Kitty and the Rooster put on a night of weird, wild, sexually charged fun at the Slice with Jack Garton and Sammy Volkov, Wednesday, April 12.

 They had a great crowd for a Wednesday night, likely as people know Jack Garton and Kitty and the Rooster always mean a good good time in Lethbridge.

I missed opening act Sammy Volkov and Jack Garton’s set, but they joined Kitty and the Rooster for a couple songs at the end.

 Kitty and the Rooster had taken off their rubber cat and rooster masks by the time I arrived. It was great to see them as I also missed the mask portion of the show when they played South Country Fair last summer.

That left drummer/ vocalist/ keyboardist Jodie Ponto and guitarist / vocalist Noah Walker to entertain with beaming smiles and  their unique, quirky brand of  pop, rockabilly, surf, punk and psychedelic music, reminiscent of a weirder, more stripped down Southern Culture On the Skids.

 They played several cuts from their “One Gig Hard Drive” but also had a couple new songs to  test out.

 “Good Guys, Bad Band” was hilarious highlight, which touched on the blues and which had a few of the dancers singing along. They had everyone clapping along with “The Clap.”

 “Pay A Million Dollars  to Live Like You’re Poor,” from ‘One Gig Hard Drive,’ was the perfect blend of humour and social commentary , which  Kitty and the Rooster do extremely well.

Ponto sang a song about underbutt” from behind her drum kit ad keyboards. Another new highlight was a song abut dicks, for which they got the audience to sing along.

 The duo saved crowd favourite “Sexercise” for near the end of the set before Ponto, glittering in her silver sequinned dress, took centre stage to lead a jam with Jack Garton and Sammy Volkov on a song about mansplaining, for which Garton broke out his trumpet and accordion.

— By Richard Amery, LA, Beat Editor 

It has been a bit of a “long haul,” but local folk/ roots musician John Wort Hannam won two of the three Canadian Folk Music Awards he was nominated for, April 2,  for his most recent album “Long Haul.”

 And they couldn’t have come at a better time, when Hannam has been going a few rounds with writer’s block.

 He went to  write at the Banff centre Jan. 7-21 to write some new songs but wasn’t able to come up with anything.

“ I went to the Banff Centre to write, but it was pointless. I was over thinking things, he said.

  Hannam took home awards for solo artist of the year and contemporary folk album of the year, but lost the English songwriter of the year to  Abigail Lapell.

“She deserved to win,” Hannam said, adding he didn’t expect to win  the awards he did.

“I won one before in 2010, I think for “Queen’s Hotel’ and I’ve been nominated a bunch of times,” Hannam continued.

“I never expected to win, but it is nice to get the recognition. I’m grateful for it,” he said.

“This is the album I recorded all online with Steve Dawson producing. It was in Pat Ackerman’s studio and we had players from Toronto, Vancouver and Nashville,” he said.

Thanks to line up changes, recording a new album and Covid, it has been a few years since Calgary alternative rock/ post punk band Free the Cynics have played Lethbridge, or at all.

“We’ve been sticking close to home,”  said frontman Rich Paxton. Paxton and bandmates, bassist Owen Wells, drummer Kevin Kornelsen and new guitarist Levi Gilmer, who just joined at the beginning of January, are excited to return to Lethbridge to share the Slice stage with local band Rainbow Patrol, Friday, April 21.

They welcomed Gilmer to the band after their previous guitarist decided to move to Victoria in December. 

“I’ve really missed it. Being on stage is our bread and butter,” said frontman Rich Paxton, who is excited to release their seventh album “Bloodlines”  on June 16.

Since last summer Free the Cynics released singles “Neon Ballroom,” “ Same Old Dance” and the latest “Dollarama Prima Donna.” 

Two more singles “ Start a War” and “Matriarch will be released before the rest of “Bloodlines,” drops in June. They recorded it with producer Nixon Boyd from the band Hollerado.

“ It’s a lot more streamlined and focussed,” said Paxton of “Bloodlines.” 

“ It’s about relationships and family issues and life and death,” Paxton summarized, noting while he comes up with the lyrics and melodies, the  music is a collaborative effort.

“We brought Nixon in to produce and we told him that was what we wanted to do. We had to cut a couple of really great songs, because they just didn’t fit in. I’ve never done that before,” Paxton continued.

“ The last album was all over the place.  It was designed as a tribute to  (Cynic philosopher) Diogenes. This one is more focussed,” he said.

Quaint , Quirky and Queer continues this week with their cornerstone event, the Quaint, Quirky and Queer Cabaret, April 15 at the Owl Acoustic Lounge.

 It is only one of many events happening this week for Quaint, Quirky and Queer.

 There is a staged reading of French play Simon A Toujours aimé Danser, Wednesday, April 12 at Didi’s Playhaus.

 Princess Edward and Abel T Suckizone reminisce about the 10 year history of Theatre Outré at Didi’s Playhaus on Thursday, April 13 at 8 p.m.

 But there are a lot of other excellent shows this week beginning with a blues jam at the Slice tonight, April 11. The Owl Acoustic Lounge’s weekly open mic is also tonight.

 HBO3 and Mike Carter host the jazz jam at the Owl Acoustic Lounge, Wednesday, April 12 beginning at 8:30 p.m.

Friday night is all right for blues as Eric Braun returns to Honkers Pub to host the open mic on Friday, April 14.

Prophet Gabriel and The Bridgetown Scramblers and Mikki  perform at the Slice on Friday April 14.

 Don Robb and Randy Epp return to the Watertower Grill to play some jazz music, from 6-19 p.m., Wednesday, April 12.

 The Slice has a very cool show, Wednesday, April 12 with  Kitty and the Rooster, Jack Garton and Crooner Sammy Volkov. Tickets are $15.

Soulful Vibes return to  the Owl Acoustic Lounge on Thursday.

 The weekend will be off the hook.