It is always a pleasure to see Jenny Allen and Leslie Alexander play live. But unfortunately never seem to get a good crowd in Lethbridge. But they are well on their way to being Canada’s version of American folk, feminist duo the Indigo Girls. But they  both have their own individual styles. Allen is a little more blues and folk based, while Alexander is a little more rock and roll, which mesh really well together.
 They showed they have really stepped up their game in their fifth appearance at the Slice, Oct. 13.

 They sang and played in perfect synchronicity through a couple super sets of original material form their  latest CDs “ Leslie Alexander’s  “Nobody’s Baby” and Allen’s “Blanket as well asa  new one.
 They sang lead on two songs apiece, while adding guitar, harmony vocals and percussion to each others’ songs before handing over the spotlight. Allen added a couple of songs from her  band the Fates as well as her own material.

 Alexander sang a couple of my favourites rom her new CD,  “NOLA” about New Orleans and my absolute favourite “Supergirl,” on which Allen added some washboard, while Alexander added an inimitable kazoo solo.

 They played together just about perfectly and looked completely at home, together on the stage.
 Allen added a little bit of blues as well to their mix of upbeat , melodic folk/ pop music.
 Alexander told a funny story about her “very, bad, four legged moustachioed pussycat,” then sang a new song about the cat bringing her gifts of  dead birds.

They were called for an encore and showed off their influences as they played a Steve Earle song and a Lucinda Williams tune to end their second set.

 The Owl Acoustic Lounge had a laid back show, Oct. 12 with singer-songwriters Amy Thiessen and Sarah Burton playing for approximately 20 people.
Thiessen sat cross legged on a chair throughout her set of up beat folk pop as she as she played  some originals, added a few bars of folk fuelled version of No Doubt’s “Spiderwebs” and even beat-boxed a little.

Sarah Burton is a talented songwriter and showed it during her set, much of which came from her latest CD “Mayflower.”

Though recovering from a cold, she toughed it out for her first appearance at the Owl Acoustic Lounge.  She told stories and cracked jokes and sang pretty folk, pop melodies in a voice reminiscent of Joni Mitchell.

Lethbridge jazz duo Bridgette Yarwood and  Evan Schaaf made their Whispers debut to a handful of people, Oct. 12.

 They played a strong set of mostly original music, with a Beatles cover thrown in.

 yarwood opened  the second set on piano, while Schaaf played guitar and sang harmonies.
 She  showed her beautiful, powerful pipes on a couple of originals “Red Hot” and “ Member of your Club.”

 A sold out Geomatic Attic got a first rate taste of Maritime blues courtesy of Matt Andersen, Oct. 11.

It was just Anderson and his acoustic guitar, but that was all he needed. The young Cape Breton bluesman shook his head of curly hair while playing scorching solos and singing soulful blues like a mix between Blues Traveller’s John popper and Storyville’s Malford Milligan with just a touch of the Commitments.

He started with a sizzling, barn burning instrumental, then slowed things down with some slinky slide. In between smoking solos and songs Andersen told stories about Cape Breton and  recording his latest Cd in Levon Helm’s Woodstock studio.

 Much of the new CD and set had the theme of home as he talked about  moving to  Sidney, Cape Breton to be with his girlfriend and noted  it is great to have somebody waiting for him when he gets off the road.

Then he joked he never says the right thing in a relationship, and played a song he wrote a song  about  the one time he did.
 He showed his sense of humour by adding a few bars of the Pink Panther theme to one of his solos.