Troubadour Matt Epp returned to Lethbridge with Jesse Northey to play the Owl Acoustic Lounge, Friday, May 26.
While I missed Nora Kotkas’s opening set, she added extra vocal harmonies to Epp’s music.
Epp emitted loving and peaceful vibes as he played a solid solo set of earnest , heartfelt singer songwriter folk and pop music. He was supporting his latest album “ Rolling Wave,” but only played a couple of the new songs.
Instead he focused on laid back older material showcasing Kotkas’ vocal harmonies and his own strong falsetto.
He had family in the audience so was in his element playing for them. He joked, added the occasional harp solo and even vocalized trumpet sounds.
He played a few songs from the CD he made with Ojibway artist and musician Isaac Murdoch including “ Everything We Need,” which he described as “a song that’s close to my heart.”
He made a point of playing his duet, “When You Know,” he recorded with Serena Ryder. Kotkas capably copied Ryder’s unique voice.
He talked about completing a songwriting challenge with Kotkas and played the results of one of those exercises.
a couple of highlights from the new CD were “ Inside Out Man,” and the cheerful first single “ Made For Love.”
He ended with the beautiful ballad “This Old House,” which he recorded with Coco Love Alcorn,” was even more beautiful with Nora Kotkas.
Jesse Northey got a great band together to bring back some good memories of his time in Lethbridge.
Starpainter’s’ Joel Stretch joined him on stage for a laid back, yet quirky set of original music, as he took centre stage on keyboards. Connor Ellinger played drums and Aladean Kheroufi added bass.
Unfortunately the crowd had thinned by the time he took the stage.
He didn’t mind as he played his own newer music including “ Both Eyes Closed” and even a few of Jesse and the Dandelions songs.
A highlight was one of the first songs he learned in Lethbridge called “ If I Could Settle down.”
He wound down his set with a few songs including a “dis track” inspired by John Lennon called “ Hold On Jesse.”
He ended with old favourite “ True Blue.”
— by Richard Amery, l.A beat Editor
