I rushed back from Calgary, April 15 to catch Jen Lane and her talented band including husband John Antoniuk, drummer Nick Stecz, bassist Emer Hampton and the Deep Dark Woods’ Lucas Getz on steel guitar playing the Slice. I was glad I did.
While I missed Mercedes Fawns’ 
opening set and most of Matthew Robinson and Nick Stecz’s set, I was just in time for Jen Lane.
Together they put on an exceptionally tight show focusing on Lane’s latest CD “This Life Of Mine.”
She opened with a couple of older, more stripped down folky numbers including “Lie To Me” and “Waiting For You,” before breaking out the new material.
While the show was all about highlighting Jen Lane’s songs and vibrant voice, she stepped back and let her band show their skills. Lucas Getz played some beautiful hurting steel guitar solos which stood out.
The music was pure, heartfelt Saskatchewan prairie country music with a touch of jazz especially on “ First Day of Spring in Saskatchewan,” one of my favourites from the CD partially because it reminded me of Little Miss Higgins.
“Sleepless” featured a tasteful guitar solo from John Antoniuk and a sighing steel guitar solo from Getz.
She told a lot of stories in between songs including one about getting a record player for Christmas from her husband and playing Big Star’s “Thirteen,” which lead to the band playing their version of the catchy ’70s folk rock tune.
They slowed things down a little and picked up the pace for the single “Shoe” from the new album, which was a highlight of the show as it is a highlight for the album.
“We’re all full of love and pizza,” she sighed, before playing some JJ Cale’s “Crazy Mama.”
After a story about recording the CD and a touching tribute to her grandpa, she played the title track to her CD “This Life of Mine.”
They were called back for an encore of “My Man.”
