Despite initial slow ticket sales, the Jan. 17 show at the Humboldt & District Gallery by Saskatchewan musicians Alex Runions, JJ Voss, and Dean Kush drew a crowd to hear acoustic country songs from the established entertainers.
“I think the show was fantastic,” Runions said. “The audience was great. We were first told there weren’t too many tickets sold, but it turned out to be a great crowd.”
In a bit of a shake-up, it wasn’t just a straight-up performance: it was a songwriting cafe, featuring explanations from each musician about how and why the song came together. The result was an intimate, casual show with the three men bantering with each other and the audience between songs.
“I thought that was a great idea,” said organizer, Jennifer Hoesgen. “When they’ve written a song, there’s always a story, so it’s nice to hear the story of why those things came together, and you listen and you remember the song a little more.”
The show came about when Kush, who knew Hoesgen through his work with SaskCulture, mentioned that he was a singer-songwriter and together the concept for the show came together. Prior to the show, Hoesgen hadn’t heard his songs.
“It was a gamble!” Kush laughed, and Hoesgen added that it paid off.
From there, Kush got Voss and Runions involved.
“We all write together,” Runions said. “When we’re doing a song we almost always call each other.”
Between songs, the audience received an explanation for how the song came to be – from Runions taking inspiration from driving with his dog, to Kush talking about his divorce and how his thirties were a bad decade for him – though he did manage to joke about his penchant for sad songs, saying, “I’m just miserable, I guess.”
The show was less straightforward than the average performance, having the feel of someone playing songs for their friends.
“I think that was really nice about it. It’s a small venue,” Hoesgen said. “I was talking to a guy who puts on house concerts and he said, ‘There’s nothing more exciting than sitting on a couch.’ It was like we were sitting in a living room. There’s not that distance. We’re the audience and we’re not participating and you guys are on stage; it’s like we’re interacting. That’s the kind of space we want to have.”
The three performers had nothing but good things to say about the venue.
“It’s awesome,” Voss said. “It’s very nice. Modern looking and the artwork is great.”
Runions, Voss, and Kush each grew up in rural Saskatchewan and now are based in Regina. Runions and Voss perform solo while Kush also performs with country band, Faster Gun. During the performance, each took turns singing one of their own songs with the other two jumping in on guitar and harmonies, and occasionally Voss took a turn on the mandolin.
In the second half, they called audience member and fellow musician Darlene Tuleta to take Kush’s place for a few songs, one of which she had performed in the gallery once before, during the summer concert series: “I Came Back.”
And of course, as there were three Saskatchewan musicians playing to a rural Saskatchewan crowd, they performed the Faster Gun song, “True North Strong and Free.” Prior to the song, Kush talked about hearing the song playing seven times while walking to a Rider game with his nephew.
“Are you sure that wasn’t coming from your phone?” Runions asked, a comment typical of the casual show.
All in all, the experimental structure for the show paid off for Hoesgen.
“It was outstanding,” she said.
