of the  Fair. They played a loud , raucous set of edgier Beatles tinged pop and rock music, making enough noise for twice as many people. But it was a good noise. The drummer also thumped out throbbing bass lines on a keyboard, which was impressive on its own.
 They sang upbeat numbers about living in a small town and the highlight “Army Pete” about a mid-20 something who likes to hang out with teenagers. Soda Pony will be playing the Owl Acoustic Lounge , July 27.

The sun was pretty hot by  6 p.m., so I listened to a great workshop with Geoff Berner, Carolyn Mark and Kris Demeanor from afar. Berner cracked jokes and sang his politically charged accordion powered songs, Marks played quirky Folk and Kris Demeanor added the rock edge, also supplying hot guitar solos.

Vancouver based alternative folk singer Oh Susanna returned to the Fair this year. She last played the Fair for their 25th anniversary back in 2011.
 She dedicated her first song to  the punk rockers in the crowd as surprisingly there were plenty of people sporting shirts with Slayer,  SNFU and Dreadnoughts logos.
 She told a story about growing up in the 80s and packing more people then allowed into a beat up old car to go to a Dead Kennedys show and getting pulled over by the police and deciding it wasn’t worth it to get the car out of impound.

She played an entertaining set of alt country and folk music.
Quirky,, Kitchener ragtime/ old school country trio the Vaudevillian aka Jitterbug James on vocals,kazoo and vocals, his new bride, sassy washboard player /vocalist Norah Spades and upright bass ace Piedmont Johnson made an auspicious and long Alberta debut at the Fair and took up most of the evening at 9:30.
 But they played an entertaining set of old time country music  with plenty of drinking songs innuendo, sassy humour and lot of washboard. They cracked jokes and Spades asked the crowd of they wanted to hear another love song, sad song, drinking song or religious song, but for the most part played the drinking and loving songs. Spades played a mean set of spoons on an old Riley Puckett song “ Blue Ridge Mountain Blues.”
 They looked like they were ready to play all night, but made way around 11 for the Circus act Insomniacs who did some impressive fire spinning and eating demonstrations.
If you are going to the Fair today, tickets are $30. The fun begins at 11 a.m.
 Flamenco group Fin De Fiesta have been moved to 1:30 .m. They will also be playing Casa, July 25.

Today’s schedule South Stage
11 a.m.. NIA Workshop
MC Emily Triggs
noon;  Church of the long Grass Workshop with John Wort Hannam, The Dimpker brothers, The Vaudevillian
1:30: Fin de Fiesta Flamenco
2:45 Adult Choir
3 slammers
3:13 Sunday Gospel with Rev Sekou, Boosh and the Dip and Wooden Horsemen
4:45 Ndidi Onukwulu

East Stage
noon Big Grass jam with Boots Graham
1:05 Richard Inman
2:10 On a Back Dirt Road with Oh Susanna, Christie Rose and Kacy and Clayton
3:15 the Wine Soaked preachers