Alberta’s finest touring roots artists continue to make their way to The Hideout.
Appearing this weekend at the Gasoline Alley tavern and eatery are Canadian and international folk and roots performers.
Tonight, The Heartbroken- featuring Damhnait Doyle- has a slicker sound than some, but their music remains very agreeable to those who listen with ears attuned to rootsy sounds.
Tomorrow, Vancouver’s Graham Brown Band-featuring exceptionally strong vocals- pops in for a show.
In what has to be The Hideout’s most substantial coup thus far, Mary Gauthier appears with fiery fiddler Tania Elizabeth this coming Sunday evening.
For the second summer in a row, Fred Eaglesmith is spending a great deal of time in Alberta. Thursday found Eaglesmith at the Grandview Stage near Rocky Mountain House while tonight he takes over The Vat.
Dan Bern also appears this month at The Vat; Bern brings his impressive songbook to The Vat July 20.
Bern, who last appeared in town about a decade ago, is a top-notch entertainer as well as a terrific writer and singer.
Red Deer’s Central Music Festival features blues, roots, and rock from many popular performers: David Essig, Souljah Fyah, David Vest, the Jack Semple Trio, and Jonas and the Massive Attraction alongside local performers take over a wonderful rural site north of Red Deer August 12-14. Ticket information is available at www.CentralMusicFest.com.
Blues-rock legend Johnny Winter is slated for Red Deer’s Memorial Centre October 13.
This week’s disc review:
Kayla Luky
The Time It Takes
www.KaylaLuky.ca
Arriving unheralded this month was the third album from Grandview, Manitoba’s Kayla Luky.
A full-blown alternative country release, The Time It Takes doesn’t waste any time in establishing itself as a revitalizing shot of natural sounding, roots music.
From the initial seconds of the album’s opening track Cowboys are Coming, one suspects that the album is going to be something special.
And it is.
Similar in sound and approach to recent and excellent recordings from Kim Beggs, Ruth Moody, and Kate Maki, The Time It Takes marks Kayla Luky as an artist for whom we should keep an ear open. Swinging into Neko Case territory on You Won’t Find Me and Arizona, Luky takes on the fair-haired child of the Americana scene and wins an uncontested victory.
Among the many things one appreciates about this recording is the quality of Luky’s annunciation. While several noted artists have in recent years started slurring their lyrics in an attempt at (one supposes) poetic mystery, Luky lays everything out clearly.
Lonesome Ranger wouldn’t sound out of place on an Uncle Earl disc, and closes the album with energy and attitude.
This music could have been made anywhere, I suppose.
But knowing that it comes from a group of friends gathered in small town Manitoba this past winter, living on liquor and lottery tickets, makes it all the more appealing and authentic.
Kayla Luky has an ache in her heart, but through music transforms it into something joyful.
Donald Teplyske is a local freelance writer who contributes a twice-monthly column on roots music; visit fervorcoulee.wordpress.com for additional reviews. If you know a roots music event of which he should be aware, contact him at fervorcoulee@shaw.ca