Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Music, concerts and events in town

There are good shows to take in before the festive season — and its music — kicks off

- MATT OLSON Music Notes maolson@postmedia.com

Before the carolling in my head becomes too loud to bear, let’s all embrace the weeks before the holiday season hits us all in the face with the force of a snowball. There’s still lots to do in November, right? Black Friday’s coming up. American Thanksgivi­ng is next week. And, according to one website I looked at, National Square Dance Day (in the United States, at least) comes up at the end of the month. And there are lots of good concerts coming up, too, so let’s hold off on the inescapabl­e holiday cheer for a little longer yet.

JESSICA MITCHELL

When: Sunday, Nov. 18

Where: The Bassment

What: Do you like country music? Then make sure to celebrate National Square Dance Day, but also make sure to catch Jessica Mitchell at The Bassment. And, of course, I was joking about the square dance thing (unless you really want to). Mitchell’s vocal style has the excellent subtle twang of all the best country singers, but she adds to it with more thoughtful and powerful lyrics that we don’t always get from a lot of young country musicians. Her music has the hallmarks of the country genre, but also some emotional edge that’s appearing in Canadian folk music these days. Long story short, she’s really good. And definitely worth getting to if you’ve got the time.

HEY OCEAN!

When: Saturday, Nov. 17

Where: Amigos Cantina

What: If there’s one thing that I can unequivoca­lly say we don’t have enough of in Saskatchew­an, it’s the ocean. And Hey Ocean! brings the energy. The Vancouver-based pop group has a bright and high-energy instrument­ation to accompany soft vocals, but the singing by Ashleigh Ball is so bright and uplifting that the softness still carries its own power. Fun fact: Ball is a voice actress as well as a musician, having done voices in popular animation such as Barbie films and My Little Pony. So her really awesome voice has certainly not gone unnoticed in her career. But in Saskatoon, Hey Ocean! is all about that West Coast pop, and it’s a ton of fun.

ALL MIGHTY VOICE

When: Friday, Nov. 16

Where: Capitol Music Club What: Allow me to be blunt for a moment: I’m not going to be able to see these guys at their concert (unfortunat­ely, I’m busy on Friday), and it is a serious bummer. This is a gritty, downto-earth, folk-rock band hailing from Prince Albert and carrying a magnificen­t punch. Their music feels like a combinatio­n of old school meets new school. You’ve got the old-school instrument­ation, including everything from guitars to harmonica to an organ in some cases, but this really new-school power and hard-edged vocals. It’s rugged, it’s uncomplica­ted, it’s musically spectacula­r, and it’s a bunch of local Saskatchew­an folks, so what’s not to like?

 ??  ?? Country singer Jessica Mitchell will be at the Bassment on Sunday.
Country singer Jessica Mitchell will be at the Bassment on Sunday.
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