With Valentines Day coming up, there are several Valentines Day themed shows coming up this week. 

CKXU is reaching out to the community — literally for CKXU Loves You VI, Feb. 11 at the Slice.
CKXU Loves You VI, features local bands The Ketamines, Arcanis, Andrew Scott, the Photoshop Jerks and DJ Shane the Librarian, who will be playing a mix of love songs and anti- love songs.
 Advance tickets or the show cost $10 in advance from CKXU, Blueprint and possibly Boarderline or $15 at the door.

There are several shows, Feb. 14 including Heartbreak Valentines at the Owl Acoustic Lounge featuring the music of Eva Montgomery, Shaela Miller, Leigh Doerksen and Steve Foord. Dale Ketcheson is at the Mocha Cabana for Valentines Day. On the weekend, the Mocha Cabana features Karen Romanchuk and Kelly Tschritter on both Feb. 10 and Feb. 11. If you like country music, Tom and Curt are playing HB’S Lounge, Feb. 11.

There is also a jazz jam at the Slice with HBO3 (Paul Holden, James Oldenburg and Brad Brouwer), Feb. 13.
 There are also a couple Valentines Day art shows happening.

 Becky Johnston and Lorinda Peel are organizing “Heartbreak at the Owl,” Feb. 11. Numerous Lethbridge artists, poets and visual artists are helping out the YWCA Harbour House by creating art based on the theme of heartbreak. Donations will be accepted right up to  the date of the event, Feb. 11, though sooner would be appreciated. Drop them off at Charisma or to anyone at the Owl. Also on Friday, Univeristy of Lethbridge artist and MFA student Corinne Theissen Hepher is having  a special performance art  in the Parlour Gallery at 10:15 p.m.. “Hot Tail” includes performers Claöd Idia, Corey Makoloski and Mickey Wilson utilizing mechanical objects, toy parts, cyborgs and hybrid beasts to celebrate the uncanny, abnormal and grotesque.

Calgary’s Brocade have been all over the country in various other projects but clicked when they met each other in Calgary, built their own studio and recorded their debut CD “Like You Were Here.” They will be playing their first gig as Brocade in Lethbridge, Feb. 9 at the Slice.
 And while their CD is getting a lot of interest, they are known for their live show.
“ Our live shows are getting awesome response. We hope the CD will get the same,” said guitarist / vocalist Todd Stewart.

They combine a variety of different  influences into their original music. They include elements of alt country, pop,  more modern roots rockers like Elliott Brood and even early ’70s rock like David Bowie and Mott the Hoople.

“I’m glad you picked up on that. Because I listen to everything,” Stewart said.
He noted Brocade’s music is more mature than previous projects as the band members have matured and grown up.

“ A lot of Calgary musicians write songs, then hire people  to record them with in the studio. We wanted to create a real band dynamic,” he continued. He has played with bassist longtime friend Weeze Brown for many years, and while various musical projects were ending, they learned drummer Nate Giebelhaus was  also ending a project  in Vancouver then decided to add him to round out the trio when he moved back to Calgary.
“We wanted to show off a little bit of everything we listen to. I listen to a lot of ’70s music like David Bowie,” he continued adding the band doesn’t like to pigeonhole themselves.

Swedish born, Whitehorse based singer songwriter Sarah MacDougall is better known in Europe than in her home country, but she is taking a shot at touring Canada. MacDougall, plus lap steel guitarist Tim Tweedale and bassist MJ Dandenau will be making their Lethbridge debut at the Slice, Feb. 10.
“I have family in Sweden, so touring in Europe was a good way to go see them and have it paid for,” MacDougall laughed from Saskatoon, where she was en route to Regina.
“Plus the drives are a lot shorter over there and you get paid better. The drives are so long in Canada, but it’s my home, so I wanted to tour it,” she said.

She has been blessed with great weather for this Canadian tour, having clear roads all the way save for one rough patch between Banff and Jasper.
 While she has released three albums, radio is just starting to take notice of her.
“ Plus radio has been so good to me here,” she said.

 Her third CD,  “The Greatest Ones Alive is getting a lot of airplay on CKUA ( it reached number six on their charts in 2011) as well as Galaxie, where it was the number two album of 2011. It is also getting play on CBC, particularly the first single “Sometimes You Lose, Sometimes You Win.”

“ It’s a 10 song album and it’s an album album. I like to write albums instead of just songs. So I spent a lot of time choosing the songs that best fit  together. We deleted a lot that didn’t,” she continued.