While the big show of the week is  Buck Cherry with One Bad Son and Heaven’s Basement, Jan. 10 at Average Joes, there are several  excellent gigs happening.

HBO3 ( Paul Holden, Brad Brouwer and James Oldenburg) host the first jazz jam of the year at the Slice, Jan. 12. James Oldenburg also plays the Mocha Cabana, Jan. 11 and 12.

 And if you missed the Necessities’ packed New Year’s Eve show at the Owl Acoustic Lounge, they are taking one more crack at the cat, Jan. 12 at the Slice.
 If you like blues music, Zojo Black, featuring Greg Gomola, will be playing the Slice, Jan. 11. Along the same lines, not to mention some of the same band members, Paul Kype and Texas Flood will be playing the blues at the Slice, Jan. 10.

 It is also a pretty good week for country music as up and coming Calgary based country singer Shannon Smith performs at Casino Lethbridge this weekend.

 On the other hand, Hurtin’,  a local country band who are gaining more popularity with each gig, will be playing the Owl Acoustic Lounge, Jan. 12. The Owl acoustic Lounge features Ontario born, Winnipeg based singer-songwriter Jenny Berkel, Jan. 11 as well.
And don’t forget open mics. As always, there are a lot of them, with the Lethbridge Folk Club on Friday, Jimmy’s open jam on Friday and a lot more. The Trianon open mics are back after Christmas on Thursday, as are  the Tuesday open jams at the Slice and Bo Diddly’s.