An excellent candidate for  best show nobody saw this year would definitely be Toronto country rock band Johnson Crook’s July 13 show at the Slice, which they played en route to a show at the Calgary Stampede Coca Cola Stage on the weekend.

I haven’t been this impressed with a new band for a long time.
 I arrived early in the middle of a rollicking set of up tempo, hook filled country rock music.
 They displayed super tight musicianship with superb multi-part vocal harmonies, which sounded like a mix of the Eagles and High Valley with a touch of Washboard Union and just a little Blue Rodeo.

An early highlight was “Mr. Nobody,” from their new CD “The Album” to which Tom Cochrane lends his voice to for the recording.

They played pretty much all of “The Album,” including the catchy new single “Mining for Freedom.” They saved a slice of home “Minnedosa,” ( the home of guitarist Nathan Crook and drummer  Trevor Crook) for near the end of the set.

They slowed things down for a moment for a “sappy love song” but picked up the tempo right quickly for  “Old School Rock and Roll,” which included a verse of Bob Seger’s classic “Old Time Rock and Roll” in the middle of the song.

They kept the energy up with the blues rock of “Canada To Heartbreak.”