Lethbridge got a taste of Manitoba talent, May 23 at the Owl Acoustic Lounge as Kayla Luky and Dan Frechette returned to town to try a new venue.
I caught the end a great set of twangy traditional country music from Kayla Luky. She was on her own singing her heart out with just a little twang.
Dan Frechette and violinist Laurel Thomsen had natural chemistry and musical interplay on stage as they played a variety of Frechette’s solo songs. And with 1,400 to choose from, he sho
wed he could play almost anything.
He played a couple of catchy blues songs including “Good Time Charlie,” which sounded like a Big Dave McLean song. Another blues highlight was “Evil Devil Blues.”
He played a lot of addictive folk and roots songs, though surprisingly not many form his CD “Dawning of a New Day,” the one of 10 CDs he recorded last year, which he was touring on.
The duo played a couple of beautiful instrumentals, including one which was about his dad. Another cool instrumental was a western swing number inspired by the Appalachian Mountains while another good one was “Fish Pond Flute Waltz.”
He sang a slower song called “Why Do Angels Sing the Way They Do?” on which he sounded a little like country singer Vince Gill.
He was reminiscent of country / roots singer Rodney Crowell a couple of others including a cool on called “Mr. Wrong Became Mr. Right overnight.”
He was about to call it a night, but the audience response was overwhelming from the approximately 20 people in attendance, so he played a handful more songs. He got an audience request for Blue Rodeo’s “December Nights,” and played it then drew a smile from his anti-technology themed reggae/ ska number “Life Without Toys,” which reminded me of Ben Sures.
