It has been six years, but Montreal based psychobilly trio the Gutter Demons are back after a six year break with a new CD “Unfinished Business” and a new tour.
“I had to take care of some stuff. I had to take some time for myself and the band was really busy,” said  guitarist/ frontman Johnny Töxik from his home in Montreal.

“Then we got back together and just started playing together more and started jamming,” he continued.

They pay Lethbridge their first visit with Calgary based The Raygun Cowboys, Dec. 16 at Inferno, part of a quick four date tour of Alberta which also includes Red Deer, Calgary and Edmonton.

“It’s our first time. And we’re playing with our good friends the Raygun Cowboys, so  that will be really fun,” said Töxik, who will be joined by upright bassist Flipper and drummer  R-1.

The band formed in 2001 and were an immediate hit with audiences who took to the band who have just released a new CD which is a further departure from psychobilly’s common themes of zombies, hot rods and pin ups.

“ We’re primarily abut having fun and giving people a fun show and helping them have a fun night out,” he continued, adding the new CD has a more serious tone.
“ We used to write a lot about horror movies, books and comics. On this CD we drew a lot of subject matter from social media, television and newspapers. There’s a lot of horrible things going on today which are a lot scarier than movies,” he said.

“The process was a lot different this time. It was a lot faster.  For our first albums, I’d come up with a song idea then we’d work on it together, and then play it a few times. This time we started writing in February and recorded it August,” he said, adding the CD has 11 tracks, which is all the band had by the time they went into the studio.

Country star George Canyon is all about Christmas.
“ I love Christmas and want to share it,” said Canyon, taking a break from working on his new CD due out next year.
Canyon has a string of hits including “ I Believe In Angels,”  “ Seven Spanish Angels,” “In Your Arms Again,” “ Just Like You, “ Saddle Up,” “ Pancho and Lefty,” “Slow Dance,“ Crazy Love, “ Drinkin Thinkin” and many more.

“ So when I was talking to my management about doing a Christmas tour, they told me I could only do a short one. I have a bigger tour coming up, but when they told me a I could only do a short one, Lethbridge was on the list,” continued Canyon, who plays the First Baptist Church, Dec. 16.

“I’ve been playing Lethbridge for like 23 years. And my ranch is south of High River, so Lethbridge is right on my door step,” Canyon said.
 Canyon has not only released three Christmas albums but has also acted in four different Christmas movies.

“ I managed to get my hands on a few copies so movies will be part of the merch this time,” he said adding he performs in A Christmas Miracle and Home For Christmas and even contributes a a few songs for the soundtracks.

“ I love being in movies. I’ll write some songs for the soundtracks and they’ll usually use them,” he said.

An intimate audience enjoyed a laid back show from New Zealand born, Golden, B.C. based folk musician Benjamin Caldwell, Dec. 2.

He played sad, gritty, country and folk and mournful love songs powered by pleasant guitar and his raspy, weathered voice.

While I missed his first set, I caught most of his second set, for which he added Dearly Beloved/ Junkman’s Quire fiddle Megan Brown, who added tasteful and beautiful lines to his music as if she’d been playing with him forever instead of spontaneously joining him on stage for the show.

“I’m going to steal your band mate, Steve,” Caldwell quipped to Owl Acoustic Lounge owner Steve Foord who plays with Brown in several different musical incarnations.

 Caldwell took some requests from the intimate but enthusiastic audience like  “Final Countdown,”  which he said he wasn’t going to play. Brown played a few bars of the instantly recognizable anthemic riff of the ’80s classic anyway.
Instead, Caldwell had them running to buy CDs  after a couple of his own heartfelt songs including “Alberta” and  “Get On Up” which he turned into a big singalong at the end of the show.

Toronto based Celtic -punks the Mahones made a long awaited return to the Slice, Dec. 2.
With 15 albums worth of songs to choose from they had to choose their set wisely and did do so.

Since their last visit they have released three albums including a live album and their new double album “The Hunger and the Fight Parts 1 and 2.”

They played plenty from all three albums and a lot more. They deserve three times as many people who were there, but those who wanted to “Paint the Town Red” on A Wednesday night made up for their lack of numbers with heaps of enthusiasm.

Frontman Finny McConnell was an affable host of a fun filled Wednesday night kitchen party.

While I didn’t hear “Paint the Town Red,” A Great Night On the Lash” was definitely a highlight as was old favourite “Queen and Tequila.”

The first set included plenty of new tracks from the new CDs including “Paddy on the Railroad” and the title track “Hunger and the Fight,” which have the same feel of  crowd pleasers like their anthem “Give It All You Got (Or Forget About It)” which was a highlight of the first set.

But it was more than just driving, four on the floor Celtic rockers, their set included a lot of mellower dynamics, slower more contemplative songs interspersed with the rockers plus frenetic pipes and plenty of Katie “Kaboom” McConnell’s hot accordion playing.

Drummer Dominique Whelan shouted out background vocals and cracked jokes while  Sean “Riot” Ryan laid down driving basslines while shouting out background vocals. 

 As expected from a Mahones show, there were a lot of “sociables“ and drinking songs like “Down The Boozer.”
 They kicked off their second set with a huge version of “Shakespeare Road” and carried in the energy with “Angels and Devils” which had one of many thrilling pipe solos from Michael O’ Grady.

A couple of new songs including “Punk Rock Saved My Life,” and “Turn This Town” were highlights as was the Matt Maysish “Sea of Skeletons.”
O’Grady also sang a beautiful version of Celtic classic “Danny Boy” to wind down the show after a straight ahead punk fuelled adrenaline rush courtesy of “Fuck You” from the ”Hunger and the Fight 2” sung by Katie Kaboom.

And of course they played the the Mahones’ signature song “Drunken Lazy Bastard” which had the hardcore fans singing along before calling it a night around 12:30 a.m.