Thistle wants to entertain, and that's what they're going to do at the Painted Hand Casino on November 25.
The Winnipeg-based band is coming to play their Celtic folk music.
John Cartwright says that the band is made up of veteran musicians with decades of experience in the industry.
He was on a bill with the Beatles in 1962, Jerry Tretiak played with Bobby Curtola and Dennis Drabyk was a big band leader for over 20 years.
With that level of experience on stage, an audience is in good hands, and Cartwright says that the band uses their decades of experience to give the audience the best time they can.
He says at this point in their career, their goal is to have a good time with an audience, as personal accolades aren't what matter.
As a result, they have made a show that is not only entertaining on its own, but encourages people to hit the dance floor and entertain themselves by dancing and having a good time.
"We're entertaining you and encouraging you to participate in what we're doing, so everyone has a good time."
Cartwright says that the trio had known each other for a few years, and decided that there was a gap in the market, as everywhere they went they saw bands playing the same music, and they thought they could do something different.
"We decided we could inject some fun into the music, and we decided a mix of Celtic folk would be somewhere that could work quite well. When we say Celtic, we don't mean the North American interpretation of that, which is Scottish and Irish, but anywhere from France right through to Russia. It's a very broad spectrum of music, and we injected that with comedy."
Cartwright says that the show has been compared to a program called the Pig and Whistle Show from the '80s, with a similar blend of music and comedy throughout.
The band is busy, playing on average 60-69 gigs a year, which Cartwright admits might be too many, but they enjoy what they do so much they do not want to slow down.
"That show was based on a tavern environment where you could sing along, tap your hands and tap your feet, and you can do that with us too. That kind of participation. One newspaper described it as a host of musical gems, one lady said it made chills go up and down her spine... We feel great about that. We're not looking for personal accolades, and we're looking for people to have a great time with us," Cartwright says.
Thistle will be at the Painted Hand Casino on November 25 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The event is free to attend.
