Local photographer Andy Stanislav recently took some great photos of us at a jam we hosted. And, if you like us, can I just say, check out our children! Well, a few of them anyway. Mike's son Peter and Doug's boy Theo are part of an excellent indie band called "Here On the Sun". See, that's what happens when your kids grow up attending every folk festival, local jam and music event in town, it rubs off. We're hoping that our collective prodigy become famous and wealthy and can one day support us. Sort of like an offspring pension plan.

Fun summer

Just cleaning off my camera and realized that hey! We had one hell of a summer! The Folk Fest Songwriting competition, Sled Island, Calgary Folk Fest, the Mountainview Festival, the Bownesians picnic, our CD release at the Palomino, playing live on CJSW, the Tour de Bowness bike race, a couple of pool parties and then a bunch of bar gigs, just to keep us off the streets. It may have taken us a month to recover but we did it up right!
Here are a few snaps for posterity.

Bownesians at Sled Island 2009

Well, we're pretty damn excited about being selected to play Sled Island this year. Doug's kitchen was rocking on Monday night as we practiced our special S.I. set (gotta keep up with the other bands on the bill, don't you know - Jon Rae Fletcher and Australia's the Re-mains are all playing after us at Verns that night! Yeah! I know!!!) The show is Friday night at Verns (8th Avenue, right next to the Uptown). Come check it out!

The Calgary Folk Festival Songwriting Competition 2009 - Best Song of Alberta

The competition was stiffer than the a Ronnette's beehive, but Doug Waite of the Bownesians, for the second year in a row, took the title of "Best Song of Alberta". Yeehaw!!

Winning the contest again means money to finish our CD and the opportunity to play at the fabulous Calgary Folk Festival once again (Leah is going to consume only throat lossenges for two straight weeks before the festival, as to avoid another embarrassing voice-losing incident like last year).

Here we are, fresh from "Bowness Garbage Day" where we played on the back of a trailor being pulled by a tractor, on the Ship and Anchor stage performing Doug's winning song "Alan Saved the Radio Station."

more photos from the night the girls took over the Palomino!

Happy, the Garter Girls and, of course, the fabulous Bownesians at the Palomino. Photos courtesy of Clayton Hansen.

more at audities...

late February...bownesian's percussionist Mike had to lay his tambourine trax... the session started well but soon devolved into mayhem as the pins in mike's (actually, Leah's!!!) tambourine began to, one by one, fly from the instrument... followed shortly by the little metal discs... like shrapnel throughout the studio... David burying his head in his hands, saying, 'glad u guys brought quality gear out...' as the tiny deadly dics flew mere inches from the $10K mic.

Friday the 13th at the Palomino...

...was anything but bad luck. Sherry-Lee and her handsome fellers, plus the Garter Girls burlesque troupe helped ensure that. Notice the enthusiastic facial expressions of the band members.