Minneapolis band  On an On are excited to tour Canada with Yukon Blonde.
 They both stop by Average Joes, Feb. 11.
“ It’s going to  be really exciting going coast to coast for a few weeks. We’ve never done that in Canada,” said On an On guitarist Nate Eiesland, who, together with long time friends Ryne Estwing and Alissa Ricci, make up the band.

They have also never touring with Yukon Blonde.
“They’re really nice guys, so being able to tour with them will make it way better,” he said.
 They are touring in support of their latest CD “And the Wave has Two Sides.”
“ People have really responded well to it. It feels like we’re going in the right direction.”
The trio have been together for many years.

It has been three years and album and another Juno nomination since Hamilton based Toronto transplanted folk/ rock trio Elliott Brood played Lethbridge.

“We’re already thinking about the next album. It’s been at least two or three years since we’ve been to Lethbridge. We’ve toured everywhere except Lethbridge,” said frontman Mark Sasso, who is excited to return to Lethbridge to play Studio 54, Feb. 12 with local musicians the Dearly Departed and Ryland Moranz.

 The band ended up  relocating one  at a time with Sasso moving to Hamilton first followed by band mates Casey Laforet and Stephen Pitken.
“ I wanted to be in a place where I could afford a house and to be closer to family. I wanted  get out of the city and settle down that way.  Steven followed and Casey followed him like six month ago,” he said.

“There is a lot going on in Toronto, so it is difficult to move, but  that becomes less important when you have kids and start spending more time at home,” Sasso said.
“Plus I used to have to drive 45 minutes to get to the country, now it is only 10 or 15,” he said.
The move has helped the band musically.

“ Now we meet a couple of time a week to meet and play. Before we were all living in different areas of Toronto,” he said.
They left even the new location behind for two weeks in 2014 to isolate themselves in the Tragically Hip’s Bathhouse Studio and write their fifth new CD with producer Ian Blurton (C’mon, Public Animal)
“ He’s best known for a heavier sound, but he also has a really great melodic sense, which we really liked,” he said adding working with Blurton lead to a better, if not more rock influenced album.

Fiddling runs in the family for Cape Breton fiddle maestro Natalie MacMaster, who comes to Lethbridge to share the stage with Johnny Reid, Feb. 13.
MacMaster began fiddling professionally  as a young girl of 16 and his since released 11 albums.

  She married  fellow fiddler Donnell Leahy in 2002.

Now their children  are fine fiddlers who sometimes join them on stage, though they won’t be part of her slot on Johnny Reid’s tour, which comes to Lethbridge on Feb. 13 at the Enmax Centre.
 “It will just be me,” MacMaster said after the first date of the 10 week tour with the country/ pop superstar in Vancouver at the  Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
“ It’s amazing  just how great they are,” she said.

“For sure we’ve encouraged them. We got them started at age four. If you get them started young, then they will get to like it, or  find out if they like it whether it is music or hockey or other sports ,” she said.
“They’ll go on sleepovers with their friends and their bring their fiddles because they just love to play,” she continued.
She is excited to join Johnny Reid on tour for the first time.

“I’ve never toured with him before, but I’ve worked with him,” she said.
“I get to be a special guest  with him in the middle of the show,” she said adding she will be joined by her 10 piece band.

“It‘s excellent to be able to play for Johnny Reid’s fans,” she said.
“ It’s an exciting show, people  will come out of it feeling  completely fulfilled on all levels,” she enthused.
 She is looking forward to doing some writing with Reid during the 10 week tour.

This week, Fort MacLeod singer/ songwriter John Wort Hannam is putting on two special fundraisers to help fight Lou Gehrig’s disease or ALS in memory of his childhood friend Ken Rouleau.

 In addition to a Feb. 12 show in Calgary, the second annual Songs for Ken features Hannam and his friends Brooke Wylie,  Amy Thiessen, Dave McCann, Karla Adolphe  and MC Allison Brock performing at the Empress Theatre in Fort MacLeod, Feb. 13.
 Tickets cost $25 for the show, which begins at 7:30 p.m.
 Hannam said plans for the show are going well as word is spreading.

“Last year we had a promoter Vic  Close from the Fish Creek Concerts.
 The Calgary line up will feature John Wort Hannam,, Karla Adolphe, Randall Wiebe, Maria Dunn, John Rutherford, Amy Bishop and The Polyjesters.
 The Fort MacLeod show features Hannam, Dave McCann, Amy Bishop, John Rutherford and Maria Dunn from Edmonton.
“Maria is one of the people who contacted me after last year’s show. A beloved sound man from Edmonton passed away from ALS the same year Ken did, in 2012, so  she asked if she could be involved,” he said.