I began a really busy Friday night by trying to hit as many of the 10 gigs happening in Lethbridge, Nov. 20.

 Luckily Lethbridge Folk Club gigs begin on time and early so it’s not as difficult as it may seem.

So I arrived in time to hear Shaela Miller and steel guitarist Danny Dyck playing  a pretty much all new set of twangy country music on a rare Lethbridge Folk Club Friday night show the Lethbridge College Cave.

Unfortunately only 27 ticket buyers  experienced this wonderful show.

“Loving Me” was the only old song of the set which focused on new material, emphasizing Miller's beautiful wavering voice and featuring Dyck‘s sighing steel guitar adding extra sting to the string of heartbreak prevalent in the duo’s set.
“Cheating and Drinking” was a catchy highlight of the set, which ended with a George Jones cover.

 After a quick changeover, Linda McRae, fiddler Scott Duncan and background vocalist Shara Gustafson played a beautifully heartfelt set full of stories, lots of songs and  a few jokes.
 Duncan played gorgeous fiddle solos that fit in perfectly with every song.

 Most of her first set set included music from her new CD “Shadow Trails” including the title track and the highlight “Flowers of Appalachia,” which she wrote with Ken Blackburn, a prison in the Folsom Prison who she met doing songwriting workshops with the inmates.

She told a long story abut the experience before playing  “Flowers of Appalachia.”

She plucked her banjo for most of the set, but brought out an electric guitar for much of the set to reflect the more electric direction of her new Steve Dawson produced CD.

She wound down her first set by bringing out the accordion for a couple of songs including a beautiful waltz.