Boulder, Colorado based bluesman Johnny Ohnmacht is excited to make Lethbridge one of his first ever stops ion Canada, when he plays the Slice, Saturday, Oct. 20.
 He will be connecting with Calgary musicians  drummer Hollywood Bob and bassist Victor Szuroczki for a couple Alberta shows in Calgary and  a solo show in Okotoks, the night before the Lethbridge show.
“I love doing that. I’ve toured Mexico and South America and I’ll pick up a band of local musicians to play with me,” he said from Colorado.

“I like doing that. As a trio, it’s easy to steer. If the bass player turns left then I can turn along with him. It’s not as if you have to  work with a horn section and are always asking what key you’re in. I play blues and funk music. If they can play it. I can do what I do. It’s always a lot of fun laying with new guys in foreign countries always interesting to hear how other people play it and where they pause.It‘s always a pretty nice surprise,” he continued.

“It’s like a musical adventure every time.”
He will be playing blues classic and original music.
“It’s like high energy blues, funk and soul. I love Chicago style blues. I’ll play Albert King, B.B. King and Freddie King and all the classics. I think it’s very high energy, danceable stuff,” he said adding there will also be originals from his previous CD including his most recent “Tough Times,” which was released in 2012.
“The guys have the videos and the music from the CDs I’ll be bringing with me I sent them, so they’ll have it in hand. We’ll have one rehearsal before the shows,” he continued.
 He has been playing the blues for many years.

Edmonton musician Jesse Northey is excited to come back to Lethbridge with his band the Dandelions and his fourth CD “Give Up The Gold.”
“I recorded it with Nik Kozub from Shout Out Out Out Out,” Northey said, noting the CD was released, Sept. 7.
 He plays the Owl Acoustic lounge with  Amy van Keeken and the Utilities, Oct. 20.

“It’s been really well received. I’ve been really impressed. It’s getting played a lot on CKUA. It’s been really nice,” said Northey who brings the Dandelions — keyboardist Dean Kheroufi, drummer Connor Ellinger, bassist  Dan Sedmak and guitarist Travis Sargeant to back him up as he sings and plays guitar.

 Hen noted the new CD sounds similar to the ambient indie rock of his previous works.

Northey noted Kozub suggested the new music be stripped down to the essentials.

“Nik was really great to work with. He was familiar with the sound I wanted and suggested a lot of the music be stripped back, Northey said, adding while he had to give up some control, it also gave him some freedom.

It has been a long, long time since we’ve had new music from Kat Danser. She released her fifth CD “Goin’ Gone‘  three months ago and it has since gained excellent reviews, chart positions and airplay on CKUA.
“The album’s been sitting in my basement since 2017. I wanted to finish my PHd. I’ve been studying  folk and string band music from  the 1920-40 for the past six years. I’ve been spending a lot of time down south and I’ll be going back to Nashville and Memphis to deliver my dissertation,” Danser said  from Edmonton, where she teaches American Pop Music History at both the University of Alberta and Mount Royal University.
“ But I couldn’t do both— release an album and finish my PhD,” said Danser She brings her band The Tall Tales including guitarist Jimmy Guiboche, bassist Chris Brzezcki, drummer Kelly Kruse and special guest Steve Dawson to the Geomatic Attic, Thursday, Oct. 18.

Steve Dawson will also be performing an opening set.
Complicating matters was having to undergo surgery related to turning 50.

“I had to get an embolization and a hysterectomy, which brought on menopause early. I’ve lost 135 pounds deliberately since you last saw me,” Danser said.

 In the process she rediscovered her love for punk music.
“I went to go see Joan Jett. And she’s 70 and looks great and is still rocking. She had one foot on the amp and yelled ‘I don’t give a fuck about my bad reputation.’ She’s 70, she’s in great shape and still rocks and I asked myself ‘why can’t I do that,’” she said, adding that lead to taking a heavier bent on the new album.

“I’ve definitely moved away from solo blues.  For the first time I didn’t record one gospel song for the album,” she said.
She recorded the CD in Nashville with Steve Dawson for his record label Black Hen records.

The Turncoats and Edmonton’s  Andrew Scott returned play a packed house at the Owl Acoustic Lounge, Saturday, Sept. 29.

 Turncoats’ upright bassist Paul Holden, drummer Kyle Harmon are familiar faces on local stage.

Lead guitarist Arlen Wutch is always a welcome sight, but it is always a pleasure to see Andrew Scott perform even when I could hardly breathe because of the crowd.

The audience was having a blast, dancing up a sweat to the Turncoats’ unique brand of  alt country and off kilter jazz jams.

Paul Holden had a busy night, coming to the Owl straight from closing night of New West Theatre’s Million Dollar Quartet and looked a little tired, deservedly so, but nonetheless nailed it on the bass.

Scott thrashed around and howled lyrics through a megaphone for a song. For a couple more jazzy numbers, they welcomed a saxophonist onto the stage.
 I missed an opening reunion set from the Necessities as well as an acoustic set by MTBC.