MUSIC PREVIEW: Alberta Grown, award winning
Loathe as we are to celebrate a granfalloon of musicians selected on the basis of where they live, you really can’t go wrong showcasing Alberta talent – can you?
So while “Alberta” is technically not a musical genre, there’s certainly enough talent in this province to qualify for a star-studded variety line-up offered at the inaugural Alberta Grown Music Festival July 13-15 at Stony Plain’s Heritage Park (site of the Blueberry Bluegrass Festival).
It starts Friday with ROCK and the pride of Calgary, The Static Shift, a groovy power trio with a rack of trophies, including a big push on CTV’s The Launch for their song Wide Wake. Also on the stage this night are Edmonton’s The Stephanie Harpe Experience, Funkafeelya, and a blast from our town’s past, Tacoy Ryde. They’ve been playing for 50 years.
Speaking of trophies, Saturday’s headliner The Dungarees just won two Edmonton Music Awards, including Album of the Year, and is just about as country as country gets without tipping over the edge into the abyss of “alt.” A large plethora of like-minded country artists will play on COUNTRY day, including GigCity’s country music correspondent Olivia Rose Leaf. Think of it as a little warm-up for the Big Valley Jamboree.
Sunday is BLUES night – headlined by Alberta’s own (since he moved from Toronto to Edmonton a long time ago) Alfie Zappacosta, technically not a bluesman but close enough for rock ‘n’ roll. Listen for his killer rendition of Me and Mrs. Jones. Also appearing Sunday will be Samantha King, Dana Wylie and many more bluesy acts – all from Alberta, of course! Wait, who’s checking their driver’s licenses at the border?
Tickets are $99 for a weekend pass; $49 for Friday or Sunday, $59 for Saturday, on sale at YEG Live, or at the gate.
Thursday 12
Melissa Etheridge – Last time here, this top-level heartland rock chick had just discovered the dreaded “looper,” that thing Ed Sheeran always uses, and marveled at its manifold tracking tricks in a solo show. Let’s hope Etheridge has shed that gimmick and returned to her various breads and butters – mainly the honest, confessional songs about her own life. Write what you know, eh? Her latest record came out in 2016, but she hints new material will be on the way soon. It’s been 25 years since Yes I Am came out. Excited about the opener: Edmonton’s own Amy Van Keeken! Winspear Centre, 7:30 pm, advance tickets from $48.50
Friday 13
The Cult – Get used to this: Weed companies sponsoring rock concerts. Bet the tobacco companies are crying foul over this. Whatever. Here we have Aurora Cannabis bankrolling a super-exclusive concert at the Union Hall from a legendary British rock band perhaps best known for their 1985 hit She Sells Sanctuary – and they’re still going strong, hinting about new music though very few of these classic acts bother releasing those quaint artifacts known as “albums” anymore. Admission to this and other shows in Aurora’s “Illumination” concert series is for winners only; enter HERE. Opening the show is another local legend: Mike McDonald from Jr. Gone Wild!
Aaron Tippin – True story: Backstage at the Big Valley Jamboree in the mid-1990s, this South Carolina country star said in an interview how much he loves the beautiful Alberta scenery and the fauna therein – and how he’d like to shoot him some! Yes, he had a gun-rack on his tour bus whose interior was designed like a luxury hunting cabin. There’s been lot of water under the burned bridge for Aaron Tippin since his breakthrough troop-supporting hit You’ve Got To Stand For Something in 1990. He’s now something of a country nostalgia act, and back in Alberta playing the River Cree Casino as part of the aptly-named “Boots & Roots ‘90s Electric Throwdown.” Also on the bill are Sammy Kershaw and Collin Raye (two L’s in Collin). 7 pm, tickets from $63
Derina Harvey Band – This area Celtic rock band led by a killer singer – who’s been paying her dues and honing her chops around town for years – was the People’s Choice winner at the 2018 Edmonton Music Awards. Tonight she and her band host a down-home East Coast Kitchen Party at the Rocky Mountain Icehouse. 8 pm, $15 advance
The Ashley Hundred – As long as we’re on this “healing hands across the province” theme, here’s another ambitious Calgary band – which are neither 100 nor is anyone named Ashley. These guys are obviously into the great art rock of yore, Pink Floyd, Gentle Giant and the like – and with banjos, omnichords and whatnot, are equally as weird as anything to come out of Edmonton. The prairie Arcade Fire, or maybe the Rheostatics. Very trippy. Warming up will be Katie and the Wildfire, St. Arnaud, and Veneer. Sewing Machine Factory, 8 pm, $10 at the door
Saturday 14
Buckcherry – This politically incorrect yet fun California hard rock band hit a hole-in-one on their first shot in 1999 with the release of the single Lit Up from their self-titled debut album – and it’s been downhill from there, which is simple physics. From No. 1 – where the song hit around the world, remaining in our consciousness ever since – there’s nowhere to go but down, and noble one-hit wonderment is the result. They’ll probably play Lit Up for the encore, in a set expected to be filled with music from six more albums after the first, including the latest, called simply Rock ‘n’ Roll. Just a few years shy of being a “nostalgia” act, but close enough for rock ‘n’ roll, Buckcherry plays the River Cree Casino. 9 pm, advance tickets from $59
The Real Sickies – You won’t find too many ballads in the oeuvre of this confident local power pop outfit, and their new album Get Well Soon is no exception. Nothing less than 120 BPM, eh?! Hear it in its entirety – plus more – at the release show in the Aviary tonight. Opening will be with Jazz Cigarette and Cutoffs. 7 pm, tickets $12
