by Scott Roos photos by Tracy Creighton (Copperblue Photography and Design) There’s something fitting about an artist returning to where it all started just as things are beginning to take off. For Taya Lebel, that means a September 16 stop at the Rock Trout in Prince Albert, where she’ll share the stage with fellow up-and-coming Canadian country artists Jeremy Grey and Justin Sutton. With the 2026 Canadian Country Music Awards heading to Saskatoon, the evening offers a prett

by Scott Roos There is something inherently fascinating about watching two people who have spent nearly three decades together try to explain each other. Especially when those two people happen to be Raine Maida and Chantal Kreviazuk. On paper, their story sounds almost impossibly tidy: two successful Canadian musicians who met early in their careers, fell in love, built families together, continued making music and somehow managed to maintain separate identities while becom

by Scott Roos photo credits in captions photo by Aaron Richter There was a time when I'll readily admit that Journey was not at all on my radar... It's not that I disliked them. It's just as a self described "metalhead" I just never really considered myself a Journey guy. Then, a little over 20 years ago, I started collecting vinyl again. And, Somewhere along the way, I picked up copies of Escape, Departure and Evolution. Likely at a thrift store or garage sale or something

by Scott Roos photos courtesy of the bands and Little Slaughter on the Prairie There’s something fitting about a festival called Little Slaughter on the Prairie arriving in Saskatoon with eight bands, a magician and absolutely no interest in behaving like a traditional music festival. Taking over RCAF Lynx Hall on Saturday, August 22, the inaugural event brings together Edmonton and Saskatoon’s heavy music communities for an evening built around grind, death metal, deathcore,

words and pics by Scott Roos There are probably more obvious places to stage a heavy metal show in Saskatoon than TCU Place. The home of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra isn’t exactly the first building that comes to mind when someone says “circle pit.” It has more of a “please take your seats and silence your cellphones” reputation than a “somebody just crowd-surfed over three rows of people” one. But on Friday night, Aug. 14, TCU Place made a pretty convincing argument that

Words and pics by Scott Roos Our Grade: A There’s something wonderfully uncomplicated about “Wild Life,” the new single from Prince Albert’s The Shyning. Released July 16, it’s the kind of rock song that doesn’t ask you to overthink things. It just wants you to turn it up and have a good time. Recorded at Mosaic Music Studio with Rich McFarlane, “Wild Life” comes loaded with the sort of classic-rock swagger that makes you want to dig an old denim jacket out of the closet. The

Kataklysm vocalist Maurizio Iacono engages the crowd words and pics by Scott Roos There are some shows where the floor shakes a little. Then there are shows where it seems like the entire venue itself might actually be moving. Thursday night at the Black Cat Tavern in Saskatoon was one of those nights. With Baltimore technical death metal monsters Wormhole opening the evening, followed by Canadian death metal veterans Kataklysm and finally Tampa legends Six Feet Under, the b

by Scott Roos photos courtesy of the artist unless otherwise stated There is something pretty cool about the Saskatoon Fringe Festival. Actually, there are a lot of things that are pretty cool about it. For one thing, there are simply so many options. From July 30 to August 8, Saskatoon's famed Broadway Avenue neighbourhood becomes a sort of giant, temporary theatre district, with performers, musicians, dancers, comedians and storytellers popping up all over the place. You ca

words and pics by Scott Roos When Josh Stumpf and his fiancée, Mercy Glover, launched the Sunset Country Music Festival five years ago, the goal wasn't to build another summer concert. It was to build something that mattered. Since its inception, the annual festival has combined Saskatchewan country music with community fundraising, inviting fans to spend an evening on the Stumpf family farm near MacDowall while supporting local charities. Every year, the beneficiaries change

by Scott Roos photo by Deanna Roos Padgett performing his 6 Guitars show in Prince Albert (2024) Before 6 Guitars made him an international Fringe favourite, before audiences across North America knew his name, Chase Padgett was just another kid trying to make sense of life with a trumpet in one hand and, eventually, a guitar in the other. On Sunday, August 9, Saskatoon audiences will have one final opportunity to celebrate the Fringe Festival with a special Encore fundraiser