John Wort Hannam was in a playful if not profane mood for Upside Downtown, Thursday Aug. 10 outside casa.

The Allied Arts Council have been getting excellent crowds for their weekly Thursday afternoon summer festival.
I missed Bailiey Kate this week, but couldn’t miss John Wort Hannam last week.
Hannam started his set solo, but apologized for muffing the second song, showing even the pros sometimes forget their own songs.
That was soon forgotten as he welcomed fiddle player Scott Duncan on stage to play the next couple incendiary fiddle powered songs including “I Believe,” which left the audience with jaws agape.
The rest of the band, upright bassist Jason Valleau, drummer Kyle Harmon and keyboardist Steve Fletcher, who all traded solos in between songs while Hannam regaled the audience with stories and a couple off colour jokes about penis puppetry during covid.
The foibles were forgotten as Hannam bared his heart and shared his soul for “Forever Young,” a song about his dad, who passed away from cancer during Covid.
John Wort Hannam’s earnest manner and self deprecating humour brought in the crowd.
They played a lot from his most recent album “Long Haul.” Hannam talked about trying to teach his son Charlie, who was selling merch for his dad, during Covid and mourning the fact he was growing up so quickly, and dedicated “Hurry Up Kid,” to him.
There were a lot of ripping solos for Fletcher, Duncan and even Valleau providing a few bass solos, which were the icing on the cake of an exceptional set which also included a few old favourites like “Church of the Long Grass.”
They ended their first set with my favourite “Meat Draw” from “Long haul” which reallly should be a hit on country radio.
Friday Aug. 11
Badlands play Upside Downtown at casa, next Thursday, Aug. 24.
— by Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor