Verb Issue S274 (Jan. 24-30, 2014)

Issue #274 – January 24 to January 30

arts

culture

music

saskatoon

+ one heckuva run Jungle Jim Hunter’s unorthodox road to the Olympics there and back Q+A with the Wilderness of Manitoba inside llewyn davis + devil’s due Films reviewed­

Photo: courtesy of warner music canada

contents

On the cover:

brett kissel

From Alberta to Nashville. 16/ cover Photo: courtesy of warner music canada

NEWs + Opinion

one heckuva run

can we talk?

Jungle Jim Hunter’s unorthodox road to the Olympics. 4 / Local

Our thoughts on Neil Young and the oilsands debate. 8 / Editorial

the art of scouting

comments

Russ Kutzak’s life on the road. 6 / Local

Here’s what you had to say about level crossings. 10 / comments

culture

Q + A with the wilderness of manitoba.

On new musical directions. 12 / Q + A

mmmm ribs

Untangling a tangled mess

We visit Mr. Rib’s.

Strawberries in January. 14 / Arts

18 / Food + Drink

Music

the art of misdirection

The Almighty Voice, Down With Webster + The Head And The Heart.

Alexa Hainsworth’s Mimicry. 15 / Arts

19 / music

entertainment

listings Local music listings for January 24 through February 1. 20 / listings

devil’s due + inside llewyn davis

on the bus Weekly original comic illustrations

by Elaine M. Will. 30 / comics

The latest movie reviews. 22 / Film

Nightlife Photos

Games + Horoscopes

We visited The Colonial + Original Joe’s. 24 / Nightlife

Canadian criss-cross puzzle, horoscopes, and Sudoku. 31 / timeout

homes Neighbourhood breakdown, real (estate) love + more

verbnews.com @verbsaskatoon facebook.com/verbsaskatoon Please recycle after reading & sharing

32 / Homes

Editorial

Business & Operations

Publisher / Parity Publishing Editor in Chief / Ryan Allan Managing Editor / Jessica Patrucco staff Writers / Adam Hawboldt + Alex J MacPherson Contributing writer / rory maclean

Office Manager / Stephanie Lipsit account Manager / nathan holowaty sales Manager / Vogeson Paley Financial Manager / Cody Lang

ART & Production

Comments / feedback@verbnews.com / 306 881 8372

contact

Design Lead / andrew yanko graphic designer / bryce kirk Contributing Photographers / Patrick Carley, ishtiaq opal + adam hawboldt

advertise / advertise@verbnews.com / 306 979 2253

music

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design / layout@verbnews.com / 306 979 8474 General / info@verbnews.com / 306 979 2253

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Photo: Courtesy of sask. hall of fame

One heckuva run Jungle Jim Hunter talks about his life, career, and the ’72 Olympic Games by ADAM HAWBOLDT

J

ungle Jim Hunter’s ski racing career began with a punch in the face It was the winter of 1964. The eleven-year-old Hunter was at the Whitefish Mountain Resort in Montana with his family. He had these old wooden skis he’d inherited when some friends of the Hunters moved from Saskatchewan. Fearing nothing, Hunter strapped the wooden skis to his feet and went bombing down the hill.

“I’d done maybe two or three runs, and when I got down to bottom of the hill this ski patroller pulls me out of the lift line and says, ‘Hey kid, I’m taking your lift ticket.’”

The young Hunter assured the man he was most definitely not taking his ticket.

The ski patroller thought otherwise. This is when the punch was thrown. “Dad had always taught us to stand up for ourselves,” says Hunter. “And at that time, I didn’t realize the ski patrol actually had the right to take my lift ticket so I turned around and went after the guy.

Surprised him and caught him with a shot in the nose. He was bleeding all over the snow.”

The head of the Whitefish ski school intervened, told Hunter to stay put and pulled the ski patrol to the side for a chat. When he returned to talk with Hunter, he asked the young boy how long he’d been skiing. Hunter told him the truth: three days. Understandably shocked, the ski school instructor was incredulous, telling Hunter he’d just outskied his best patroller.

“I can’t help it,” said Hunter. “It’s not my fault he’s slow.”

After that, things happened quickly. The head of the ski school had a chat with Hunter’s father, asked if his son could be on his ski team.

Seeing as they lived in Saskatchewan that wasn’t an option, but the invite lit a spark in Hunter’s dad’s mind.

Next thing Hunter knew, he had a new pair of skis (metal this time) and his family was moving from the Saskatchewan to Calgary so that Jim could become a ski racer.

Which is pretty amazing, considering that barely two years earlier Jim Hunter was in a coma.

Sometimes all it takes is one moment, one brief, fleeting second to

forever change the trajectory of your life.

For Jim Hunter, that moment came when he was nine years old.

It was spring time. Flowers were blooming, trees were budding, and Jim Hunter was horsing around with his brother at their parents’ farmhouse in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan. Jumping up and down on a bed.

“I was doing flips,” recalls Hunter.

“And at one point I missed the bed entirely and hit my head on the cement floor. Split it wide open. I ended up in a coma.”

Before the accident Hunter had been a star hockey player in Shaunavon, a straight-A student, too. But after the accident, after he cracked his skull open on that floor, everything changed.

“All of a sudden I went from this kid with so much potential to a kid in a coma,” says Hunter. “At first the doctors told my parents I probably wasn’t going to live. It went from that to ‘He’s stabilized and may live, but when he wakes up he’ll be a vegetable,’ to ‘He might be okay, but you’ll have to change his diapers and feed him the rest of his life,’ to ‘He’ll never do anyContinued on next page »

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thing active again, but if the swelling goes down he may be okay. He just may never be the same again.’”

Then one day, about three months after the accident, Hunter woke up.

“I looked up and said ‘Who are you?’,” recalls Hunter. “I didn’t know anybody. I didn’t know names. I didn’t know how to add or subtract.

How to read or write … everything was scrambled, everything was a mess. Basically, I was starting over with the intellect and mindset of a four year old.”

Turns out that was both a blessing and a curse for Hunter.

A curse because Hunter went from being a star pupil to the kid

part comes in. “You have to realize, I was only about four years old mentally. I had no fear. When I started skiing I felt alive. I had a second chance at life. So I said ‘Let’s go! Let’s rock it!’”

And rock it he did.

Hunter perfected his tuck in the bed of his father’s pick-up truck as it sped down country roads. Practiced his slalom turns while being pulled behind the truck down corduroy roads, across stubble fields. Honed his jumping skills launching off a six-foot-high jump and flying 150 feet to the opposite blue line of the snow-covered backyard rink his father had built.

When I started skiing I felt alive. I had a second chance at life. jim hunter

who was terrified he was going to be called on in class. The kids teased him, calling him names like blockhead and retard.

“I couldn’t remember things.

I didn’t fit in,” says Hunter. “I used to be the first person to put my hand up in class, but after the accident I just wanted to hide.

My personality changed. I became very withdrawn.”

Hunter’s parents looked for ways to bring him out of that. They found it in skiing. That’s where the blessing

Hunter did all this because he dreamt, one day, of being an Olympic athlete. His dream came true less than a decade later, when he became part of the Canadian ski team known as the Crazy Canucks.

At the age of 18, Jungle Jim Hunter represented Canada in 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan.

“My mindset heading into those games was really quite silly,” says Hunter. “I went there with the attitude

I was going to win. Nobody could convince me otherwise. The thing is, I’d never really done anything to prove that I could beat the best in the world.

My best finish internationally, to that point, was a second place finish in a run in California.”

But Hunter was young, he was brash, and he was confident. He placed twentieth in the downhill at Sapporo, eleventh in the giant slalom, nineteenth in the slalom. Good enough results to earn him a bronze medal in the alpine combined event.

It was a medal that, because it was awarded by the FIS (the International Ski Federation), some don’t consider it an Olympic medal.

Hunter isn’t one of those people.

“If you look at my results, racing at the Olympics against the best in the world, and put them together, look at the combined, I was third best in Sapporo,” says Hunter. “If you’re in the Olympic Games, competing, and you finish third overall, well, I think that’s an Olympic medal. It’s just not the way they did it in those days.”

When the games were over Hunter returned home to Canada expecting a hero’s welcome.

It didn’t happen.“I got off the plane and nobody was there to greet me,” remembers Hunter.

“That was heartbreaking. You get told you’re going to represent your country, you’re going to wear the maple leaf over your heart, over your head, over your hands … and then I come home, got off plane and had to take a taxi home. It made me wonder why I did all of it.”

That didn’t deter Hunter, though.

He kept training and in 1976 represented Canada again, this time at the Innsbruck Olympics in Austria.

In part due to an injury (cracked ribs) sustained in his last practice run before his first race, Hunter failed to duplicate his Sapporo performance.

But when he looks back on it now — on his Olympic days, his racing career, the legacy he left behind as the catalyst for the Crazy Canucks ski team — Hunter is still

kind of amazed that a kid from Saskatchewan, a kid who once spent three months in a coma, could accomplish all that.

And to think it all started because of a punch in the nose. Go figure.

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The Art of Scouting Russ Kutzak and the life of a WHL scout by

G

ames at the John Reid Memorial Bantam AAA Hockey Tournament start at 8am every morning. But for Russ Kutzak, the day starts a lot earlier than that.

For Kutzak, the Regina Pats’ traveling scout, weekend hockey tournaments like this one mean he’s waking up well before sunrise, somewhere in the neighbourhood of 6am. There’s a shower to be had, morning rituals to go through, breakfast to be eaten, and the day’s schedule to be prepared.

“You have to line up all the teams you want to see beforehand,” says Kutzak, now in his 11th year as a WHL scout. “At a tournament like this, you’re running back and forth between three rinks. So you have to pinpoint the games you want to watch, the players you want to see, and have all your rosters in a row so when you get there, for the first game of the day, you open your book and you have the two teams that are playing looking right at you.”

Once everything is organized, Kutzak heads to the rink. Usually he

gets there about a half hour before the first game. He watches the warm-ups, and takes his seat. After that, after the opening face-off, that’s when Kutzak really dials in. He has to. There’s so much to watch.

There are lots of players to see.

Big ones, small ones. Fast ones, slow ones. Tough and tender. You have to watch them while they’re on the ice and when they’re on the bench. You have to watch them when they have the puck, see what they do without the puck. You have to assess their skating, hockey IQ, and compete level.

Watch all that, and eventually you’ll see something you like. Something your team will need.

“It’s hard to explain, but some players just jump out at you,” says Kutzak. “Some players show themselves easy, others you really have to look at. Again and again. The ones that jump out, they’re the ones you want playing on your team. A good player, you’ll spot him. Think of it like this: say you’re at a race track and there are a bunch of old cars, then you have this brand new, souped up Continued on next page »

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Photo: Courtesy of intersubjectiv

ADAM HAWBOLDT car sitting there too. You’re going to notice that vehicle. It’s kind of the same thing with scouting.”

The life of a WHL scout is a life of travel.

Based out of Winnipeg, Russ Kutzak spends a good deal of his winter driving around Manitoba, and heading to tournaments in Regina and Saskatoon. And the winters in Western Canada being what they are, it’s not always easy.

“Some days are tough,” says Kutzak. “Don’t get me wrong, most days you love it. It’s fantastic. But every now and then you get the odd trip when it’s snowy and blowy and you ask yourself ‘What the heck am I doing?’”

Kutzak had one such trip a few years ago.

“One game I went to watch a team play in Brandon,” remembers Kutzak. “It was a beautiful day when I left. I got there, watched the game. And when I got out of the rink at about 10pm it was snowing like you wouldn’t believe. Took me

almost five hours to get home to Winnipeg. It was white-knuckled the whole way. My wife was with me and she said, ‘You know what?

You’re crazy doing this.’ And maybe I am, but like I said, most days you just love it.”

It’s precisely that love, that passion, every good scout needs to be good at what they do.

And Kutzak? He’s good at what he does. While scouting with the Moose Jaw Warriors in the early days of his career he helped bring in guys like Dustin Boyd, Troy Brouwer and Kyle Brodziak (all three of whom went on to play in the NHL). With the Saskatoon Blades, he scouted and helped bring in players like Duncan Siemens (taken #11 overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft), Dalton Thrower (#51 overall in 2012) and Josh Nicholls (#180 in 2012).

Now he’s trying to find similar talent for the Pats organization.

That’s why he’s at the John Reid Memorial tournament in Alberta.

That’s why he spends so many of his winter weekends on the road — he

loves his job and he wants to make his team better.

The days spent scouting bantam hockey tournaments are long. The first games start at 8am, you don’t finish until 10pm. Other than a brief break for lunch, you’re in rinks the entire time. It’s hockey, hockey, hockey, all day long.

And it’s not just a matter of watching each game, looking for the players that jump out. There’s an art to scouting. Not only are you studying players, you’re also formulating something called a projection.

“A lot of guys are good, but you have to try to figure out how good they’re going to be down the line,” says Kutzak.

No easy task when the players that you’re watching are just 14 years old.

“The bigger guys, they’re a little klutzy at that age,” says Kutzak.

“You look at a guy and think, he’s got to become a better skater. He’s got a good shot, smart with the puck, but he’s sluggish, awkward.

Then you look at a guy that’s 5’9” he’s a scooter. He’s going, he’s busy, you see him. But, at the end of the day, that’s all he’s going to be.”

Here Kutzak pauses, and screams echo in the rink behind him. And he says, “You know, it’s almost like buying a lotto ticket. You might have the winning number, you might not.”

Then it’s time for Kutzak to get back to work. There are more games to watch today, a late-night dinner with other Pats scouts, more hockey to be talked about before the weekend is over and he can head home to Winnipeg.

But even then, even on the way home from the games, it’s still hockey, hockey, hockey.

“You don’t just shut down when a tournament is over,” says Kutzak.

“You’re sitting in the airport doing reports, chatting with other scouts.

No matter where you are you’re always assessing the players in your mind. Always thinking hockey.”

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Can we talk?

Measured, rational dialogue is the only way to move forward in the oilsands debate

I

f you have picked up a newspaper lately, turned on the television, or visited a news or social media site on the Internet, chances are you’ve heard about Neil Young and this whole oilsands debate/pissing contest.

If not, a quick recap: the legendary rocker has recently completed his four-stop Honour the Treaties tour, aimed at raising money for the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations’ legal defense (the Alberta First Nation wants to halt further oilsands development on their land). And we think that’s fine. If celebrities want to raise money for causes that matter to them, go for it. It’s even fine if Neil Young wants to hold a news conference and say he’s anti-oilsands. It’s a free country, and people can say what they want.

But when both sides of the oilsands debate — or any environmental issue in this country, for that matter — come out using incendiary and hyperbolic language, reducing the issue to an us-or-them derivative, then progress, in any direction, is halted. And that’s why we think people on both sides of the issue need to chill out on the rhetoric and work towards meaningful and productive dialogue.

Unfortunately for the sentiment behind Young’s Honour the Treaties tour, that didn’t happen. Instead of looking at the situation facing the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation pragmatically, from whichever side of the debate you fall on, the exaggerated language kicked off almost immediately. Young likened the oilsands to Hiroshima, and that’s when the problems started.

In case you haven’t noticed, the oil industry is a very divisive issue

in our country. On the one side you have those who are anti-oil, who think the oilsands are all that’s wrong and rotten in this country. And there are those who fall on the opposite end of the spectrum. There are people out there like Brad Wall (who came out and condemned Young for his comments), who stand firmly in support of the oilsands. Some believe the oilsands are the economic engine that drive this country, and that they must continue to grow at all costs.

It’s time both sides stopped all the hyperbolic blustering and, instead of taking potshots at one another, sit down, put a smile on their faces (or at least stop growling and spitting venom for a few minutes), open their minds and begin a healthy dialogue on the subject. After all, wildly partisan approaches to the issue harm the overall intentions of both sides.

Look: no meaningful, productive activity comes out of trading barbs. And we’re not the only ones who think that. In 2012, the Canada West Foundation, a Calgary-based research group, released a report titled Keeping Pace: Improving Environmental Decision Making in Canada. In it, the foundation argued that, “People are defaulting to polarized positions rather than seeking deep engagement on solutions.

People are not coming together but drifting apart. Conflict is easier than problem solving.”

The report goes on to say that,“the debate has become characterized by deeply divided camps that hinder attempts to achieve consensus” and that “we need to break down the silos that hamper effective … cooperation; [and] move beyond the polarized thinking that smothers consensus.”

Here, here!

If both sides were able to effectively do that, maybe they’d realize some things. Perhaps the anti-oilsands group could recognize that while there is still a lot of work to be done on the environmental front of the oil industry, Canada still has some of the most stringent regulations on the planet when it comes to the oilsands and their development On the other side of that coin, maybe some sensible dialogue would make the more ardent, right-wing supporters realize that Canada isn’t a petro-state. That the oilsands don’t drive our economy (industry experts pegged it at approximately 2 per cent of the GDP in 2012, based on Stats Can figures). In fact, oil, gas and mining account for just 8.3 percent of our total economy.

All that we know is this oilsands debate isn’t good versus evil. And it shouldn’t be an us-versus-them kind of situation, either. If any progress is to be made — and it’s clear things can’t stay as they are — then cooler heads must prevail. We need discourse that’s inspired purely by emotion and visceral reaction to take a backseat to intelligent, rational discussion, so that public opinion is no longer woefully misled.

As the oft-misquoted Rodney King once said, “Can’t we all just get along?”

These editorials are left unsigned because they represent the opinions of Verb magazine, not those of the individual writers.

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On Topic: Last week we asked what you thought about moving level crossings out of the city. Here's what you had to say: – I remember reading a story a few years ago, how CP rail wouldn’t move their line out of the city because of all the businesses they service. I’m interested to know who, in downtown Saskatoon is using all this potash and oil?

Maybe someone from the railway could let me know...@mchfm

they have in Edmonton. The Forks is a great space too and a huge tourist draw for Winnipeg. Good restaurants, boutiques etc down there and walking paths Saskatoon would definately benefit from something like that.

text yo thoughtsur to 881 ve r b 8372

–Move those trains! Its a pain in my ass to get stopped on Preston on my way home for some effing train

– Agree get the trains out of the city. We have enough smart city planning and urban outlook now to understand how our city will grow and where best to move them to where they won’t have to do this in the future.

– Train derailed again last week near a residential neighbourhood in AB not deadly but imagine how horrible it would be if there was an explosion or something.

– The times of day I get stuck at a crossing in the city seems to be around lunch or shortly after five when everyone is trying to get home. It’s bloody ridiculous.

– We’ve been hearing about plans to relocate the railway for 40 yrs.

One included replacement with electric rapid transit. I’ll believe it when it happens!

– Yes! I can’t believe in 2014 we can be driving through a bustling city and actually be stopped because of a train. We are only getting bigger.

We need to adress this now!

– I HATE THE TRAINS!

– Yes to moving level crossings and train yards out of city. They are taking up prime realestate that could be used more effectively to better our city. And getting stuck in traffic behind a 100+ car train is bloody stupid

– There has been promises to move the rail yards for as long as I can remember I’m pretty sure it’s more headache than listening to citizens grumble about being stuck in cars at a level crossing. Would love to see it happen tho

– Level crossings have got to go and they need to go now. Saskatoon is just getting bigger they say that all the time. We are expanding out, our population is increasing, people are coming here to work.

We need to bite the bullet and get this done.

– I understand the trains rolling through the city are a pain for you, poor Verb, but where exactly do you propose to put them?

– I like the idea of turning the railyards into something like what

– Theres nothing more rage enducing than waiting at a train knowing you have nowhere to go and being late for something. Everyone can relate to that!!

– There’s worse things in world then getting stuck at a train for a few minutes

– I think looking to what Winterpeg did with the forks is good it’s a great space right in the city that is busy good for local economy lots of people families out walking always busy good places to eat like lots of what is happening around farmers market and 20 but situated near old railyards would love to see something like that here!

– Dangerous to have those trains going through residential areas do we even know what is on them?

OFF TOPIC – I disagree with the texter who wrote in about the Wicca story. I think it’s wonderful to read about something that I don’t have any

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experience with personally. It seems like a spiritual and connected relationship to nature.

People need to be less bigoted and judgemental and more open to what’s different from them.

– The buses that have the windows covered suck ! I like to look out the window ! Take the transit .take the crap off the windows !

In response to “The truth about witches,”

– Buffy, Twilight dude thats hundreds of yrs old with a teenage chick? Pedophelia and father complex to the extreme! Eeewww!

Gross to the extreme!

Local, #272 (January 10, 2014)

– Could not leave Earth to start a new life on Mars. The thought of going into space terrifies me. The closest I will get to space is watching Space Jam on the big screen..

In response to “Voyage to the red planet,” Local, #273 (January 17, 2014)

– Watch pigeons fly. There’s a mix a balance of conformists and individualists that keeps the flock from becoming too much of either in flight.

– It is terrifying to think of going up to space, not knowing what you’re really in for when you get there but knowing you are for sure never ever coming back to earth or going to see your loved ones. I totally couldn’t go.

– Can not believe the vitriolic rants from some scribblers about Neil Young. After all his message is that sh**ting in your nest is not smart regardless of the profit

In response to “Voyage to the red planet,”

– Whose take on Fort Mac is more correct--Harper’s, the Oil CEOs, Neil Youngs or that presented on FUBAR II??

Local, #273 (January 17, 2014)

– I liked hearing from an actual woman in the stripping industry what she thought about the laws and how they impact her business. I never thought about having to get out to a small town in winter and what that would entail. I am very against relegating strip clubs to only being in the industrial area very unsafe, near impossible to get buses or taxis from if you are leaving especially if it’s late at night. It’s a stupid rule designed to protect idiot middle classers into thinking the purity of there neighbourhoods is intact when clearly pretending like something isn’t real or happening isn’t any way to solve it or make it better.

When I hear all over the world people are killing and hurting each other. That’s not the way it was meant to be. There is a better way. Be nice to someone today and pay it forward. You will be better off.

– Hey i thought I started paying a bunch more taxes this year so that roads were better. Do they mean in the summer cuz theres some ruts in the road to my house and its not good to drive on

– Re. Got Land texts. I agree. I think it’s important to realize where Canada came from, and there’s no offense in the shirt at all, unless your an insecure ass no swear words it’s not disrespectful.

Let her wear what she wants!

– There are some crazy rude and awful drivers out there. Saw three almost accidents and some agressive parking lot action. Everyone just needs to realax!

– I saw you and I know what you did. I think it was rude and you’re a horrible person for treating them that way. k

– I’m glad I know sign language, it’s pretty handy :D

– Some times its important to remember how lucky you are.

– Just wanted to wish my baby bro a happy birthday! He loves you Verb so please print this! <3 you millky lol xoxo

– Hey I’m ready now come whenever

– Parking downtown is ridiculous the city needs to figure this out. It’s impossible to find a spot we need to get these things fixed.

Next week: What do you think about the Neil Young oilsands debate? Text in your thoughts to Verb to get in on the conversation:

We print your texts verbatim each week. Text in your thoughts and reactions to our stories and content, or anything else on your mind.

– Neil Young lost me at the hiroshima comment and thats to bad because i like him and what he was trying to do

– Who cares about Neil young anyways some old hippy mouthing off oilsands provide people here with a lot of jobs so be careful

– Do we need to villianize punish anyone for safe ethical prostitution? Given all the other forms of human trade it seems natural. It just needs to be regulated.

In response to “The times, they are a’ changing,” Local, #273 (January 17, 2014)

sound off – It’s hard to explain puns to kleptomaniacs because they always take things literally.

– When you can’t walk around with a smoke without sombody asking for one your DOWNtown!

– I wish people would realize that we were not meant to be against each other in this world.

We should help each other.

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There and back again

Photos: courtesy of jennifer rowsom

The Wilderness of Manitoba’s Will Whitwham on new musical directions and a return to old principles

by Alex J MacPherson

E

volution takes thousands, if not tens of thousands of years.

For the Wilderness of Manitoba, a folk-rock band from Toronto, that timeframe has been compressed. Since emerging in the autumn of 2009, the band has released three albums and a pair

Island of Echoes retained singer Will Whitwham’s distinctive voice and fondness for elaborate vocal harmonies, it also dabbled in electric guitars and even some spacey, atmospheric noises. The songs themselves emerged as an ode to the raw power of nature, and by extension man’s struggle

of EPs, experienced significant lineup changes and toured two continents. In late 2012 the band released Island of Echoes, a sprawling, fifty-minute collection of delicate, emotionally charged folk songs. The record bridged the gap between the band’s past and future. While

against the elements. But last year the band — which now consists of Whitwham, Amanda Balsys, Wes McClintock, and Sean Lancaric — released The Leslieville Sessions, a strippeddown, live-off-the-floor EP cut in a single afternoon. The new EP, something Whitwham likes to

think of as both an experiment and a snapshot in time, reflects not only changes in the band’s lineup, but also the group’s natural restlessness. Never content to repeat themselves or satisfy anyone but themselves, the Wilderness of Manitoba have demonstrated once again that their Continued on next page »

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evolutionary process is ongoing — and even Whitwham doesn’t know where it will end.

Alex J MacPherson: It’s been a busy couple of years for your band, which is saying a lot considering how much music you’ve released.

Will Whitwham: I’ve always been under the impression that we can do an album a year. It can be either a really short little thing or it can be a big long thing, it doesn’t really matter. I’ve always wanted to put out at least one a year because we tour a lot and especially nowadays you need content, you need new things to take on the road with you.

AJM: Island of Echoes is the biggest, most expansive thing you’ve ever released, and a big change from your other records. Why do you think it went in the direction it did?

WW: I think mostly because we were playing a lot of nightclubs and up to that point we’d been a pretty quiet folk band — we’d play a lot of house shows and every kind of alternative venue, and we loved doing stuff like that. Then there was more of a demand to play, like, Mr. Smalls in Pittsburgh where the Smashing Pumpkins played, or the Williamsburg Music Hall in Brooklyn. Those are big rooms.

I just knew that we needed more of

unconsciously, affects the direction a band goes in.

WW: Yeah, exactly. The way the band is living every day, I always find that whatever jumps you take in any direction — like, I want to take this sound from that arrangement or this sound from that band, or this sound from that era — you only end up arriving back at yourself. Someone said to me, ‘you can only change ten percent of your personality.’ I think musically you’ll always arrive back at the way the band sounds. You can really widen the sound, but you always arrive back at sort of your own niche.

AJM: Which is in your case folk, although it strikes me that you interpret folk as an ethic or a process rather than an aesthetic.

WW: I definitely think folk’s become sort of an exploited, commodified thing, particularly in the last two years. It’s just like anything else, there’s a cycle to it. Just like breakdancing and Coca-Cola in the eighties. Folk has taken on this thing where a lot of people refer to folk band X or Y, whoever it is, and it’s just pop music played on acoustic instruments. Obviously on the new album we’re about to start recording there’s probably not going to be a whole lot of acoustic sound, and I think for lack of a better description it won’t be as folky. But the songwriting is always

…if a band isn’t evolving then they’re not growing, and then it’s just a matter of time until you face the fate of all bands… will whitwham

a wider sound just to be able to play in these venues at night. And when people go out on a Friday night, they don’t necessarily want to hear a quiet folk band. They might like folk music, but you maybe have to add a different energy to it and up the BPMs. That’s kind of what happened on the road that whole time.

AJM: It’s interesting how changing circumstances, either consciously or

there. I think from a songwriting approach we definitely love folk music, but from the traditional folk, I think we’re stretching ourselves far from that — and hopefully even further from this folk-pop sort of new thing that I’m talking about.

AJM: The other aspect that brings Island Of Echoes back to the roots of folk music is the reference to nature as this awe-inspiring, romantic force.

WW: Yeah, it’s definitely a romanticizing aspect. I think I’ve always just looked at nature as this incredible thing that’s so much bigger than we are, and for that it’s just such a great vehicle for symbolism and metaphor because you can get really universal and accessible with it, and at the same time very personal, but you don’t have to be literal. I think I’ve always just really disliked songs that are very, ‘I and you,’ where it’s very direct. Like, ‘I have to tell you something important and it’s important that I love you,’ that kind of stuff. I can’t listen to that kind of music and feel that it’s come by honestly; I just feel that the stakes aren’t high enough. When you’re dealing with nature and you’re writing about something like death, not being as direct about it, it’s really romantic to think about someone dying and also becoming part of nature.

Then you can write about nature as opposed to writing directly about them, and still maybe have the idea subconsciously come across.

AJM: And then there’s The Leslieville Sessions, which is completely different.

Was it lineup changes, or maybe something else, that prompted you to strip away all the excess and record live?

sound was a lot more. It was like pressing this reset button. We got to rebuild the songs from the bottom up again. And the four of us went on that tour and came back in mid or late November, and we decided we wanted to record that arrangement, but we didn’t really have any new songs we wanted to do. So our manager, Graham, suggested we go in and do a live-off-the-floor thing and promote the album down south, because we were going to South by Southwest and all that. That was the next chapter.

AJM: It seems like you’re totally fearless about going in new directions, exploring new ideas. That narrative of expansion is at this point one of the main stories surrounding the band.

WW: I can definitely say from experience that there are people who don’t like it when we get louder and are really connected to our first EP, which was like hushed whispers in the basement kind of quiet music. I respect the fact that people like what they like, and I’m very much the same way: I hold

on to the bands I like and the music I listen to. But the bands I like most are not bands that have one really good EP and an album; they usually have about eight albums, and for that period of time none of it sounds the same, because if it did it would just wear itself down, and the band — they’re humans — will get tired of playing the same way. Every release the band has to change something about themselves. I was just saying this yesterday to someone, if a band isn’t evolving then they’re not growing, and then it’s just a matter of time until you face the fate of all bands, which is breaking up.

So evolving is the only way.

Wilderness of Manitoba January 30 @ Vangelis Tavern $10 (advance @ ticketedge.ca, Vangelis or Beaumont Film + Record); $12 (door)

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WW: The band sort of altered itself into a four-piece. We were this fourpiece touring Island Of Echoes, this album, that’s what that tour was all about. While the four of us were on the road we were playing the songs in this different way. It was a lot more about Amanda [Balsys] and I singing most of the vocals, and Wes [McClintock] sort of chiming in here and there. We just started to play the songs differently, and I remember the first show we did like that was at Guelph University and Amanda was really nervous, she’s like, ‘I’ve never had this much room onstage with this band.’ I think she found it kind of daunting at first but I remember being enlightened by it, realizing that there were all these possibilities where all that space was.

AJM: So those new arrangements, new ways of playing the songs led to The Leslieville Sessions?

WW: We sort of learned to play that way on the road and all of us realized that we liked how the

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Photos: courtesy of persephone theatre

untangling a tangled mess Actor Jaron Francis on the entwined love lives that fuel Strawberries in January

by Alex J MacPherson

B

efore Jaron Francis could take on the role of Francois in Evelyne de la Chenelière’s Strawberries in January, he had to read and understand one of the most complex scripts he had ever encountered.

“It is definitely tangled,” the Saskatoon actor says of the play, which was written in 1999 and follows four characters as their love lives begin to unravel. “It’s been our job to sort of untangle it enough to make sense of it — and then re-tangle it because that’s the way it’s supposed to be presented. I think if we do our job right it will be a very fun tangled mess to watch” Strawberries in January, which was translated from the French by Morwyn Brebner, unfolds in the bars, cafés, and apartments of downtown Montreal. The story follows aspiring screenwriter and full-time barista

Francois as his social circle devolves into a morass of confused interaction and unrequited love. To summarize: Fracois’s relationship with his roommate and best friend Sophie is more that it seems, at least from one side. Then he befriends Robert, who may be just the man Sophie has been looking for. Until Lea shows up, that is. The situation is further complicated by the same storytelling device Martin Amis used to illuminate London Fields — Francois’s stillunfinished screenplay.

“I think this is about as complicated and challenging as a romantic comedy can get,” Francis says. “It jumps around in time, it depicts things where earlier in the scene you see something that is completely the opposite and think, ‘okay, which one of these is the truth?’ And through the whole thing there’s a running story device where Francois is writing his screenplay concurrently with the story of his life

being played out. It establishes this constant questioning, are we seeing his screenplay, what actually happens through a lens of his? Or are we actually seeing what happens?”

The challenges created by de la Chenelière’s manic, deeply ambitious script are tempered by the raw honesty and earnestness of the four characters. Francois, Sophie, Robert, and Lea are all damaged people, the electrical surge of love having shortcircuited their capacity for rationality. In other words, they do strange things. “The play is about people who are all in love in some way,” Francis says of the four characters. “When your emotional self becomes overwhelmed like that, sometimes your actions don’t make a lot of logical sense.” But illogic does not preclude understanding. The four characters in Strawberries in January may do strange, seemingly bizarre things, but their actions are never incomprehensible to the audience.

Put another way, Strawberries in January is about logical, sensible people behaving in illogical, insensible ways. The characters are defined by contradictions, the action by uncertainty. But while nothing in the play is obvious, de la Chenelière’s script presents a series of facts and asks the audience — most of whom will be able to relate to the feeling of unrequited love or the absurd situations it sometimes creates — to make up their own minds. “With some plays, that might be asking too much,” Francis says. “I think the reason it works with this play is what’s going on substance-wise is so universal. Everybody can understand the idea of caring about somebody who maybe doesn’t return the feelings in the same way. Or maybe you think they do, but for whatever reason they can’t get past their hesitation. That’s so universal and I think anybody can key into that — and be charmed by that.”

Strawberries in January Through Feb 9 @ Persephone Theatre $23–39 @ Persephone Box Office Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

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The art of misdirection

Photos: courtesy of alexa hainsworth

Alexa Hainsworth’s Mimicry blurs the line between perception and reality

by Alex J MacPherson

A

lexa Hainsworth’s Mimicry does not do exactly what the title suggests. The installation is not about disguise or concealment; it is about presentation and subversion.

By distorting the familiar and making the comforting grotesque, Hainsworth challenges both perception and expectation. Mimicry evokes the look and feel of the organic world, yet it is constructed entirely from synthetic materials. Its natural lines and uterine shape attract, while its engineered colours and gaping protrusions repel. Like some hideous creature from the black depths of the sea — or perhaps the

organic, but is very much not made organically. Because I see these as kind of living objects that have these personalities, I kind of think that they’re playing a joke on us by pretending.” After a pause she laughs and says, “Maybe that has something to do with me.”

Hainsworth, who finished her master of fine arts degree at the University of Saskatchewan last year, began her career as a painter before experimenting with textiles, sculptures, and installations. Unlike paintings, sculptures are not restricted by a frame; they exist not within the confines of the canvas, but within the gallery. With Mimicry, the art gallery ceases to be a space for exhibiting

It’s something that’s trying so hard to look organic… alexa hainsworth

prospect of a return to amniotic stasis — Mimicry is both compelling and horrifying. It is an open question about the validity of what we see and what we feel.

“It’s a bit of humour, I guess,” Hainsworth says before stealing a glance at the installation, a squat agglomeration of synthetic textiles and cotton batting studded with anemone-like tentacles that reposes beneath a web of string and stretched pink spandex. “It’s something that’s trying so hard to look

artwork and becomes instead part of the installation. The overarching web effectively drops the ceiling and colours the light; it pushes and prods the viewer into the revulsionattraction dichotomy on which the installation hinges.

But Hainsworth says the exhibition sprang not from some conceptual framework, but from the laborious nature of working with textiles. “I’m a little compulsive and O.C.D.,” she says with a laugh and a

smile, “so I will make a shape, and then I’ll make that shape a hundred times. I know that when spandex is illuminated it does give off this glow, and I thought by doing the canopy thing underneath these lights that it would make the room this kind of warm pink. It’s otherworldly, making it feel like the air itself is pink.” This pink hue, created by the canopy of pink spandex slices, only heightens the tension between fascination and disgust — and the light it casts over the shiny synthetic fabrics softens the harsh metallic lustre of the fabric she chose.

This misdirection is crucial to grasping the essence of Mimicry.

Hainsworth’s installation is meant to raise uncomfortable questions about fear and disgust, love and attraction.

By transforming an agglomeration of synthetic material into something that looks vaguely organic, she causes contrasting impulses to collide. There are, of course, no right answers. But Mimicry was never meant to provide an answer. It was intended to raise questions about the world we inhabit — a world in which theatrical set-pieces can pass for the real thing and man-made items have the same look and feel of something nature took thousands of years to create. “Even though it’s alluring,” Hainsworth says, “it’s also creepy.”

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Mimicry Through February 6 @ Frances Morrison Library Gallery

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From Northern Alberta To Nashville Photo: courtesy of Warner Music Canada

Brett Kissel’s rise up the country charts and his major label debut, Started With A Song by Alex J MacPherson

O

ne morning, a few summers ago, Brett Kissel awoke to a persistent knocking at his bedroom door. A glance at the clock revealed the time: 6:45 a.m.

Kissel had been asleep for just a few hours; getting up was a distinctly unappealing proposition.

The night before, Kissel and his band had played to a capacity crowd at the Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, Alberta, one of the largest country music festivals in Canada. His set ran long and the autograph line was longer; by the time he returned to his grandparents’ ranch, near Flat Lake, Alberta, the first rays of sunshine were streaking across

the eastern sky. But instead of rolling over and going back to sleep, Kissel hauled himself out of bed and went to work.

“No matter what I do, even if it’s playing in front of twentyfive thousand people, once I get home, work needs to be done,” he later said. “It doesn’t matter who I am onstage.” Kissel grew up on a ranch and can drive a tractor as well as anybody, but lately his life has been consumed by a very different kind of work.

Late last year, the twenty-threeyear-old singer released Started With A Song, his major label debut, and sent a pair of singles spiralling up the charts. Even today he seems bemused by his

own success. On “Canadian Kid” he sings, “It was northern Alberta and nobody thought / That the kid from the farm would amount to a lot.” But he has.

Kissel’s music career began shortly before his seventh birthday, when his grandfather presented him with a guitar ordered through the Sears catalogue. Three years later, Kissel was performing Johnny Cash songs at talent shows, his young voice ringing out two octaves higher than the Man in Black’s original recordings. Just two years later, Kissel played his first paying gig, a show at the local 4-H club that netted him a cool $50.

From that moment, he knew how his life would be spent. And he Continued on next page »

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worked hard to make it happen. Between 2003 and 2008, he recorded and released four independent albums and played shows in bars and clubs across western Canada.

His strong songs, enthusiastic performances, and easy charm began to generate attention in the country music world. His burgeoning career received a significant boost in 2012, when the NHL lockout prompted him to write a plea to his beloved Edmonton Oilers, “Hockey, Please Come Back.” The song was an

album Kissel has ever made. It is also the most unusual. Kissel grew up within the modern country tradition, an industry dominated by the specific guidelines of radio program directors, and the record is not short of country-tinged pop songs. But the best songs are those that explore his other influences — the music his parents and grandparents exposed him to. “You just have to put the best songs forward, but at the same time it was very important for me to showcase

a gaping wound that can never be fully closed. After he finished writing the song, Kissel had another idea — something that would have meant a lot to his grandparents. “Being such a traditional country fan, and given that my grandfather was a huge George Jones fan, I was able to get George Jones’s band to play on that track,” he says. “A very special thing I was able to do.”

“Together (Grandma & Grandpa’s Song)” is just one manifestation of Kissel’s desire to write songs that

I believe that you really only get one chance … you are either going to hit and succeed, or you won’t. brett kissel Photo: courtesy ofWarner Music Canada

unexpected hit; it was picked up by radio stations across the country, the music video viewed thousands of times online. And in 2013, Kissel inked a deal with Warner Music.

Less than a year later he released Started With A Song, “It’s interesting, because in some ways making a record is making a record,” Kissel says of writing and recording Started With A Song, which he made after moving to Nashville, Tennessee, the beating heart of the country music world.

“You need to work hard, you need to find or write great songs, and being in the studio is similar no matter what part of the world [you] may be in. On the flip-side of that, it was a night-and-day difference for me in terms of quality. The records I made in the past were always independent projects. They might have been made in a little bit of a rush and I never had the access to write with really great songwriters and I never had the opportunity to work with the top musicians in the world. Whereas with this project, being signed to the major label and having an incredible producer, [I could take] the music to the next level. I felt that it was night and day in terms of what we got out of the project from previous experiences.”

Started With A Song, which was released in October, is the best

who I am and where I’m from,” he says. “There are people that may have never heard of me out on the east coast or in Saskatchewan or wherever it may be, so I wanted to make sure there were songs on there like “Country In My Blood,” like “Canadian Kid,” that say, ‘this is who I am,’ while at the same time we have songs like “Started With A Song” and “Raise Your Glass,” that can be great party anthems.”

Put another way, Started With A Song explores both sides of country music — brash, upbeat rock songs and simple country weepers.

Kissel co-wrote most of the songs on the album with professional songwriters, including Craig Wiseman, a legend who has also worked with Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw.

Co-writing is common in Nashville, and tends to yield the slick, polished country-pop songs that have transformed modern country from a musical genre into a commercial behemoth. But the best cut on Started With A Song is the only one that doesn’t feature any additional songwriting credits. Kissel wrote “Together (Grandma & Grandpa’s Song)” after his grandparents were killed in a car wreck two years ago. It is a touching story about how young love strengthens with time, how two people come to rely on each other for so much, and how loss leaves

matter — and songs anybody can connect with. Started With A Song covers a fair amount of musical territory, but the songs are linked together by Kissel’s fondness for simple, profound stories. Some, like “Canadian Kid,” are about the raw experience of growing up in a small town. “Tough People Do” distills the lessons Kissel learned growing up on the ranch into an ode to his father. “3-2-1,” which evokes a decade of modern country with its entwined guitar and piano lines, is about a relationship that wasn’t met with acclaim, or even acceptance.

“It’s a completely different side of country music,” Kissel says of the song, which is slated to be released as a single in the coming weeks.

“It’s rock- and pop-driven with a melody, but that’s another side of the industry that’s really influenced me and another song I’m very proud of. It talks about myself and my girlfriend at the time — we didn’t get any kind of support from our friends or our family, then fastforward a couple of years and I was able to make her my wife. It was just one of those things, we had to stick together, and I think a lot of young couples face that.”

Started With A Song is the biggest, most ambitious project Kissel has ever taken on, and he is understandably excited about it. But

the music business is fickle, and he is not unaware of the risks inherent to any major release. “I believe that you really only get one chance when it comes to the music industry,” he says. “You’re either going to hit and succeed, or you won’t. Rewind thirty, forty years. One of my heroes, Buck Owens, had, I think, four records — four full records out — before he finally hit on his fifth record and became a gigantic star. Same thing with Johnny Cash.

But that’s not the way the music industry is today. It either works, or it doesn’t. And I was crossing my fingers, just hoping that this brand of country music was going to work. Why it worked or how it worked, I don’t know. But I’m very happy and proud that it did.”

The reason Started With A Song survived the gauntlet all successful albums must run is simple. Brett Kissel knows where he came from and who he is, and he refuses to pretend to be anybody else. He may live in Nashville, sing the anthem at NHL games, hobnob with the most popular singers in the world, and

make successful country albums, but in the end he is just a kid from a ranch in Alberta — a kid who loves hockey, cold beer, and his wife. And it never occurred to him to be anybody else. Which is why he got up, got dressed, and went to work after playing a sweaty set for twenty-five thousand screaming country fans at the Big Valley Jamboree. “Believe me, I’ve had some cool experiences,” he says with a laugh. “But at the end of the day, when I’m back at home around Christmastime, I still have to wake up at quarter to seven, bundle up in the cold, and drive the tractor and do chores. That’s just the way it is in our family. It doesn’t matter who you are.”

Brett Kissel February 4 @ Outlaws $21 @ Picatic Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

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Mmmm, ribs

Photos courtesy of Adam Hawboldt

Dry ribs at Mr. Ribs hit the spot by adam hawboldt

H

ere’s a confession: I’ve been to Mr. Ribs more times than I can count.

More than I’ve been to any other establishment in the city.

Why? Well, because it’s close to my house. Like, very close. Like that’s-

will be bought. And chances are, you’ll find me back at Mr. Ribs the next morning. This time on the dining side, sitting amongst the church crowd, feeding my hangover.

On mornings like this, I usually go for the traditional breakfast — two eggs over easy, bacon and some excellent hashbrowns. Every now and then, to shake things up, I go with the Mr. Ribs Breakfast Burger (poached egg, sausage and cheese on an English muffin).

And you know what? Outside of The Big Cheese pizza (cheddar, parmesan, mozza, feta and pizza sauce) I had there a few months back, breakfast was the only meal I’d ever actually eaten at Mr. Ribs.

So early last week I decided to change that, and wandered over to Mr. Ribs to have myself a meal.

It was mid-afternoon. The sun was shining. And as I sat there scanning the menu, I was thoroughly

my-neighbourhood-pub close. Ergo, I’m not unfamiliar, shall we say.

Most of the time I go to Mr. Ribs I sit on the lounge side, throw back a few beer and watch a bit of sports.

Maybe even slide some money in the VLTs and test my luck. And chances are, if I get lucky, more beer

let’s go drinkin’ Verb’s mixology guide Hangman’s Blood

Ingredients

Dry ribs aren’t the only thing that go with beer — just ask Anthony Burgess. The author of A Clockwork Orange used to drink this potent concoction when he was out having a good time.

2 oz of gin 2 oz of whiskey 2 oz of rum 2 oz of port 2 oz of brandy 1 bottle (or can) of stout beer 1 splash of champagne

Directions

Pour the gin, whiskey, rum, port and brandy into a tall glass.

Add a bottle of stout, top with champagne and serve.

indecisive. Mr. Ribs is a family restaurant, and their menu is one of the ones that has a little bit of everything on it. Burgers, pasta, ribs, pizza, fish — you name it.

Unable to decide, I ordered a pint of Rickard’s Red and kept looking.

The baby back ribs looked promising, so too did the cannelloni, but it hadn’t been too long since lunch and I wasn’t all that hungry. So I went to the appetizer menu and had a look.

A lot of my friends had told me that Mr. Ribs have some of the best dry ribs in town. Trusting their tastebuds, that’s what I went with.

My friends were right. The dry ribs were excellent. Big, huge pieces of moist meat, lightly battered.

Throw a bunch of lemon juice on there, and you have yourself one heckuva snack. I’d ordered a side of dill dip to go with it, but you know what? The dry ribs were so good with just lemon on top I barely touched the dip.

Mmmm — dry ribs and beer.

What better way to spend a chilly January afternoon?

Mr. Ribs 1945 McKercher Drive | (306) 477 3334 Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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music

Next Week

coming up

All Mighty Voice

Down with Webster

The Head and the Heart

@ Amigos Cantina Saturday, February 1st – Cover TBD

@ O’Brians Event Centre Sunday, February 2nd – $39.75

@ O’Brians Event Centre Tuesday, April 8th – $32.50

There’s something rugged and gritty about the music All Mighty Voice plays. But, at the same time, there’s something elegant about it, too. Building a wall of sound using an upright bass, piano, organ, drums, harmonica and electric and acoustic guitars, this folk quintet from Prince Albert plays the type of music that makes you want to kick back and chill. Consisting of Jordan Balicki, Lucy James, Abraham Lancaster, Shayne Lazarowich and Ian Dickson, All Mighty Voice have played a wide array of venues around Saskatchewan, including the Main Stage at the Ness Creek Music Festival. Their single “Movin’ On” appeared on Sask Music’s In Tune 2013, and they are currently hard at work on their first full-length album. Tickets available at the door.

It all began at a middle school talent show. The 1998 Glen Ames Senior Public School’s battle of the bands, to be precise. That’s when Pat Gillet and Tyler Armes first got together and performed in what would eventually become Down With Webster. By mid2003 they’d released an independent six-track record. And in 2010, with the release of their album Time to Win, Vol. 1, the rap/rock band from Toronto had officially blown up. The album went gold and three singles off the record were certified platinum in Canada. Since then Down With Webster has sold nearly 50,000 albums and almost 500,000 singles. Oh, and they’ve been nominated for a Juno, too. Come see them do their thing when they roll through Saskatoon in February.

Tickets through Ticketmaster.

One of the oldest struggles is that between the head and the heart. It’s a struggle that Josiah Johnson knows all too well. Back when The Head and the Heart — an indie rock band from Seattle — was being formed, the members figured that what they should do was forget music and get good jobs.

But in their hearts, Johnson, Jonathan Russell, Charity Rose Thielen, Chris Zasche, Kenny Hensley and Tyler Williams knew they just had to play music. The heart won, and the result has been a good one. They have toured with such acts as Vampire Weekend, and their songs have appeared on shows like How I Met Your Mother.

And their star is just beginning to burn as bright. Don’t miss them when they play O’Brians in April; tickets at obrianseventscentre.ca.

– By Adam Hawboldt

Photos courtesy of: the artist/ the artist/ the artist

Sask music Preview SaskMusic is putting out a call for love songs to include on Valentine’s Day playlists. Love it or hate it, Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, so to celebrate these opposing views SaskMusic has decided to curate two very different online playlists — “Love Rocks” and “Love Sucks” — featuring original Saskatchewan music, which will then be located on the radio player at www.saskmusic.org throughout February. Interested artists who have recorded songs that relate to either topic can submit them for consideration to https://saskmusic.wufoo.com/forms/valentines-radioplaylist-submissions/ by January 31 at 4pm.

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january 24 » february 1 The most complete live music listings for Saskatoon.

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Friday 24

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House DJs / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven up the atmosphere at 6Twelve. 9pm / No cover Dumb Angel / Amigos Cantina — Also appearing: Ride ‘til Dawn and Rick Reid.

10pm / Cover TBD

Troy MacGillivray / The Bassment — It’s piano Friday! 4:30pm / No cover Roots Series: Absofunkinlutely / The Bassment — Purveyors of stubble funk and Northern Soul. 9pm / $17/$23 DJ Aash Money / Béily’s UltraLounge — DJ Aash Money throws down a highenergy top 40 dance party every Friday night. 9pm / $5 cover Screamer / Buds — Come rock the night away. 10pm / Cover TBD Pokemon Stadium Pre-Party / Crown + Rok — EDM music to kick of the weekend. 8pm / $8 BPM / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin electro/vocal house music. 10pm / $5 Crestwood / Gillian Sniders House — Touching music for your listening pleasure. 8pm / $10+ DJ Eclectic / The Hose — Local turntable whiz DJ Eclectic pumps snappy

electronic beats all night long. 8pm / DJ Nick Ruston / Uncle Barley’s — No cover Come and check him out! 9pm / Cover DJ Stikman / Jax Niteclub — Kick off TBD your weekend with all your favourite party hits.. 9pm / $5 cover DJ Big Ayyy & DJ HENCHMAN / OutHouse DJs / 6Twelve — Resident DJs laws — Round up your friends ‘cause spin deep and soulful tunes all night. there’s no better country 9pm / No cover rock party around.

Cowpuncher / Amigos 8pm / $5; ladies Cantina — Awesome in free before alt-rock/roots mu11pm sic from Calgary.

Zeljko 10pm / Cover Bilandzic TBD / Prairie The Bob KlasInk — Flasen Octet w/ menco and Grant Currie classical / The Bassment guitar for — The elder your listenstatesman of jazz ing pleasure. in Saskatchewan.

Troy macgillivray COURTESY OF the artist 8pm / No cover 8:30pm / $15/$20 Chris Cole, Mateo DJ Aash Money + / Spadina Freehouse — DJ Sugar Daddy / Béily’s Good music, great times. 9pm UltraLounge — These two DJs throw / No cover down a dance party every Saturday The Rebels / Stan’s Place — A rockin’ night. 9pm / $5 cover good time at Stan’s. 9:30pm / No cover Activists Maguire / Buds on BroadDueling Pianos / Staqatto — Terry way — Rock from the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt 10pm / Cover TBD out classic tunes and audience requests.

BC Read / Bugsy’s — Local roots and 10pm / $5 blues. 9pm / No cover Party Rock Fridays / Tequila — Come SaturGAY Night / Diva’s — Resident tear it up on the dance floor. 9pm / DJs spin exclusive dance remixes every Cover TBD Saturday. 10pm / $5 DJ Kade / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon’s own DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover DJ Stikman / Jax Niteclub — Ladies night with DJ Stikman and the Jax party crew. 9pm / $5 cover DJ Goodtimes / Longbranch — Playing the hottest country music all night. 8pm / $4 cover Robbie Burns Concert / Louis — Featuring Wenches and Rogues and Across the Pond. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Big Ayyy & DJ Henchman / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Round up your friends ‘cause there’s no better country rock party around. 8pm / $5 Bobby C Sound TV / Public House — A DJ from Denver doing his audio/visual thing. 9pm / $20 New Born / Prairie Ink — Acoustic folk/rock. 8pm / No cover Iron Bison / Rock Bottom — A little blues and rock coming at you from this Regina-based band. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Fudge, Charly Hustle / Spadina Freehouse — Spinning music that’ll make you move. 9pm / No cover

Saturday 25

The Rebels / Stan’s Place — A rockin’ good time at Stan’s. 9:30pm / No cover Pokemon Stadium / Sutherland Hall — Two rooms, 14 DJs. An EDM extravaganza. You won’t want to miss this!

8pm / $15 (@ Jupiter, Vinyl Exchange, Lawson Mall) Dueling Pianos / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests, from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. 10pm / $5 Saturday Night Social / Tequila — Electronic Saturdays will have you moving and grooving. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Thorpdeo / Uncle Barley’s — Spinning hot tunes all night. 10pm / Cover TBD Johnny 2 Fingers and the Deformities / Vangelis — With Tangean Wall.

10pm / Cover TBD

Sunday 26

Industry Night / Béily’s UltraLounge — Hosted by DJ Sugar Daddy; this crowd favourite has always been known to break the latest and greatest tracks in multiple genres. 9pm / $4; no cover for industry staff SJO Presents: All Ellington / Broadway Theatre — Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra playing the songs of Duke Ellington. 3pm / $20+ DJ KADE / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes.

8pm / No cover Stan’s Place Jam / Stan’s Place — Bring your instrument, all music types welcome. 8:30pm / No cover Blues Jam / Vangelis Tavern — The Vangelis Sunday Jam is an institution, offering great tunes from blues to rock and beyond. 7:30pm / No cover

Monday 27

DJ Audio / Dublins — Spinning dope beats. 9pm / Cover TBD

Tuesday 28

Eddie Robertson Band / Buds on Broadway — A local band playing rockin’ blues. 10pm / Cover TBD DJ SUGAR DADDY / The Double Deuce — Able to rock any party, this crowd favourite has always been known to break the latest and greatest tracks in multiple genres. 9:30pm / $4 cover DJ Nick Ruston / Dublins — Spinning dope beats. 9pm / Cover TBD Verb presents Open Mic / Rock Bottom — Come and rock the stage! 9pm / No cover Continued on next page »

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Open Mic / The Somewhere Else Pub — Come out to show your talent. 7pm / No cover DJ Carlos / Stan’s Place — Playing your favorite songs to lighten the work week. 9:30pm / No cover

Wednesday 29

DJ Modus / 302 Lounge & Discotheque — Spinning all your favourite tracks. 9pm / No cover until 10pm; $3 thereafter DJ Aash Money / Béily’s UltraLounge — Spinning dope beats all night. 9pm / Cover TBD Eddie Robertson Band / Buds on Broadway — A local band playing rockin’ blues. 10pm / Cover TBD DJ Memo / Dublins — Spinning dope beats. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Kade / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover Buck Wild Wednesdays / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Come out and ride the mechanical bull! 9pm / $4; no cover for industry staff Stephen Maguire / Rock Creek (Willowgrove) — An Irish-born, Saskatoonbased singer/songwriter. 8pm / No cover DJ Carlos / Stan’s Place — Playing your favorite songs to lighten the work week. 9:30pm / No cover Dueling Pianos / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests, from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. 10pm / No cover

Thursday 30

The David Fong Trio / Bassment — Come down for the Jazz Jam! 8pm / No cover Psycho Deelia / Buds on Broadway — A hard rocking local five-piece. 10pm / Cover TBD Throwback Thursdays / Earls — Come experience the best in retro funk, soul, reggae and rock provided by Dr. J. 8pm / No cover DJ Kade / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover DJ Goodtimes / Longbranch — Playing the hottest country music all night. 8pm / $4 cover DJ Carlos / Stan’s Place — Playing your favorite songs to lighten the work week. 9:30pm / No cover Triple Up Thursdays / Tequila — Featuring DJ Dislexic. 9pm / Cover TBD

The Wilderness of Manitoba / Vangelis — With Little Criminals and Juniperus. 9pm / $10+ (ticketedge.ca) Open Stage / The Woods — Hosted by Steven Maier. 9pm / No cover

Bad Decisions, Quinzee Town / Vangelis — A night of alt and indie rock.

10pm / Cover TBD

Saturday 1

House DJs / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin deep and soulful tunes all night.

House DJs / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, 9pm / No cover soul & lounge DJs liven up the atmoAll Mighty Voices / Amigos Cantina sphere at 6Twelve. 9pm / No cover — With Gunner and Smith, The Dead Future Forests / Amigos Cantina South. 10pm / Cover TBD — With Autopilot and DJ Marketmall.

Piano Series: Jan Janovsky Sextet 10pm / Cover TBD / The Bassment — An explosive pianist Jesse Brown / The Bassment — It’s from Edmonton. 8:30pm / $17/$23 piano Friday! 4:30pm / No cover DJ Aash Money + DJ Sugar Daddy Aaron Adair / The Bassment — A local / Béily’s UltraLounge — These two DJs songwriter with a unique soul. 9pm / throw down a dance party every Satur$15/$20 day night. 9pm / $5 cover DJ Aash Money / Béily’s UltraLounge Hung Jury / Buds on Broadway — — DJ Aash Money throws down a highPlaying everything from AC/DC to energy top 40 dance party every Friday Michael Jackson. 10pm / Cover TBD night. 9pm / $5 cover SaturGAY Night / Diva’s Hung Jury / Buds on — Resident DJs spin Broadway — Playexclusive dance ing everything remixes every from AC/DC Saturday. to Michael 10pm / $5 Jackson.

DJ Kade / 10pm / The Hose Cover TBD & Hydrant BPM / — SaskaDiva’s — toon’s own Resident DJ lights it DJs spin up with hot electro/vocal tunes. 8pm / house music.

No cover aaron adair 10pm / $5 DJ Stikman / Jax COURTESY OF the artist DJ Eclectic / The Niteclub — Ladies Hose & Hydrant — Lonight with DJ Stikman cal turntable whiz DJ Eclectic and the Jax party crew. 9pm / pumps snappy electronic beats. 8pm / $5 cover No cover DJ Goodtimes / Longbranch — Playing DJ Stikman / Jax Niteclub — Kick off the hottest country music all night. 8pm your weekend with all your favourite / $4 cover party hits.. 9pm / $5 cover DJ Big Ayyy & DJ Henchman / DJ Big Ayyy & DJ HENCHMAN / OutOutlaws Country Rock Bar — laws Country Rock Bar — Round up Round up your friends ‘cause there’s your friends ‘cause there’s no better no better country rock party around. country rock party around. 8pm / $5; 8pm / $5 ladies in free before 11pm Wayne Bargen / Prairie Ink — Playing The Prairie Winds Woodwind instrumental guitar. 8pm / No cover Quartet / Prairie Ink — Playing light Mendez and the Mexico Concert / classical music. 8pm / No cover Robert Hinitt Castle Theatre — FeaturDueling Pianos / Staqatto Piano ing the talent of the Saskatoon Concert Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie Band and Ryan Cole. 7:30pm / $10+ and Brad King belt out classic tunes and Mikey Dubz / Spadina Freehouse — Loaudience requests,from Sinatra to Lady cal DJ doing his thing. 9pm / No cover Gaga. 10pm / $5 Dueling Pianos / Staqatto Piano Party Rock Fridays / Tequila — Come Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie tear it up. 9pm / Cover TBD and Brad King belt out classic tunes and DJ Nick Ruston / Uncle Barley’s — audience requests, from Sinatra to Lady Come check him out! 9pm / Cover TBD Gaga. 10pm / $5

Friday 31

DJ Anchor / Sutherland Bar — It’s the world famous video mix show! 10pm / Cover TBD Saturday Night Social / Tequila — Electronic Saturdays will have you moving and grooving. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Thorpdeo / Uncle Barley’s — Spinning hot tunes all night. 10pm / Cover TBD

Spoils / Vangelis — With White Women and the FAPS. 10pm / Cover TBD

Get listed Have a live show you'd like to promote? Let us know! layout@verbnews.com

21 Jan 24 – Jan 30 @verbsaskatoon

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Not another demon baby?

Photo: Courtesy of 20th century fox

Devil’s Due suffers from unoriginality, terrible script by adam hawboldt

I

n 1968 Roman Polanski released his first Hollywood feature. It was called Rosemary’s Baby. Based on a book by Ira Levin, it told the slow-burning story of a nice Catholic girl named Rosemary Woodhouse (played by Mia Farrow), who was impregnated with a devil spawn.

The film was terrific. One of the best horror movies of all time.

So good, in fact, that not only was Rosemary’s Baby nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay), but it also launched an entire sub-genre of horror flick — the devil baby genre.

In the years that followed there have been no shortage of these types of movies. Think It’s Alive or The Omen or Demon Seed, and you’ll get the idea. But the thing is, nobody has been able to do it

another horror sub-genre — that of found-footage film — and hoped like hell it would work.

It didn’t.

Instead of giving the audience something updated and refreshing and hip and terrifying, what they’ve provided was a derivative, inept take on Rosemary’s Baby with a little bit of Paranormal Activity thrown in for good measure. To say Devil’s Due is the least original film you’ve seen in years is a stretch, but not a very far one.

The story centres around newlyweds Zach (Zach Gilford) and Sam (Allison Miller). These two are so madly in love that Zach wants to capture every moment of their lives together, so he breaks out the video camera. He tapes the wedding reception, their time at home, their honeymoon to the Dominican Republic. That’s where the trouble starts. One night a local taxi driver

better than Polanski. He set the bar so damn high, it’s nearly impossible to clear.

But that didn’t stop filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett from trying.

There’s no background … no reason whatsoever to care about [the characters].

Adam Hawboldt

In their directorial debuts, the duo attempted to update the devilbaby genre with the film Devil’s Due. What they did was take the devil-baby sub-genre, mix it with

takes them to an underground club.

When they wake up in the morning they are groggy and can’t remember anything. Instead of being worried or (major plot hole here!) checking the video they took, they figured they just drank too much and go about their merry way.

When the couple arrives home, Sam finds out she’s pregnant. And you’ll never guess what: spoiler alert — it’s not Zach’s baby.

Anyone who has seen a devilbaby movie can probably guess what ensues. There’s a demon child (naturally), a Satanic cult, a priest, and a lot of odd goings-on.

And while there are some moments that may make your heartbeat quicken, Devil’s Due suffers because of one major thing — its script.

There are more holes in the plot that in a pound of swiss cheese and, to make matters worse, the

devil’s due Matt Bettinelli-Olpin + Tyler Gillett Starring Zach Gilford + Allison Miller Directed by

89 minutes | 14A

characters in the movie are boring.

There’s no background, no emotional depth, no reason whatsoever to care about them. And the fact that they keep making one stupid decision after another, well, you’re almost rooting against them by the end of the film.

Rosemary’s Baby, this is not.

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@VerbSaskatoon ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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Coen Brothers do it again With Inside Llewyn Davis, the filmmaking brothers hit another high note by adam hawboldt

Q

uick, without giving it too much thought, rattle off your topfive, all-time favourite Coen brothers movies.

Ready? Set? Go! This was a question posed to me over the Christmas holidays by a filmmaking friend of mine. And my answer was, in no particular order: Miller’s Crossing, No Country For Old Men, Barton Fink, The Big Lebowski, and True Grit.

I contemplated putting Raising Arizona or Fargo on the list, but the ones listed were my knee-jerk choices and I stand by them. Or should I say, I stood by them until I saw Inside Llewyn Davis. And now, to be honest, I’m not sure my top five looks the same.

suicide, he has a stack of unsold records, he’s struggling to make a living, couch-surfing at friends’ houses around the Village and getting loans from whomever he can. To make matters worse, the pretty little folk singer, Jean (Carey Mulligan), whom he’s been sleeping with behind her boyfriend Jim’s (Justin Timberlake) back, has just informed him that she’s pregnant.

That’s some heavy stuff, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. All this we learn in just the first few scenes of the Coen brothers’ incredible screenplay. A screenplay they based (very loosely) on the life of a folk singer named Dave Van Ronk.

The Coen brothers don’t try to hide this fact. They’ve said that Van Ronk’s memoir The Mayor of

inside llewyn davis Joel and Ethan Coen Starring Oscar Isaac, Garrett Hedlund, Justin Timberlake + Carey Mulligan Directed by

105 minutes | 14A

ter. He’s a narcissist who is selfish, unhappy, irresponsible and ungrateful to those who help him in his time of need. You shouldn’t like him. Hell, you should hate him, but the Coen brothers have a knack for taking deeply flawed characters like this, and abusing the living hell out of them until the audience feels a spark of sympathy.

Inside Llewyn Davis is no different.

If you like the Coen brothers, you’re going to dig this movie. Trust me.

It’s one of their better ones. Maybe even good enough to sneak into my top-five.

Photo: Courtesy of studio canal

Inside Llewyn Davis opens at Roxy Theatre on January 31.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon ahawboldt@verbnews.com

Every time Oscar Isaac picks up a guitar and starts to sing — well, it’s stunning.

Adam Hawboldt

Released in theatres in early December, Inside Llewyn Davis is an atmospheric, elegant, sweet, funny and sad story about a good (but not great) folk singer named, you guessed it, Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac).

The year is 1961. The place, New York. The month, February. For those of you who don’t know, this is just before a young man named Bob Dylan arrived in the Village. Just before folk music was about to undergo a serious and defining transformation.

When we first meet LLewyn Davis he is a folk singer/songwriter with the weight of the world crashing down on his shoulders. His musical partner has just committed

MacDougal Street inspired the script.

Heck, they even had Oscar Isaac (who is a talented musician, not to mention up-and-coming actor) sing a handful of songs that were in Van Ronk’s repertoire in the movie.

Which brings us to the music.

Hands down, this is what really makes this movie shine. Every time Oscar Isaac picks up a guitar and starts to sing — well, it’s stunning.

Not only are you treated to miniconcerts, but through these songs we get a better understanding of who the main character is. A peek inside his soul, if you will.

And here’s the thing: chances are you won’t like the main charac-

23 Jan 24 – Jan 30 /verbsaskatoon

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saturday, january 18 @

the colonial

Colonial Pub + Grill 3-1301 8th Street East (306) 343 8881

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24 Jan 24 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Jan 30 entertainment

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Check out our Facebook page!

These photos will be uploaded to Facebook on Friday, January 31. facebook.com/verbsaskatoon

Photography by Patrick Carley Continued on next page Âť

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Photography by Patrick Carley

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tuesday, january 22 @

original joe’s

Original Joe’s 1515 8th Street (306) 979 0718

Photography by opalsnaps.com

27 Jan 24 – Jan 30 /verbsaskatoon

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Check out our Facebook page!

These photos will be uploaded to Facebook on Friday, January 31. facebook.com/verbsaskatoon

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28 Jan 24 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Jan 30 entertainment

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Photography by opalsnaps.com

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Š Elaine M. Will | blog.E2W-Illustration.com | Check onthebus.webcomic.ws/ for previous editions!

30 Jan 24 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Jan 30 entertainment

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timeout

crossword canadian criss-cross 30. First letter of a name 34. Heavy waves 35. Surgeon’s garment 36. Attorney’s advice 37. Bristlelike appendage 38. Canned fish 39. One-piece garment 40. Jamaican music 42. Sandwich made with corned beef and sauerkraut 44. Gets the juice out of a lemon 45. Keep from being admitted 46. Cereal grasses 47. Char, as a steak

Horoscopes january 24 – january 30 Aries March 21–April 19

Leo July 23–August 22

Sagittarius November 23–December 21

Certain situations may seem more serious than usual this week, Aries, but don’t fret. Things aren’t always what they seem.

If you’ve been having problems at work or school lately, Leo, don’t expect them to get any better this week. Just ride this out for now.

Take some time this week, Sagittarius, and reflect on the past. You may learn something really important from it.

Taurus April 20–May 20

Virgo August 23–September 22

Capricorn December 22–January 19

It’s time to deal with some important questions that you’ve been avoiding for some time, Taurus.

Good luck.

Good thing you’re not afraid of work, Virgo, because this week threatens to be rather laborious. Put your nose to the grindstone and get ‘er done!

Lately you’ve been expressing your emotions more freely, Capricorn. Keep it up — someone close to you needs to hear what you have to say.

Gemini May 21–June 20

Libra September 23–October 23

Aquarius January 20–February 19

It will be easy for you to influence and manipulate situations this week, Gemini. Tread carefully, and don’t get taken in by your own power.

Do you find it difficult to make decisions because you fear people will judge you? If so, it’s time to turn over a new leaf.

There’s no need to pound your head against a wall, Aquarius.

Sometimes you just have to know when to give up.

Cancer June 21–July 22

Scorpio October 24–November 22

Pisces February 20–March 20

Today will mark the beginning of a new and exciting epoch in your life, Cancer. Hang on tight — it’s going to be quite a ride.

It would do you well to be a bit more rational than usual this week, Scorpio. Especially when it comes to your personal life.

This week will be a productive one for you, Pisces. Don’t be afraid to take on more work than usual — there’s nothing you can’t accomplish.

sudoku 1 6 4 9 3 7 5 8 2 4 5 1 1 3 8 5 6 8 7 2 2 5 9 6 3 4 6 9 8 9 7 2 3 4 1 7

A

1. Monetary unit of Hungary 2. Put down, as carpet 3. Corroded 4. Cold, dry wind of France 5. Pond plants 6. British writer of nonsense verse 7. Make imperfect 8. Metallic netting, of some doors 9. SenatehouseinancientRome 11. Plants valued for their medicinal properties 12. Baby deer 14. Genealogical diagram 17. 1 followed by nine zeros 20. Part of the face above the eyes

21. Of the highest quality 23. Flying saucers 24. One of two babies born at the same time to the same mother 26. In a positive direction 27. EmperorofRussia,until1917 28. Lumberjack B 29. One in charge of a forest 31. Line on a weather map 32. Tool shaped like a corkscrew 33. Rely on for support 35. Estimate based on little or no information 38. Lacking in excitement 39. Marching band instrument 41. Happy 43. Wide shoe size

7 2 4 9 5 1 3 8 6 5 6 1 8 2 3 7 9 4 9 8 3 7 6 4 2 1 5 8 1 9 6 3 5 4 2 7 2 5 6 4 7 9 1 3 8 3 4 7 1 8 2 6 5 9 6 3 8 2 9 7 5 4 1 4 9 5 3 1 6 8 7 2 1 7 2 5 4 8 9 6 3

1. Double-note drumbeat 5. Charitable contribution 9. Animal with a long flexible snout 10. Dissolve out by percolation 12. Megaera, Tisiphone, and Alecto, collectively 13. Attic 15. Rarely rained on 16. Ski lift 18. Be inaccurate 19. First-place finish 20. Creamy white cheese 21. French infant 22. Roll of 7 or 11, in craps 24. Stretched tight 25. Travels behind 27. Lose deliberately

© walter D. Feener 2014

sudoku answer key

DOWN

1 8 6 4 5 9 3 7 2 5 3 7 8 1 2 4 6 9 4 9 2 6 3 7 5 8 1 7 1 9 3 2 4 8 5 6 6 4 8 5 7 1 2 9 3 2 5 3 9 6 8 1 4 7 3 2 5 7 4 6 9 1 8 9 7 1 2 8 5 6 3 4 8 6 4 1 9 3 7 2 5

ACROSS

crossword answer key

A

7 2 8 6 6 8 8 7 6 4 1 5 1 9 3 5 7 2 4 1 4 8 5 9 6 3 9 7 4 5 3 1 2 2 9 3

B

31 Jan 24 – Jan 30 /verbsaskatoon

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Hello, neighbour!

Looking for a home in Saskatoon? Here’s a breakdown of five neighbourhoods, and what they have to offer by Rory MacLean

W

hen it comes time to decide to buy a home, in any city, which neighbourhood you choose — and the amenities it offers — can say a lot about what’s important to you.

Maybe you want to be in an older neighbourhood, with a lot of character and unique shops. Perhaps you’d rather be in a new suburban area, where you will depend more on your automobile but relish the convenient, big box shopping adjacent to home.

“Every neighbourhood has its own culture and personality,” explains Century 21 realtor Susan Zwarych.

When it comes to where you buy your house, it could end up being a compromise between location and price. “You’re always trying to strike the perfect balance,” says Zwarych. If you move to King George or Riversdale you get bigger lots, but may be looking at a much lower life expectancy on your home, or at least at major and fundamental repairs.

Riversdale

Move to one of the burgeoning new neighbourhoods, such as Willowgrove or Stonebridge, and while you avoid the pitfalls of the older character home, you may end up pouring your own driveway and laying your own sod. It all depends on what you want. To help guide you through this process we’ve examined a few of Saskatoon’s up and coming neighbourhoods, and explored the features they offer that may be attractive to the firsttime buyer.

Photo: Courtesy of norm fisher

The radical transformation of this neighbourhood is not simply seen in the clusters of new shops on 20th Street. It’s in the brand new condos and daringly renovated homes that criss-cross its avenues.

Riversdale has a lot going for it: walking distance to the farmer’s market and River Landing, a grocery store, a number of ethnic markets, and

an assortment of shops, boutiques, art galleries and cultural centres.

The neighbourhood has a lot of cultural appeal, says Zwarych, but like any older area, there are certain things to consider. “You’re looking at a lot of money with renos,” she notes.

“In an older home, you’re pricing out a new furnace, redoing the windows, maybe even the roof.”

Caswell Hill

The prices are relatively low, with the average cost of a home running around $225,000 in 2013, but with the current pace of development don’t expect that to remain.

The average price of a residence in Riversdale has gone up steadily over the past three years, jumping approximately $60,000 between 2012 and 2013 alone.

Photo: Courtesy of jordon cooper

Just north of Riversdale lies the also relatively affordable Caswell Hill. Caswell Hill features a beautifully developed urban forest, and lies between the commercial strips of 22nd Street and 33rd Street.

For those who have a soft spot for character homes in their heart, this area is another possibility. There are an abundance of larger, older homes in this neighbourhood, mixed with small, war-time houses. Once again,

the consequence of the charming older home is the wear and tear that comes with the property.

The average price of a home in Caswell Hill was just under $250,000 in 2013.

Continued on next page »

32 Jan 24 – Jan 30 homes

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Stonebridge Saskatoon’s new suburban neighbourhoods, like Stonebridge or Willowgrove, are sure to be an attractive option for many people.

“There’s always the appeal of the brand new neighbourhoods because it’s brand new — everything. It’s new, it’s shiny,” explains Zwarych.

“Stonebridge is popular. Willowgrove is getting its own elementary school, which is huge for them.”

Photo: Courtesy of norm fisher

If you’re comfortable depending on your car, Stonebridge is a dream. There are many malls and big box shops with ample parking located nearby for maximum convenience. And with the recent completion of Circle Drive, getting from Stonebridge to just about anywhere in the city has never been easier. However, that doesn’t mean the suburban model doesn’t apply to everyone, says Zwarych.

“A free spirited young couple thinking of having kids and wanting to live organically — Stonebridge does not appeal to them,” she said.

“You can’t just walk across the street to grab an apple. But it’s very attractive for some people. They don’t mind the commute.”

The average price of a home in Stonebridge was approximately $281,000 in 2013.

Broadway / Nutana For our purposes Broadway refers to not just the street and commercial district, but also includes the Nutana neighbourhood. Nestled close to the river, Broadway is the pedestrian counterpoint to the car culture of Stonebridge. “You go to

Photo: Courtesy of scott prokop

a place like Nutana, if you pick up a condo on Main [Street] you literally go around the block and you can go to the bank, grab some coffee, get a haircut, pick up a prescription, get some fresh bread [then] duck down the alley and you’re

back home. It’s very pedestrian friendly,” says Zwarych.

In 2013 the average price of a home in Nutana was $410,000, making it relatively high for some first-time buyers, but there are condos available for under $200,000.

City Park Living in City Park is sort of like finding yourself in the midst of a small village in downtown Saskatoon. It’s as though a cross-section of the city was dropped into one rather small geographic area. “It’s small, it’s quaint, it’s cute, it’s adorable, and you have a real mix of people in that neighbourhood, from university students, to academics, to professionals and retirees. It’s a very broad neighbourhood,” explains Zwarych.

Photo: Courtesy of daryl mitchell

On the downside, for being so close to downtown there are few essential amenities in City Park, such as gas stations or grocery stores, she says. However, the area does get points for being such a short distance from Kinsmen Park, the Mendel Art Gallery and Conservatory, and the weir.

You could own a home in City Park for an average of just over $305,000 in 2013.

Information on amenities, average sale price and adjacent schools of all of Saskatoon’s neighbourhoods can be found on the website, SaskatoonRealty.com.

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@VerbSaskatoon rmaclean@verbnews.com

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Ask an expert Thinking of buying a house? Three experts weigh in on what you need to know by rory MacLean

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or those who haven’t purchased a house before, this can be a long and complex process to chart. Where do you even start? We at Verb went straight to the experts, approaching a few local realtors to find out what advice they have for first-time buyers, which we have taken the liberty of condensing for you.

Susan Zwarych – Century 21 Fusion - Make sure you get pre-approved for a mortgage before you start house hunting. This will help you hone your search and save you the heartache of becoming attached to a house only to find you can not afford it.

-Speaking of credit, it’s so important to be conscious of your credit score and to consistently make your monthly bill payments to build it.

-Most young buyers are aware of the importance of having a down

payment to qualify for a mortgage, but Zwarych says many aren’t aware they will also need cash on hand for a deposit cheque. This deposit cheque, which might typically be around $5,000, shows the prospective seller that your offer is serious. If accepted, the amount would then be deducted from your total offer.

Kevin Cross – Royal Lepage -Realtors are there for a reason: they are the experts. You may not know where to start in your house hunt, but a realtor will.

-The buying process is long and time consuming, so it’s important to find a realtor you can get along with.

The personal relationship between a realtor and client is key. You’ll get better service from relying on one realtor that you’ve developed a relationship with than trusting a smattering of different agents.

Saima Abid – Hallmark Realty and Associated Ltd. - As someone who deals with a lot of new residents of Canada looking to purchase their first home here, she advises those new to the country to go to a mortgage broker before beginning to look at homes, since the pre-approval process for new residents is more complex.

- New residents need to work for at least one year in Canada to apply.

To begin the pre-approval process, they will need to show a mortgage broker a letter from their employer or a T4.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon rmaclean@verbnews.com

34 Jan 24 – Jan 30 homes

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Finding the right realtor You want a realtor to help, but how do you know which one is right for you? By rory MacLean

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uying a home for the first time is a huge step. You’re choosing what you’re going to be spending a significant portion of income on for a potentially decadeslong period. According to 2013 data from RBC, the mortgage on an average Canadian bungalow consumes about 43 per cent of a family’s pre-tax income. This is a big investment and, especially for a first-time buyer, one that shouldn’t be made without guidance. You are probably going to need to consult a realtor. But how do you find the right realtor for you?

1) Referrals: Just about everyone likely has friends or family who have purchased a home through a realtor in the past. It’s natural to approach

people you trust to seek their advice.

Find out who they used and what they liked or disliked about that person. This will help you do your own gut check to figure out who is worth calling up and looking further into.

You must trust this person will find you the best deal possible.

2) Knowledge / Expertise: Ask your prospective realtor about their past experience. You may even ask for a resume or references.

Find someone whose credentials match your needs. If you’re looking for a smaller starter home, you obviously won’t need someone with a lot of experience in the luxury market.

There are likely a number of realtors out there who specialize in helping first-time buyers. A good realtor should be able to offer you a reason-

able market analysis, and let you know why exactly the house you are interested in is listed at the price it is based on what similar ones have sold for in the same neighbourhood. You can do some of your own analysis online at Saskatoonrealtors.ca, the website for the Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors. They offer monthly stats on housing sales in Saskatoon. You can also go to Realtor. ca, and find realtors for you based on your neighbourhood of choice and how many bedrooms and bathrooms you need.

3) Agency: As a buyer you are paying for an agent to work with your best interests in mind. You could work with a number of realtors or may sign an exclusive agreement with one realtor and their brokerage firm. It’s possible

for a single realtor to represent both the seller and the buyer in the transaction, a situation called dual agency.

They are still legally obligated to enter the negotiation with your best interest in mind, to disclose any physical conditions that affect the value of the property and forbidden from revealing any of your personal or financial information to the seller without your consent. The difference in this scenario is the real estate agent will receive the entire com-

mission on the transaction instead of splitting it with the seller’s agent. In this case you could be in a position to negotiate their commission down by a few points. Make sure you’re aware of who benefits, and how.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon rmaclean@verbnews.com

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