Because of the Tongue N Groove being sold and closing down this week, the Slice and Owl Acoustic Lounge picked up a couple of rescheduled shows — all of which ended up being packed early in the week.
The Owl Acoustic Lounge picked up Montreal String band Lake of Stew, Aug. 22 when the Tongue N Groove announced they were closing due to an ownership change.

They played an upbeat set of folk music including a custom made washboard, accordion, guitar, mandolin and a home made muck-bucket bass.

 They had the audience moving and dancing almost immediately.
The Slice grabbed Olenka and the Autumn Lovers, who were scheduled to play the Tongue N Groove on Tuesday, Aug. 23, but instead opened up the Slice’s Tuesday jam with a solid set.

 They built up the intensity by starting things off slowly with a  tight set of melancholy Polish folk, sung a capella by the girls — vocalist/classical guitarist Olenka Krakus,  violinist Sarah Froese and cellist Kelly Wallraff.

They were joined by multi-instrumentalist Simon Larochette, guitarist/ bassist Evan Brodie and drummer Jeff Moon.

The girls added beautiful harmony vocals to Olenka’s melancholic vocals about a variety of subjects including her grandparents  in Poland during the Second World War, David Lynch movies and much more. They picked up the tempo a little for a more country tinged set.

 She sounded like a more exotic Chrissy Hynde mixed with the Crash Test Dummies as she smiled sadly and shyly  in between songs.

 The Owl picked up Guerrista’s show, originally scheduled for the Tongue N Groove, Aug. 24. I didn’t stay long for that as much of the show I saw was dominated by rapping with a touch of Black Eyed Peas pop, which I wasn’t in the mood for. But there was some excellent guitar happening and the singer Lyndsay Johnston showed off her powerful pipes.

— by Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor