Entertainment

This season’s penultimate Joe Hill Coffeehouse is on the horizon with a diverse line-up, from dance to theatre to choirs, bluegrass, and celtic harp.

The June Bugs from Alberta and Rossland’s own Glee Club led by Nadine Tremblay entertained an audience at the Miners’ Hall last Thursday with beautiful harmonies. The multi-instrumentalist Bugs got down with the folky tunes on spoons, double bass, guitars, banjos and more. They were brought to Rossland on their CD release tour by the Rossland Council for Arts and Culture.

The Rougemusic series that began last fall at the new Rouge Gallery location in the historic BMO building will celebrate the finale of a successful first season with back-to-back female vocalists — the haunting Eastern European voice and accordion of Bessie Wapp accompanied by Ben Johnson on the oud, santoor, and percussion on May 14, and the joyful soul jazz roots of Rossland favourite, Coco Love Alcorn, on May 17.

Lowry Olafson, a singer-songwriter with nine CDs and a tour of the globe under his belt, will be back in Rossland and performing at Terry and Janet Marshall’s house on May 10 at 7 p.m.

Canadian comic Derek Edwards, once described by Rick Mercer as “the funniest man in Canada,” will be wrapping up a two-year, cross-country tour with a pair of shows in the West Kootenay in mid-May.

From hit TV shows like The Simpsons and Glee to classic movies like Hot Tub Time Machine, Ivan Doroschuk welcomes all the recent pop-culture references to his band’s most famous song, The Safety Dance.

At the Rouge Gallery on Tuesday night, Alan Rinehart (left) plays an ornate lute built by Clive Titmuss (right), who himself is playing a lute, which he also built. The vihuela is a close replica of the 16th century Spanish instrumens that was an important step in the evolution towards the modern guitar. Only three original vihuelas survive, none in good condition.

From upbeat gospel and bluegrass to folk and what the group calls “contemplative originals,” the June Bugs’ poetic, acoustic music was described as “a fresh kitchen party style” by reviewers for The Hub on Ross in Red Deer, Alta.

Despite a lot of competition for places to be and people to see on Saturday night, fiddler April Verch and her band held a large crowd at the Miners’ Hall rapt with stunning displays of musicianship, dancing, and their good sense of down-home humour.

The inaugural Just Dance Festival brought 100 dancers from Castlegar and Rossland to the stage at the Brilliant Cultural Centre last weekend.