It has to be disillusioning for a musician like B.C. based country singer Sean Hogan, who has a had a long string of radio hits singles in the late ’90s to play a show like at the Slice, Thursday, July 3 for a handful of people — about half of whom were talking during the set.
But he wasn’t put off much by the poor turnout, starting on the dot at 9:30 p.m. with a couple of requests from his more dedicated fans including John Hiatt's “Slow Turning.”
Hogan sang strongly in a voice which sounded like a blend of Steve Earle and John Hiatt, though he could also hit some higher notes.
He told stories about his last shows in Lethbridge and about the songs themselves. There were even some newer songs.
I liked one about a buffalo ranch near Del Bonita and one of his bigger radio hits “Catalina Sunrise.” He also sang popular songs he recorded for soundtracks of television shows like Heartland and movies like “Brokeback Mountain.”
He played some songs by some of his heroes like Tom Petty, John Hiatt and Jeff Healey who recorded a popular cover of Hiatt's “Angel Eyes” and joked he's like to put them on a compilation of his “heroes” like Willie Nelson did on a CD he called “Heroes,” except Hogan would call his CD “Hogan's Heroes.”
He wound down his first set with a few of his older songs including “Sure Fire Love” and “ The Heartbreak Song,” which he dedicated to anyone who had their heart pulverized.
After a quick break he sang a couple of highlights including “These Days,“ and his own hit “Suck It Up.” as well as “Angeline” and another hit “Travel Plans,” which he noted a travel agency wanted to use in one of their commercials.
He slowed things down with “You Make It Easy,” which he recorded for the TV show “ Fallen Skies.”
