The Owl Acoustic Lounge welcomed back Kelowna bluegrass/ country quartet Kentucky Eileen, Friday, July 8.

 They had an enthusiastic crowd inside and even more out on the patio listening to a set strong on songs about whiskey and weed.

The band, vocalist, guitarist ukulele player and banjo player Joshuah Smith, Vocalist/bassist, percussionist and harmonica player Dan Tait, Vocalist/violinist Mitch Howanyk and vocalist, mandolinist and lead guitarist Sam Balson played a variety of songs showcasing four part vocal harmonies. They played original music, plus covers of mostly folk and alternative country bands like  The Devil Makes Three.”

Impressively they traded instruments almost every song.

 They  had an Elliott Brood feel and indeed played a medley of two Elliott Brood and the Doobie brothers’ “Long Train Running.”

“ These are two songs that should never be put together,” quipped Smith  to preface that number.

 They played a their new single “Takes a Lot of Work,” and another song about “being a weirdo.”

 They tipped their hat to Alberta by playing a spellbinding mandolin and fiddle fuelled cover of Big Sugar’s “All Hell For A Basement.”

 It was just one of a variety of covers they turned into bluegrass songs which also included country hit “Old Coach Road”and  a beautiful cover of “Ooh La la,” which sounded like Steve Dawson’s interpretation of the Faces’s 1973 hit and powered by Dan Tait’s harp.

— by Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor