Mike Spencer has struck gold with his winter, blues -centric season at the the Geomatic Attic. Three of the five of this years blues Juno nominees have played there this year.
Ottawa’s  Monkey Junk played the Attic back on Oct. 24. More recently, Saskatoon blues singer Suzie Vinnick and B.C based David Gogo played outstanding acoustic sets, Monday, March 5.
 Vinnick played an impressive set of fleet fingered guitar picking and an absolutely huge, blues voice, which blended elements of sultry jazz and some rootsy country.

She played an array of original songs as well as few  choice covers including some Bob Dylan and Lonnie Mack’s ‘Oreo Cookie Blues,’ which she punctuated by sending  a box of Oreos through the close to sold out crowd for them to share.
A crowd favourite was “I Need A Country Boy,” which she prefaced by saying it was her father’s favourite song which she wrote. She had  the audience happily shouting along “nothing” and “leather” in the proper places in the song.
 Another highlight was “Save me For later,” which she noted  was going to be featured on  Elwood Blues’ (Dan Aykroyd) blues radio show.

David Gogo was in a whimsical mood for his first appearance in Lethbridge in several years since he played Fort Whoop Up.
“She was a bass player the last time  I saw here. I thought she (Suzie Vinnick) was here to grease the pan for me, instead she’s going to blow me off the stage,” Gogo groaned at the beginning of his set. But it was not to be.

 He was no slouch on the guitar, alternating between playing slide on an old National Steel guitar and finger picking a battered old acoustic guitar. He got warmed up on an old Elmore James classic and then took off, his fingers flying over the fretboards of his guitars.

 In between songs he told stories about his  National steel guitar, noting while Hawaiian musicians used them ( he pointed out an etching of a palm tree and beach on the back of his), bluesmen took to them because they  could play louder and rock old juke joints with them.
 He alternated between playing blues classics like “Trouble No More” and originals, mostly from an acoustic CD he released a few years ago.

 

 He joked about  social media and how it allowed people to discover new music. “I found out about this guy from Minnesota,” he deadpanned before  noting it  was Bob Dylan and playing his song “Shooting Star.”
 He also talked about hanging out with Johnny Winter.
“When we first met, he thought I was a clown,” he said noting Winter would laugh at  his impression of Hank from “King of the Hill,” and joked about playing the Empress with him last year.

He acknowledged his Juno nomination, noting  the Canadian blues  community is so tight knit, that all of the nominees are close friends.
“So it doesn’t matter who wins it. Unless I win it, then it matters,” he chuckled.
Jokes aside, Gogo let his music do the talking and invited Vinnick back on stage for the last couple songs during which they traded guitar solos and vocals, creating a very cool mixture of blues and country, thanks to Vinnick’s twanging voice.

— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor

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