Ticket info, schedule for the 8 venues, and listen to a playlist from artists that will be performing in Kelowna Oct. 13th – 15th

Events at Doc Willoughby’s – Facebook event page

Great bands at Streaming Cafe – Facebook Event page

… and so much more!  On Saturday October 15th from 10:00am—3:00pm, at the Kelowna Art Gallery, we will hold Kids Pop; a five-hour, family event featuring an Instrument Petting Zoo and a Musical Craft Activity Room for kids to come and try instruments and experience music in a safe environment.

Saturday 3:00pm—6:00pm at Habitat, the Schmusic networking and conference will take place. Hosted by Music BC, this event will get the musicians together in a different mindset, with aims to discuss the state of the industry, learn from social media experts, see some trade show presentations, and take part in a merch exchange.

You can catch James Saturday night as part of Pop Okanagan at Memphis Blues (10pm).  Get tickets here.

CANADIAN SINGER-SONGWRITER JAMES STRUTHERS FINISHES UP GREAT COAST-TO-COAST END OF SUMMER TOUR IN SUPPORT OF NEW EP!

Three cross Canada tours, two EP’s, one determined artist. That’s the formula for Canadian singer song-writer James Struthers who headed back onto the road to promote his most recent self-titled EP. Just two years into his musical career, James has had an impressive amount of success, but not without some sacrifice in terms of personal comfort.

“I slept in my car, as I have done for three of my last four tours,” Struthers explains. “People always ask me how I stay clean/healthy. The answer…YMCA pass. It’s so refreshing to hit the track/shower after a 13 hour marathon drive.”

While James travelled the 34 day, 15,000 km, 27 show coast-to-coast tour alone, he was far from lonely on stage. He teamed up with local talent in nearly every city visited including most of Canada’s major metropolitan areas and some smaller gems. Because of James’ ‘DIY-Or-Die’ attitude, his passion for what he is doing is a vase left clearly on the table. This is the same passion that captivated his managers Glen Willows (Ash Koley, Inward Eye) and Arun Chaturvedi (Don Amero, Little Hawk) along with the rest of his quickly growing team.

“I’ve never met an artist so focussed, passionate and determined to connect with his fans and get himself branded, whether through social media sites or non-stop touring,” says Willows. “He is a happily-married combination of brilliant musicianship and savvy businessman; which is essential in today’s music business.”

Fri Sep 30
Mike Wetherings and John Pippus – The Minstrel Cafe
Mia Moth – Doc Willoughby’s Downtown Pub
Westjet Wine Tasting – Rotary Centre for the Arts
PechaKucha Night Kelowna Vol. 3 – Streaming Cafe 
Donovan Sweet – Pheasant & Quail Pub
Scott Theilmann – Vintner’s Poolside Grill
John Noren – Lake City Casino  
Sherman Doucette – The Blue Gator
Floyd Vedan Band – O’Flannigans Pub
Whisky Dick – Grateful Fed

the pack A.D. live at Habitat, Sept. 26th, 2011 

With their banjos, mandolins, dobros, scrap metal pieces and other instruments in tow, Winnipeg’s The Crooked Brothersare trekking across Canada to debut songs from their sophomore CD, Lawrence, Where’s Your Knife? The Kelowna show at The Streaming Café (596 Leon Avenue) will be broadcast online in a free interactive performance at www.streamingcafe.net.

Fri. Sep. 23 @ 8 pm    West End Cultural Center, Winnipeg, MB     $15 at door
Sat. Sep. 24 @ 7:30    Happy Nun Cafe, Forget, SK                         $20 in advance at venue
Sun. Sep. 25 @ 7 pm  Ye Olde Jar Bar, Medicine Hat, AB              $15 at door
Wed. Sep. 28 @ 8 pm General Store, Twin Butte, AB                      $10 at door
Thu. Sep. 29 @ 10pm Northern Bar & Stage, Fernie, BC                  $5 door (w/ Shred Kelly)
Fri. Sep. 30 @ 9 pm    The Royal, Nelson, BC                                   $10 door (w/ Shred Kelly)
Sat. Oct. 1 @ 8 pm     The Schoolhouse, Ymir, BC                           $10 door
Thu. Oct. 6 at 8 pm     Fort Street Café, Victoria, BC                        $10 door (w/ Sparrow King, O’ Mally)
Fri. Oct. 7 @ 9 pm      Café Deux Soleils, Vancouver, BC                $7 at the door
Sat. Oct. 8 @ 7 pm     The Streaming Café, Kelowna, BC             Free

Their Kelowna performance will be streamed live at www.streamingcafe.net. Viewers can send in their questions and comments during the show – making this a truly interactive performance!

The Crooked Brothers are known for their diverse instrumentation, vocal arrangements, and a fascination with the past. Even their name has a contemplative, seasoned aura about it. “The brothers part of our name relates to the archetypical bluegrass, folk, family band idea. We’re essentially brothers every way but biologically,” explains The Crooked Brothers’ Jesse Matas.  “The crooked part is derived from a book we all read called “Ironweed” by William Kennedy. He used the term “crooked” to described people after they’ve died. He says ‘they’ve gone crooked’, or ‘he was all crooked’. It seemed to fit with our band. One of our original goals was to see beauty in everything including death.”

That includes the first song on Lawrence, Where’s Your Knife? The album comes blazing out of the gate with the song “17 Horses”, which paints a historic depiction of hard times during a rural anthrax epidemic in the spring of 1931. “It’s somewhat historical, rooted in a story about a bunch of horses passing away when they were building the Trans Canada Highway through Manitoba’s Whiteshell Provincial Park,” says Matas. The horses had kicked up some naturally-occurring anthrax in the soil, leading to their demise.

Other songs, like “Winter’s Come” tackle the painful end of relationships. “We have a lot of heartbreak songs which are definitely ‘moving’ to yourself when you’re writing them. ‘Winter’s Come’ is about a woman leaving a man to go south, and the man figuring out what to do now.” Matas says two of the band members went through some “pretty heavy heartbreak” while writing material for their new CD.

“This album is a lot more direct in inspiration. These songs are all based on things that really happened,” says Matas. Despite the sometimes heavy subject matter, the CD as a whole is lively, energetic, danceable and entertaining.

To learn more about The Crooked Brothers, please visit www.crookedbrothers.com

Oct 07 – Shreddy Krueger, Scissorkick, & guest – Flashbacks $10
Oct 11 – The Matadors, Butch Haller, Preying Saints – O’Flannigans $10
Oct 26 – Napalm Death, Anthrosoire, Slagduster – Sapphire, $20/$25
Oct 27 – Big Sugar, Wide Mouth Mason – Flashbacks, $30/$35
Oct 28 – SunFM show f. Dirty Radio – Flashbacks, tdb
Nov 08 – CURRENT SWELL / THE FLU – O’Flannigans
Nov 18 – TO BE ANNOUNCED
Nov 19 – Larry & His Flask, Schomberg Fair – The Habitat, $10