The Lethbridge Folk club is in a holding pattern thanks to Covid 19.
 They have had to cancel the remainder of their season which included some excellent blues music  from Carlos Del Junco in March, and Winnipeg bluesman Big Dave McLean in April as well as Colorado bluegrass quartet the Blue Canyon Boys.

“We’ve cancelled the rest of the Spring season. The venues aren’t available, so we aren’t doing open mics, which were at Casa. Basically we haven’t booked anything else because there is too much unknown. And when you book artists, you are paying deposits,” said Lethbridge Folk Cub president Tom Moffatt.
“ It’s disappointing. There are shows I really wanted  to see.

 “Luckily we didn’t lose a lot financially. The artists and venues have been really good about returning deposits,” said Moffatt, noting  he club is waiting to see how things unfold.

“We don’t want to risk the health of our audience by forcing them into a concert situation,” Moffatt continued.

“The artists have expressed interest in returning, but we haven’t booked anything yet,” he said.

“And we had some great opening acts I was really looking forward to seeing. The Maureen Chambers Trio were going to open for Carlos Del Junco. They were the first act the Folk Club presented,” he added, noting he was looking forward to seeing Keith Woodrow opening for Bog Dave McLean in April as well as Gabe Thaine opening for the Blue Canyon Boys.

“ Gabe’s been playing great shows online,” he said.

  Because things are still up in the air, the folk club hasn’t booked any acts for September and October, but are hoping shows will be a go by B.C. based, Edmonton born blues musician Rachelle Van Zanten who used to be part of the band the Painting Daisies and Guelph folk duo The Lifers, who are scheduled for November and December respectively.

“The Lifers  sing beautiful vocal harmonies. They‘re from Guelph and won a Canadian Folk Music Award Award when they were in Calgary a few years ago. They played with Annie Sumi and sang beautiful three part harmonies. I asked them to stop by here the next time they were in the area. So we booked them for November,” he continued.

“Right now we’re trying to organize our annual general meeting. Usually we meet in person. This time it will have to be on Zoom,” he continued.

“ We’re waiting and seeing.  A lot of bands are doing virtual concerts on line. But it’s not the same. Artists like the energy from the audience. It’s not the same when people are sitting six feet apart and with fewer people in the audience,” he observed, adding they are exploring other options for concerts just in case.