Saxophonist Jen Davidson brought back a lot of happy memories July 6 at the Slice, as she brought her new band, Vancouver music collective the Honey Tongues to be the soundtrack to an art show opening of new works by Laurel Scott decorating the walls of the Slice.

 I remember her playing many a great show with circus jazz folk group Blackberry Wood, and she brought the same gleeful intensity to the stage with the Honey Tongues. The orchestra played a wild set of jazz tinged roots music with  lots of banjo, fiddle, upright bass, keyboard and saxophone.

They played an array of musical styles, with a touch of ’80s synth pop which reminded me a little of the B-52s in places and smooth sultry jazz in other places and straight ahead R and B music in others.

They had a lot of energy as various band members raced across the stage to sing and whistle into different microphones and play a variety of different instruments.

“ Waking the Dead” was an uptempo highlight.

Most of the town shuts down this week due to the South Country Fair in Fort Macleod. At least the music going portion of Lethbridge, most of whom go to Fort Macleod to take in three days of great music and good vibes. So the two main music venues, the Slice and The Owl Acoustic Lounge close as their staff, owners and most of their regulars all make an extended weekend out of South Country Fair.
 Even Honker’s Pub is shutting down their weekly  Friday night and Saturday afternoon for the weekend as most of their hosts will be at the Fair. Open mics resume at Honker’s next week, though they are also taking the August long weekend off.

The Fair features an outstanding line-up as usual including local musicians  John Wort Hannam and Shaela Miller, plus Richard Inman, Wine Soaked Preachers Geoff Berner, Kris Demeanor and Carolyn Mark, Hank and Lily, The Vaudevillian, Amy Nelson, the Red Hot Hayseeds and Spanish/ based Canadian/Cuban and France flamenco group Fin de Fiesta Flamenco, who also play Casa on July 25.
If you aren’t going to South Country Fair, Galt Gardens hosts Shelter Me: Party in the Park, July 21. There will be concessions, a dunk tank, an open air market, bouncy castles and kids activities. There will also be live entertainment beginning at 10:30 with Zumba Lethbridge,Thomas Chiefmoon, singer/belly dancer/ Maddie Young, local rappers the Battlepark Super Crew (lRev, ONTK, $am Hill, Shed Beat boys and JPB) and 21st ave follow. Fox Mandy winds up the entertainment at 2 p.m.

On the weekend, Suzanne Scott will be playing country music at Casino Lethbridge.
Guitarist James Oldenburg and Andrea Walker perform a special afternoon show at Plum on Saturday, July 21 from noon-2 p.m.
 Another option is the annual Coutts Centre Arts Festival happening Sunday, July 22.

Alfred Chow aka Tennyson King is excited to bring his own music to Lethbridge, Tuesday, July 31 at the Slice.
He has played Lethbridge several time with other musicians including Sarah Burton and the hip hop collective the Vibonics, five years ago.

This time he is touring in support of his bright new CD and new single “Coast,” which was inspired by extensive  travels in Australia.

“The tour’s been going great said Toronto based Chow, where he is beginning his Western Canadian tour. The Lethbridge show is at the tail end of the tour before he goes to Europe and then back to Australia.

“ I spent a lot of time playing music and lying in the back of my van, staring at the stars on the Gold Coast,” he reminisced, adding that experience helped make the new CD and single more uplifting compared to the more serious, morose debut self titled EP.

“ This album is a lot more positive than the other album,” he said, adding the rest of the new album is in a similar vein to the first single.

Flamenco has always in the blood for dancer Lia Grainger, who grew up in Vancouver and worked as a journalist in Toronto before moving to Spain and forming Fin de Fiesta Flamenco to make Flamenco music her life.

 The group, which includes members from all over the world including Spain, France and Cuba plus two other transplanted Canadians, return to Canada with their new show Salvaje for several performances including the South Country Fair in Fort Macleod, July 22 and at Casa on July 25.

“I started taking classes in my 20s and then moved to Madrid to learn more. But decided to get a ‘real job’ and work in journalism in Toronto. But I kept going back to Spain. I decided to put together a group in 2012. I really enjoy it. It feels good to do it,” said artistic director/ dancer Lia Grainger, who formed the group in 2012 with Seville born guitarist Dennis Duffin and singer Alejandro Mendia, who is from Bordeaux, France.

 Recently they added Havana raised/Montreal based percussionist Hanser Santos Gomez,  Vancouver born, Seville, Spain based flautist Lara Wong and for this tour, India born, Vancouver based guest dancer Deborah “La Carmelita”