Will Currie plays Magneta Lane in Your Neck of the Woods

First up, representing this neck of the woods were, well, Your Neck of the Woods. An uber folky sound coming from these ladies and gents that I resist from specifying as country though their sound is definitely rooted out in the sticks. With a 6 person ensemble, including a violinist and shared male/female lead vocals, they entertained a well-attend Van Gogh’s crowd for the Wednesday night that it was. Definitively I can say there was dancing, though I’m not so sure it was two-stepping to the fiddle, wash-board and broken tambourine; regardless people were enjoying themselves. The fan-favourite Cabin in the Woods (no, nothing to do with Evil Dead) was broken out mid-set and got even more people moving. At times the recorded female’s vocals can be over the top, but on this night she was either more restrained or that stand-out red dress made amends for it. They carried themselves well leaving me once again surprised by the depth and breadth of local talent in this small city.

Under the blinding flash of a multitude of strobe lights Will Currie and the Country French took to the stage. This was a straight-ahead set with a large dose of new music from the as-yet unreleased new album from the group. Will once again led the way with his piano playing though those Country French were no slouches either. The quick Surprising Me saw the dancing folk return to the floor and stay there for the remainder of the set, giving the band energy to feed off of which they did well. It was a spirited showcase and had the band wondering aloud why they don’t make the short trip from Waterloo more often.

Magneta Lane have the longest history of any bands on the bill for this evening and so they were given their due by headlining, which unfortunately meant a slightly thinner crowd for this weeknight show. Yet there were still plenty of people on hand to witness the guitar-driven rock offered up by this all-female three-piece. Not all too familiar with their previous work I gave them a shot and was rewarded with some entertaining songs from the noticeably gracious group.