Summer music season off to good start
Summer is underway (despite the cold and damp of the past weekend). That means the jazz festival is right around the corner, and there are shows galore in Saskatoon. Let’s start the season off right with my new column featuring a list of local concerts.
CLAUDE BOURBON
When: Thursday, June 7
Where: The Bassment
What: Is there a more perfect name for a guitarist than Claude Bourbon? If the man’s moniker doesn’t get you interested, his music certainly should. Billed as “medieval Spanish blues,” Bourbon’s music mixes elements of almost every acoustic guitar style under the sun. Jazz and blues mixed with splashes of classical and European influences fill Bourbon’s guitar playing. The U.k.-based singer’s tour stops in Saskatoon and it’s worth going to see if for no other reason than to listen to something genuinely unique in its creation. His song Sitting On The Cliff is a smooth, Latin-rhythm-infused song that’ll get your head bobbing along to the music.
A DRAM TOO FEW
When: Friday, June 8
Where: Fionn Mccool’s
What: If a great group of local talent announces that they are only going to be able to play one concert this summer, it’s worth mentioning. A Dram Too Few plays East Coast-influenced folk music: think Great Big Sea, but centred in the middle of the Prairies instead of in Atlantic Canada. Band regulars Brandon Ziola, Evan Friesen, Michael Stankowski and Steve Kodak bring a lot of fun to their concerts, as well as high-level musical ability. A few of these guys are classically trained musicians who studied right here at the University of Saskatchewan. But they’re a group worth seeing no matter where they play, so if you can’t make it out to Folkfest later this summer this is your only chance to see them all summer.
FIRING AT THE SKY
When: Friday, June 8
Where: Amigos Cantina
What: We’ve talked folk, we’ve talked the blues, now let’s talk rock. Firing at the Sky is another great Saskatoon-based band who describe themselves as “a harder edged rock band with groove/metal leanings and pop melodies.” Now, describing yourself as having an “edge” seems kind of corny these days, but it would be hard to find a better description for the great pop-rock sound of this band, and the mean vocals by lead singer Kris Klyne. Rich Strelioff, Zakk Strelioff, Nathan Saggs and Klyne make for one of the more unique rock bands to come out of Saskatoon and they continue to grace local stages. Their opener, punk/metal band Violent Betty, is no slouch, either.
OTHER CONCERTS THIS WEEK
Bears in Hazenmore with Anna Haverstock and Raeburn: June 9, Amigos Cantina
Jay and Jo: June 9,
The Bassment