Upstairs at Henotic, Feb. 19, the Grapes of Wrath and Leeroy Stagger band member Kevin Kane  put on an enrapturing solo show featuring a lot of laid back solo material. His crystal clear tenor voice captivated the crowd who erupted with enthusiasm during a couple of  Grapes of Wrath numbers including ‘Peace of Mind’ and ‘All the Things I Wasn’t’ as well as a couple of choice covers including David Bowie’s ‘Ashes the Ashes’ and the Kinks’ ‘Waterloo Sunset.’ His guitar playing was sedate and impressively tasteful.
 Afterwards, the Necessities took the stage with a full band, much to the delight of   a couple exuberant audience members. Having bassist Matt Robinson and a drummer really help flush out the band’s sound. They played  crowd favourites like ‘Mary Magdalene which is powered by an exotic sounding acoustic guitar riff. Vocalist / guitarist Steve Foord’s voice is very similar to Rob Thomas’ voice especially on their song about carnies.

— By Richard Amery, L.A Beat Editor

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There were a couple of excellent fundraisers in Lethbridge on Saturday,  Feb.19.
Lethbridge’s rap community was out in force to support Hip hop for Haiti, at Henotic. Several local rappers and DJ Booda helped raise over $500 for the Red Cross to help out the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. They had a supportive and happily dancing audience out who were enjoying themselves.
At The Blarney Stone, Ben Brown and the JPS trio helped raise several thousand dollars to help Project Africa 2010 which will help build a new school and an orphanage.

—By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor

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Fat Baby Jake put on an amazing show, Feb. 20 at Pop’s Pub North. I arrived in the middle of Fat Baby Jake frontman Steve Keenan’s impressively sizzling version of Orange Blossom Special. ‘Orange Blossom Special’ is the fiddle equivalent to Eddie Van Halen’s ‘Eruption’ on guitar, so it is always a treat to see it performed. I was doubly impressed as I  am most familiar with Keenan as a bluesman and had never seen him on fiddle. He pulled out the guitar for a couple set ending originals including ‘Whiskey Drinking Blues, which attracted a couple dancers. He also played a really cool  glam rock flavoured original called ‘Mystery of Love‘ which had a catchy riff and more dancers. Excellent. if you haven‘t had a chance  to see the revamped Fat baby jake, check them out as soon as possible.

— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor

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It’s another busy week in Lethbridge beginning with another busy week of open mics starting tonight at the Slice with Paul Kype and Texas Flood. Jenn Pellerin hosts Henotic’s open mic on Wednesday and there is a popular open mic on Thursday at Beaches along with a new open mic from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Good Earth Cafe and the Lethbridge Folk Club hosts their open mic on Friday.
Blues fans won’t want to miss amazing Calgary acoustic blues duo, Ray Lemelin and Bill Hills Wednesday, Feb. 24 at the Slice. They were outstanding when they were here last year.
Henotic welcomes back Winnipeg rockers the Sub City Dwellers and Penny Fortune, Feb. 25.
 Reggae tinged R and B star Sean Paul plays Bully’s, Feb. 27. He has a string of top 40 hits including ‘Gimmie the Light’ from 2002 and some newer number one hits  ‘We Be Burnin'’ and ‘Temperature.’ He is touring on his fourth Cd ‘Imperial Blaze.’ Tickets cost  $50 in advance from Infamous, Boarderline, Bully’s and through Ticketmaster. The show begins at 8 p.m.