Is it trite to say I can totally and utterly get lost in the alt-country sounds of the Deep Dark Woods? Perhaps, but then again, that idea of losing one’s self – both physically and metaphorically – is right there in their spookily arboreal name. So maybe it’s insightful, not trite? I’m not sure – but I do know I’d happily lead the big bad wolf straight to grandma’s front door for another chance to relive their sold out Prairie Scene show at the candlelit Black Sheep Inn.
The Saskatoon five-piece has been together for a few years now, and it shows in both their confidence and their musicianship. Singer Ryan Boldt was having a great time rumbling into the mic between songs, spying at one point a Winnipeg Jets t-shirt and growling out his hope for the return of the beloved Manitoba hockey team. The band churned out a few great longer jams – including a spellbinding take on the moody “River in the Pines” that seemed to never stop building – but also handled quieter numbers like “Redwood Forest” and “Charlie’s (Is Coming Down)” with delicate grace. But the biggest cheers were reserved for the breathtakingly sad “All the Money I Had is Gone” – with Boldt’s freight-train-baritone swathed in swirling guitars, and sprinkled with Geoff Hillhorst’s organ, it’s a song that should rightly be a Canadian classic.
Winnipeg’s Oh My Darling charmed the crowd with an opening set of bluegrass-inspired tunes about hard-livin’ men and women. Singer Vanessa Kuzina’s story of how “Love Me, Love Me Not” was inspired a trucker ex-boyfriend’s purchase of a rose with his last $2.25 (“The nicest thing he ever did,” she deadpanned after the “awwwwws” died down) was a particular highlight. And for an encore, Kuzina whipped out a pair of knitting needles, turned to violinist Rosalyn Dennett, and gave the crowd a musical history lesson in the origin of the term “Fiddlesticks!”. Fun and educational – that’s how I like my live music. -Trevor Pritchard
