Kenny Skoreyko, Fred Larose and Gord Mathews, a.k.a. the Shaved Posse, are putting a little juice into the Thursday night slot at LB’s Pub in St. Albert.
Starting tomorrow, what used to be a live open stage is being revamped into the Acoustic Music Showcase, an evening where professional roots singer/songwriters can test out their original work.
“We want to have people doing their own stuff. We want to put tables in front of the stage with candles. It’ll be very intimate. We’d like to make it a place where you’ll hear something interesting,” says Mathews, a St. Albert resident since 1997. He developed a reputation as a resilient touring guitarist for k.d. lang and provided some creative backup for Ian Tyson for about a decade.
The debut guest is Myrol, the fabulous mother-daughter duo of Joanne and Hayley Myrol who last year won the Calgary Folk Festival Songwriting Contest. “The vocals are what it’s about. It’s like The Judds. The timbre is like it’s one voice. They fit so perfectly.”
Myrol is officially releasing their new 11-track album, Blue Moon Away, at Rusty Reed’s House of Blues in Edmonton this coming Sunday. But in a special pre-release warm-up, Mathews, who has known Joanne for 20 years and also plays on the adult alternative country album, finagled a special guest appearance with the duo.
Although Joanne is the main songwriter, Hayley wrote the title cut. “I find it very poetic and kind of eerie in a beautiful way.”
With the acoustic showcase, the hosts are trying to create a quieter, more listener friendly atmosphere. “If it’s successful, down the road we’d like to get Island Girls and maybe even Bill Bourne or Bob Jahrig. There’s some pretty good legitimate artists out there and Thursday is a good night to play.”
On the first Thursday of every month, the acoustic showcase will feature a U-22 singer/songwriter. On March 7, Rhea March, founder of U-22 Productions is the headliner.
With live music venues slowly dissipating in favour of DJ operated soundscapes, Mathews is passionate about giving songwriters a new platform. “You learn so much more about the music when you’re connecting with the audience. And that is appealing to a musician. You can write a song, but you don’t know if it works until you play it in front of a crowd, especially people you don’t know.”
The evenings will start at 8:30 p.m. with the house band playing a warm-up set. The featured bill will play at 9 p.m. for an hour followed by an open stage.
If anyone is interested in performing or showcasing their material, call Mathews at 780-660-6080. “There’s no limit to the genre of music as long as you can play it on guitar or piano.”
LB’s is at 23 Akins Dr. There is no cover charge.
