Today I want to write about a concert I went to on Saturday night at the Flare & Derrick inTurner Valley, Alberta.  It has nothing to do with the law and everything to do with great music and good times.   The Beneath the Arch Concert Series Society (http://www.beneaththearch.ca/) is a non-profit society that presents world-class musicians in the southern Foothills of Alberta.  They stage seven (7) concerts each season, one concert a month from September to April (no concerts in December).    The musicians come from places as close as Turner Valley, Longview and Hgh River and from places as far away as Newfoundland, Texas, Sweden and Africa and all places in between.  The music ranges in genre from blues to jazz to bluegrass to americana to country to folk to soul to swing to classical to any combination of the above, sometimes all in the same show!  Which brings me to the band that played Saturday night. 

The band that played Saturday night is called Baskery  (http://www.myspace.com/baskery). They are a trio of sisters - Greta, Stella and Sunniva Bondesson - from Stockholm, Sweden.   They are very accomplished musicians, each playing multiple instruments and singing.   They create their unique blend of sounds with a distorted slide banjo, slap-driven upright bass, guitar and rhythmic drum beat.  Their musical style can be likened to driving, rhythmic Blues and Bluegrass with a sprinkle of americana, folk and world music.   All three add excellent harmonies to their songs whether they are singing a love ballad or a fuzzy-slide-banjo-blues rocker or a 17th century Swedish drinking song. 

If you like excellent music played by accomplished musicians and having a grand time while doing so, you should come to the Flare and Derrick, check out some, or all, of the remaining concerts this season.  Below is the Beneath the Arch Concert lisitings and dates, and I am sure there are names on that list that you recognize; and even if you don't recognize the name, you may very well be pleasantly surprised and glad you attended and experienced the music, as I was with Baskery.

October 22, 2011 - Sue Foley and Peter Karp (Juno award winning, critically acclaimed -blues, jazz, flamenco, folk muscians)

November 19, 2011 - Madison Violet (Uptown bluegrass, unique and high-spirited scottish folk-pop)

January 21, 2012 - Ann Vriend & Coco Love Alcorn (singer-songwriter duet, very soulful and entertaining)

March 9, 2012 - Liona Boyd (First Lady of the Guitar, 22 albums released, singer, writer, arranger, composer, features her own unique compositions from renaissance to pop to latino)

April 1, 2012 - Montreal Guitar Trio (classical performance of epic proportions featuring eclectic, energetic and spectacular guitar performances of music from around the world)

April 28, 2012 - Lee Harvey Osmond (a funky collection of some of the best musicians Canada has to offer when it comes to upbeat, tongue-in-cheek, rhythmic, grooving folk rock)

See you there!