Forecast for Cedar Sky calls for awesomeness
It feels like autumn has put a death grip on October ever since that one crazy, snowy day. The weather has been great the past week or so.
Then again, I had to scrape off my car windows the other day, so I guess that’s about it for the lovely fall weather.
As the weather changes, allow me to remind you all of the comfiest and coziest places you can go to take a load off: all the concert venues in Saskatoon. We might be losing all of the fun things we can do outside, but just keep in mind that the weather does not affect the quality of the music you can hear in the city.
CEDAR SKY
When: Friday
Where: Amigos Cantina
What: Awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome. When I first started listening to Cedar Sky, I thought it was all rough-edged hard rock — but what makes these guys really hum is their versatility. From song to song I get tinges of punk, folk, and old
’80s hard rock, and it’s really well done. Some of the guitar riffs in these songs are just awesome, too — that early 2000s kind of rock power chords that really hum. Saskatoon is home to a fair bit of great rock, but even among what the city has to offer, Cedar Sky is just plain cool.
JULIAN FAUTH
When: Friday
Where: The Bassment
What: Winning a Juno Award ain’t no joke, and Julian Fauth has one for Blues Album of the Year. The Toronto-based blues and jazz singer-songwriter is a wonder to behold on the keys — and his voice is great for jazz. He doesn’t have that old-school bigband vocal style with a hint of a rasp to it; Fauth is smooth but powerful, a new-age jazz crooner to accompany his fingers flying across the piano. This is the sort of music that is great to listen to on a CD or online but is just a way better experience in person. If you can, definitely check this show out.
BADKITTY
When: Saturday
Where: Capitol Music Club
What: If Cedar Sky is hard rock, BADKITTY is ripped straight from the middle of the 1990s.
It’s not just the bright-sounding guitar — it’s the style and sound of the vocals by lead singer Brooke Cherry Nickel, who is frankly one of the best singers that Saskatoon has to offer, especially in this old-school genre. BADKITTY’S music is fun — start to finish, top to bottom. But it’s not just Nickel — there are plenty of talented kids in this band that really make the music hum. It’s high-energy rock, and I expect to hear more from BADKITTY in the future.