Time: 8 p.m.

Cover: none

Unfortunately Val Halla had to cancel the Lethbridge show and the rest of her tour due to pneumonia, however Smokesatack Jacks will still be performing.

http://valhallaonline.com/bio.php

https://www.facebook.com/valhallamusic

http://www.myspace.com/myspacemusicvalhalla

Val Halla was born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan - the heartland of the Canadian prairies, to a Hot Air Balloon pilot, fiddle playing father, and a motorcycle riding, visual artist mother. The cold harsh winters, coupled with humble prairie life, led Val to develop a wild imagination and a deep love of music. At the age of 5 she was playing the piano and wrote her first song. By the time she was 11, Val had just started learning songs of the 90’s grunge movement, playing on an old nylon string classical guitar her grandfather had given to her mother. After a few years of lessons focusing on grunge and rock n roll, Val’s guitar teacher was finally able to persuade her parents to buy her an electric guitar. “All I was playing was Nirvana and Classic Rock.” says Halla, now 27. “My guitar teacher saw how I was struggling with this thick fretboard on the nylon string with my tiny hands, trying to play Aneurysm, and just couldn’t stand to watch it anymore.”

Thanks to Halla’s childhood guitar teacher, she soon discovered the joys of overdriven guitar tones and new sonic and technical landscapes she had never before dreamed of. Now an endorsing artist for both Mack Amps and Carparelli Guitars, she has found a unique style and sound all her own, and is making big waves in the guitar and music communities alike. Last summer, Val was asked to be the opening act on Ted Nugent's Trample the Weak Hurdle the Dead tour. Val Halla played 41 shows all across America with the Motor City Madman, and has performed to just under 100,000 people in 2010 alone. In 2011 Val Halla has continued to tour non-stop at an unrelenting pace. Accompanied by the backing band of Saskatchewan duo Tristan Helgason and Liam Bryant, whose own two-piece thrash rock band Molten Lava has garnered attention and praise in Canada, Val Halla became a 3 piece force to be reckoned with.

Highlights of 2011 included shows opening for Rock n Roll Hall of Famer Alice Cooper, and Canadian legend Burton Cummings of the Guess Who, as well as 9 shows during the SXSW music festival in Austin, TX and showcases at Canadian Music Week, the Florida Music Festival, and more. Val Halla’s song “The Bad Girl Touch” was featured and reviewed in the November 2009 issue of Guitar Player magazine by the Editor in Chief himself, Michael Molenda. Molenda made note of Halla’s “seductive singing and coy lyrics” in addition to a positive review of her playing abilities. Only a few weeks later Halla was contacted by Guitar World Magazine to be featured in their 2009 Holiday Buyer’s Guide. Gary Allen, best known for his days drumming in the Charlie Daniels Band and with guitar legend JJ Cale, remarked “If Nancy Wilson could sing like Val Halla, she could have kept all the money.” Steve Gunner of Creedance Clearwater Revisted testifies “She is very talented, and has a great future in the music business.” Gunner adds that Halla “is serious about her craft, and I admire her determination.”