The Rock Trout Café will be transformed into a blues joint Friday as a pair of artists takes the café stage for the first time.
Friday night’s show features local band the Blues Bandoleros and Saskatoon’s Eddy Robertson Electric Blues.
The Blues Bandoleros are no stranger to performing in P.A., often playing sets at the ANAVETS dances.
Both bands are mainstays in the Saskatoon blues scene, and have performed in other venues across the province and across the country, but the Rock Trout stage will be a new experience for the acts.
“There are blues fans in Prince Albert,” Kelly Kawula, lead guitar and vocals, said. He lamented that, at times, it can be difficult promoting blues shows in P.A.
“There are a lot of fans in Prince Albert who go down to Saskatoon, real fans of blues who don’t always know of anything happening in Prince Albert.”
That’s one of the reasons Kawula is eager to promote Friday’s show, to bring something Saskatoon sees often to a new environment.
While Kawula has a longstanding love for the blues, it wasn’t until 2013 that the band got together.
“I didn’t put the group together until I met Kirk Lester, a solid blues drummer who has played across Alberta and B.C. that was a backbone of the band that really added that blues sound,” he said. Kawula also recruited Mike Hodson and Arthur Ashdown. All four contribute to vocals, while Ashdown plays bass guitar and Hodson performs on the harmonica.
“Harmonica and blues really go together,” Kawula said.
The Rock Trout show really came together when Kawula approached the Electric Blues to bring a more veteran blues ensemble to the show. It’s something the Bandoleros want to do more of, as they plan to perform in the future with some groups coming through from further afield.
Tickets for the show are available at the Rock Trout Café. Cover charge is $10, doors open at 8 p.m. and the Bandoleros hit the stage at 9, followed by Electric Blues at about 10:30. The show is all ages.
