Lethbridge, being a major player on the world stage, will be graced with royalty come this April.

The City of Lethbridge Ticket Centre published on their website that Elton John will perform at ENMAX Centre on 24 April 2012. The show begins at 20:00 and tickets go on sale this Saturday at 10:00.

Elton John coming to Lethbridge (via Lethbridge News)

I’m sure this is old news to any CKXU listener, but for everyone else the CKXU FUNdrive is well underway. I probably should have blogged this earlier.

FUNdrive is the most important time of the year for CKXU. This is the only time of the year we solicit our listeners and the community for donations. These donations help us bring in a large portion of CKXU’s operating income and help us keep the station running for the year.

This year FUNdrive falls from October 21 – 28. This is the most fun and exciting time of the year at the station and all our shows join in to help raise the funds.

CKXU 88.3FM is the best radio station in Lethbridge, with the most diverse selection of music. It’s produced by University of Lethbridge students and volunteers, who need you big money to keep it on the air! Lots of events, swag and great music are your reward.

CKXU FUNdrive

Matt writes:

hey dude,

my band the liptonians and another band from vancouver called the zolas will be playing at the slice on oct 16th… I was wondering if you’d post about it on your blog and facebook.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VsxAnSJxYE

The Liptonians

Vancouver-based singer/songwriter Dave Hadgkiss goes by the stage name Folk Thief. His newest album, Love, Heartache and Oblivion was released in March 2011 and quickly rose to the top 10 on the college radio charts, and the critics are loving it!

As part of a tour across Canada from Vancouver to St. John’s and back, Folk Thief and My Boy Rascal will be playing at the Owl Acoustic Lounge at 9pm on Saturday Oct. 15th.

And here’s what he sounds like:

The Devil Behind Me by Folk Thief

More available on Soundcloud.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9iQCMD8fjw

Lund is even-handed in his appraisal of Alberta’s politics and environment. Things are this, but they’re also that. It’s not equivocation or weasel-words. It’s a full reckoning of the situation. “The oil and gas industry is reflective of the duality of the province ,” he says.

To read her article, pick up the latest copy or read the “preview digital edition” of the magazine.

Matt from Royal Canoe was cool enough to send me a heads up that they’ll be playing The Slice on October 15th. By the way this track sounds, it’s a band definitely worth seeing.

Royal Canoe (Thanks, Matt!)

Chris Milk made a neat interactive music video that uses HTML5 and Google maps to make a custom music video about the place you grew up in.

My hometown happens to be Lethbridge, so it’s pretty boring.

The Wilderness Downtown (via BoingBoing)

So just because Henotic is closing shop, that doesn’t mean that live music in Lethbridge is dead. That’s why I am giving away 2 tickets ($30 value) to my faithful readers! You have up to 3 chances to win, and it’s easy!

1. “Like” Lethbian Love on Facebook and post about the best band you’ve ever seen play in Lethbridge.
2. Follow me on Twitter and tweet this: “I entered to win 2 free tickets for Mammoth Cave Fest from @lethbianlove! So can you: http://digg.com/u1Uz4N”
3. Comment on this post and tell us your best memory/thing you liked about Henotic.

You can enter in one or all 3 ways!

UPDATE: Thanks to all who entered, the winner has been notified!

This is the second time around for Mammoth Cave Fest. Tell us about it.
Last year was a pretty important one as far as the Lethbridge music community – studios opening left and right, local bands popping up left and right and getting signed (latest – Fist City who got picked up by Cleveland, Ohio’s Deadbeat Records, a great/storied punk rawk label), so we decided to celebrate last may by holding a giant party – Mammoth Cave Fest. That was such an astonishing success that we knew then and there that we would make it into a yearly event.

This year, we decided to team up with friends we made in Calgary (Sled Island) and Edmonton (Aaron Levin, who runs the weirdcanada.com website and who shared a common vision with his Wyrd Fest in Edmonton that was held last fall and which featured Myelin Sheaths and The Moby Dicks). Last November (post Wyrd Fest I), Aaron and I decided we should try and combine our two festivals, helping to both offset the costs and to help lure touring bands to come to Alberta (with the promise of three nights in a row of full houses). We got Sled Island’s Zak Pashak on board to help with Calgary and we spent the next few months assembling some of Canada’s very best fringe music acts.

What kind of bands should we expect this time around?
To the average music listener, the lineup isn’t going to be ringing any bells really – most of the bands we picked are obscure at best. Save for Calgary-based headliner Women, a band who hit international success in 2008 with their s/t debut, and who are critical darling from both the mainstream and underground taste-makers alike. The rest of the bands on the touring festival represent the current best-of-the-best in the Canadian underground.

We’ve got three bands from the current crop of Vancouver avant-garde weirdos – Shearing Pinx, Nu Sensae and Myths; Cosmetics, another Vancouver band who were recently signed but chic Brooklyn, NY label Captured Tracks; Two Montreal psychedelic rock/folk bands Grand Trine and Oman Ra II, both of which I think Lethbridge music fans are going to lose their minds over.

My own label – Mammoth Cave Recording Co. has a 7″ compilation of the current upcrop of rock ‘n roll upstarts (10 bands playing 1 minute songs about Alberta), most of those bands are playing the travelling festival in various capacities – The Famines, Myelin Sheaths, Fist City, The Moby Dicks, Topless Mongos, Radians – all of which will be playing the Lethbridge show. Two local favourites who sell out every show they play here on their own – Calgary’s Sharp Ends and Edmonton’s The Wicked Awesomes are making the trek. Plus, we squeezed two more Edmonton favourites – heavy 70′s rockers KRANG and scuzz-pop band JAZZ.

We get there and we don’t even begin to touch the level of amazing Lethbridge bands coming to celebrate our only local fringe music festival – Richard Amery, Austrian, Jessie Northie and the Dandelions, Deathspot Radio, Crossings, To and End, Moheeba, Square Waves, Bonnaventure James, Skulltrain to Helltown, Sleepyhead, Amelia Earhart, Chief Mountain. I’m really excited for debut performances from Shipbreaker (Robin from local scene icons The Darby and Joan Club) as well as Zoo Company. Finally, Jeff VandenElzen, formerly of Lethbridge’s favourite 90′s band JiL, will be playing a rare-solo set of amazing space-rock instrumentals.

When, where and how much?
Mammoth Cave Fest II happens on Sunday, May 2 from noon to midnight at Henotic. We are utilizing their dual stage setup – noisier stuff upstairs in the GCBC and everything else downstairs on the main-Henotic stage. We’ve been advertising it as 30 bands, but it is actually closer to 35. We have done this many bands before and it is actually perfect – a seamless back and forth in that when one band is playing upstairs, the band downstairs is set up, etc.

There are 100 tickets available at $15. Second 100 are $25. After that, we are sold out of tickets and you can try your luck at the door.

Limited, Advance Tickets will be available at:

• Blueprint – 519 4 Avenue South
• Henotic – 402 2 Avenue South

Also online using PayPal (we can ship the tickets for free or hold them at the door)
http://mammothcave.bigcartel.com/product/mammoth-cave-fest-ticket

This is a surefire sellout and one of the most epic events of the year. Thirty-plus bands going for 12 hours – all for $15.

Wax Mannequin was born in the smoke and industry of Hamilton; a damaged, underdog town; a perfect breeding ground for strange, variant things. Incorporating folk, scrappy prog-metal and a tireless creative ethic, Wax infused his local influences with road-broken experience to forge something unsettlingly new.

Hear Some Evil tour (via Facebook)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcUuHtrCBbE

One more (live) video after the jump!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_7nf1cdyV8

Machines Beneath the Sidewalk by SLEEPY HEAD

He also has a good mustache.

Check out his website, Midnight Social or listen to more music on MySpace. There’s also a Facebook page.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj0HLmd9g_M

It’s almost like I was there, staring at her crotch.

Kevin Kane w/ The Necessities (Facebook event page)

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

To listen to more of their music, head over to CBC Radio 3.

An insider source, DL, posted an iTunes-ready live recording of Leeroy Stagger & The Wildflowers, from when they played at Laboratorium in Stuttgart on October 23, 2009.

You can get the free tracks here (they’re amazing quality). And if you like what you hear, I suggest you support independent music and buy one Leeroy Stagger’s albums!

Also, his wife is a great hairstylist and she’s cutting my hair today. Just thought I’d throw that out there.

Monday, May 25

• Blind Witness
  6PM @ The Royal Canadian Legion
• City Circles Orientation
  7PM @ City Hall Atrium
• Dreadnaut w/ Psycomantium
  8PM @ The Vent (Coaldale)
• Danny Michel
  9:30PM @ The Slice Bar & Grill

Tuesday, May 26

• Jam Night with Lustre Cream
  9:30PM @ The Slice Bar & Grill

Wednesday, May 27

• Alana Levandoski
  9PM @ The Slice Bar & Grill

Thursday, May 28

• 89 Violins Later
  8PM @ The Slice Bar & Grill

Friday, May 29

• James Oldenburg
  5PM – 11PM @ Cotton Blossom Lounge
• Michele Gauthier
  6PM @ Mocha Cabana
• James Dixon and the Dusty Boot Band
  9PM @ HB’s Lounge (Holiday Bowl)
• Jodi King
  9PM @ The Slice Bar & Grill
• Bloated Pig
  9PM @ The Vent (Coaldale)
• Strange Brew – Kitsch Skateboards Video Premier Party
  9PM @ The Blarney Stone

Saturday, May 30

• James Oldenburg
  5PM – 11PM @ Cotton Blossom Lounge
• Herky Cutler
  7PM @ Mocha Cabana
• Ruin & Reclamation
  8Pm @ Leo Singer Building
• Cumako – Free Spirited World Music Fusion
  8PM @ The Slice Bar & Grill
• Stab.Twist.Pull w/ New Face for Marley
  9PM @ The Vent (Coaldale)

Sunday, May 31

• Let’s Dance, The Phantom Creeps & The Dregs
  9PM @ The Vent (Coaldale)

Danny Michel

Danny Michel

P.S.
I love Feather, Fur & Fin. Listen to it on CBC Radio 3!

I took 90 seconds to interview Leeroy, in case you’ve not familiar with him or his work.

Where are you from and why did you choose to make Lethbridge your home base?

Im from Victoria B.C. I moved here because of a girl about 3 years ago, we just bought a house so i would imagine we’ll be here a little bit longer

What’s your opinion of the “scene” here?

well, I dont go out much, but there are some really great musicians here but only a handful that seem to take is seriously and take there music elsewhere wich unfortunately is what you need to do to succeed unless your doing that canadian Idol kinda shit, then you might as well stay home.

What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are your major influences?

I dont like genres because its all just music at the end of the day. My major influences would be tom petty, bruce springsteen, ryan adams, loudon wainwright iii, steve earle, john hiatt. pretty much all the badasses…..beethoven.

Tell us about your new album.

Its very good, with some very great players on it such as Bob Furgo from the leonard cohen band, Neal Casal of the Cardinals among others.

Why did you start your new label, Rebeltone Records?

I just wanted more control over what was happening with my career, also i needed a vehicle to release the ESP record i did with tim easton and evan phillips

What was your most memorable performance?

theres been a few but I guess opening for george thorogood at the hockey rink in victoria was pretty insane, especially since it was just me and an acoustic guitar.

Your songs tend to do deal with some heavy stuff. Why is that?

i guess cause thats life ya know, sometimes it gets heavy and I tend to write about what i know

How did your music end up on Grey’s Anatomy anyway?

Well im sure the story is really quite boring, Record label dude submits it the music supervisor who finds a spot for it on the show if she likes it. Its not like Patrick Dempsey hand picked me over thousands of artists or some nonsense like that. we could pretend that was the instance though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hugCwlTwSdw

How has your music evolved?

well i guess its finally grown legs…………well like anything over time and experience it will get better. I overthink everything at this stage wich is really a hinderance id say.

Where will Leeroy Stagger be 5 years from now?

one day at a time there my friend……

Any last words?

Thanks. Go buy my record please.

Check out the show – I guarantee it’ll be great! Tickets are available at Blueprint or at the door for $15, but you can win a free pair by entering your name in the comment section below!

Leeroy Stagger

Outside on the Henotic rooftop on Victoria day. Going to be 12 straight hours of the best local bands this city has to offer, combined with some of our favourite out-of-towners!

Brought to you by the Mammoth Cave Promotions team with help from the fine folks at Beatroute, CKXU and Blueprint Records!

The first band starts playing at 1:30PM, so come before then to get your tickets for $15. After that time, the price goes up to $20.

A list of bands playing include out-of-towners:

• The Wicked Awesomes
• The Secretaries
• The Pine Tarts
• Feral Children
• The Possessed

Local bands include:

• The New Danger Kids
• Myelin Sheaths
• The Creationists
• The Necessities
• The Record Holder
• Holy Vapour
• Amelia Earhart
• Endangered Ape

Mammoth Cave Festival

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eapk-mzlGkY

On May 9th, people around the globe will clap their hands, tap their feet, and beat their drums against poverty. Arousing people to their potential as powerful agents of change, World Fair Trade Day draws attention to individuals and groups who have helped make Fair Trade what it is today – an effective model for economic and environmental transformation. Ten Thousand Villages Lethbridge will be celebrating World Fair Trade Day with live entertainment, product samplings, special discounts and activities for all ages. Ten Thousand Villages is located at 329 – 5th St. S. Lethbridge, AB.

So help support a sustainable global economy and check out Ten Thousand Villages today. Buy something awesome for your living room or even just some fair trade coffee. Then head on down to Henotic for some food and belly dance!

World Fair Trade Day

My beloveds,

It has been many moons since Endangered Ape first started playing tunes here in Lethbridge to the fine members of the community and you have consistently blessed us with coming out, losing your shit, rocking out, and overall, being incredibly good-looking. Every night has been a frickin’ party, and it’s awesome that you fine people have checked us out.

As you might know, we’re taking our shtick on the road next month, going on tour all across this great nation of ours all the way to the salty shores of Nova Scotia. Amazing!!! We wouldn’t have considered such a ballsy move to spread the good word and try and put Lethbridge on the map without your help! Ballsy moves need balls, or in our case, gas money, so we are putting on a sweet EP Release Party tonight at the GCBC Lounge. It’s going to be great! There’s going to be a bunch of us playing some music you haven’t heard before, along with the Mighty Ape playing closer and heck, even some sweet new tunes for you to buy if it fancies you, which I’m sure it will!!!

So, grab your bros, your ladeez, your BF/GF and come on down and hang out with us. I’ve already checked what’s going on tonight, there isn’t a UFC fight to watch, no hockey games to gamble on, and if you aren’t into Bluegrass- inspired revisioning of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”, then you only have one place to turn! Come down tonight, and chill with your ‘homies’, be served by alt-girl models (!!!!!!!), and have an awesome time helping out some of Lethbridge’s prodigal sons. (Then we promise not to play for a while so that people don’t get sick of us!!! *~* ) LOLZ

K, so thanks for reading, you are my new girlfriends/boy-toys.

LUV U,

oxox Adam Ape

They’re still looking to raise gas money for thier cross-country tour. Other bands playing tonight include Amelia Earhart, The Myelin Sheaths, Evan Van Reekum, Kent Aardse and RAN. So come out to Henotic, have a beer and show your support for our local music scene!

Endangered Ape EP Release Party

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLt1kwLoBxQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ3sWj7A7qI

Now why did I pay $8 to get in when I could have just watched this? Right, free tequila and a hugs from Cassandra and Joel. That was awkward…and nice.

Today, local independent music store Blueprint Entertainment is holding it’s second annual Record Store Day.

April 18th, 2009 will mark the second annual Record Store Day and will be celebrated by hundreds of independently owned record stores around the globe. Record Store Day is a time for stores, musicians, and aficionados alike to come together to celebrate the art of music.

The day also features performances by Leeroy Stagger, Endangered Ape, The Darby & Joan Club and DJ Daemon, so stop by and have a listen.

Record Store Day 2009

So I got word from Paul Lawton that The Myelin Sheaths are also playing this Friday at Henotic. Since I’m pretty much in love with everyone from that band (except Joel because he’s a ginger), I asked Paul to give me the low down on this “unique girl-group on acid sound.”

Here’s what he told me:

1: Myelin is an electrically-insulating dielectric material that forms a layer, the myelin sheath.

2: The Myelin Sheaths are a brand new Lethbridge four piece that is the brainchild of Cassandra Ward and Martine Ménard, and which features myself (also of Endangered Ape, Square Waves) and Joel Butler (ex-The Void, Boys from Nowhere).

3: Myelin Sheaths were recently chosen as “Top of The Slop” by Chicago web-zine Victim of Time (our friends Sharp Ends were also former Top of the Slop recipients, and they now have three labels putting out records)

4: Myelin Sheaths have been selected to play Calgary’s Sled Island festival being held between June 24-27 (going to go up with Endangered Ape, who were also selected). Sled Island is the biggest event of this type happening in western Canada, with local bands mixing it up with internationally renown acts such as Mogwai, Wire, Deerhunter, Broken Social Scene, Cat Power, Destroyer and others.

5. Debut performance happening this Friday at the Porter Hall reunion show happening at GCBC Lounge. Joel Butler’s other new band (The Moby Dicks) is also making its debut (which I am playing guitar for on this show to cover the “real” guitarist who can’t play this show… incestuous? Yes!!)

6. Songs tend to be focused on matters of fact and science – “Pi in Yer Eye”, “Fun W/ Science” “Yer Acid is Too Basic”, “What’s Yer Diagnosis? (Psychosis)” and the hit single “The Myelin Twist” (which already has a label out of Iowa ready to press a 7″ single, though I will leave them nameless until that is a done deal).

The Myelin Sheaths

We will have lots of cool stuff – lots of records, books, oddities and other things you might expect someone from Endangered Ape to have.

Also, if you have anything you would like to donate to sell at this garage sale, we would gladly take it!!

To help out, I have a giant bag of dryer lint I’m hoping to sell there. All the money raised goes toward their cross-Canadian tour, for which they’ll need at least $2000 for gas alone!

If you’ve got some time this afternoon between 2 – 8PM or Saturday between 9 – 3PM, venture down to the alley between St. Martha’s Church on Columbia Blvd. and Lafayette Blvd. W. (229 Lafayette Blvd. W.). Don’t make eye contact with the hobos.

Endangered Ape / Amelia Earhart Garage Sale

It seems that Vancouver musician Adaline is winning more than just the heart Robert Pattinson, but rather fans from across the world. Beyond the +30,000 plays on her MySpace page, she is now featured in CHARTattack, the Vancouver Sun and even the National Post.

“What is most touching is that many of you have said that even though you came across my website because of my chance meeting with Robert, that many of you are staying because of my music. This is why I make music — so I can share it with you. So thank you for the kind words — for telling me which songs are speaking to you — for passing on my website to your friends and family. I am so grateful.” – Adaline

As a token of her appreciation she is also offering a free MP3 download of her hit single, “Whiter/Straighter.”

For those who don’t have a clue, Robert Pattinson played Edward Cullen in Twilight and Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter. And he sparkles in the sun.

Keep up the great momentum, Adaline!

“I’m just happy to have this moment with you.”

At that point, he pulled me into an warm embrace…

Okay, maybe I skewed that just a little, though they did rub shoulders together!

But how does any of this relate to Lethbridge? Well, Shawna happens to a friend of a friend whom I briefly met some time ago. She’s a wonderfully warm and talented person, who recently played at The Slice earlier this month. It saddened me to have missed that show, but at least I have her music to listen to.

Now if you’d excuse me, I’m off to roll myself in diamond dust and watch Twilight all over again. Oh Edward, you’re so mysteriously beautiful.

The Cosmic Story of adaline and Robert Pattinson

Tickets are going at $30/door a pop, so this is an awesome deal! The show starts tomorrow night, 10PM @ The Blarney Stone.

Lethbridge, show your love and enter to win!