Me and the band have been having huge fun playing some little shows over the summer months while we put the finishing touches on my new record. In particular, I have been loving small community based events both inside and outside. First up though the Everett LaRoi Trio paid a visit to our friends at the Cask & Barrel as part of their long running “Garage Band Saturday” concert series. My son Callum took a few pics at that show:

Edmonton seems to be absolutely exploding with all manner of outdoor community based events and festivals that feature original music over the summer months. Some are more organized than others in terms of sound systems and set-ups, but in my experience all of them have been friendly and unpretentious. Speaking in generalities, overall, I would have to say that Alberta remains a really good place to be a musician, if you’re willing to work at it!

Late in August we played a small community festival called Fulton-Fest. This is a perfect example of the kind of low-key and friendly community event that one might find in Edmonton during the summertime. It was a perfect warm summer day at the end of August and luckily there was no rain because we set up right on the sod (ha!) at the base of a gentle sloping grassy hill in the Edmonton River Valley. Something about setting up on the grass (and not a stage) made me smile because it reminded me of my first bands playing “shows” in backyards when I was a teenager. Try setting up a drum kit on grass, it can be challenging! In any case, we didn’t care, we were having fun playing our music amongst friends. As it turns out, the event was really well attended and included amenities like food trucks and such like – all very civilized!

Here are some photos by volunteer sound tech Jerry Aulenbach: