On Saturday October 18 The Damn Cantinas performed their show The Songs of John Prine at The Effie. The show contained a couple of surprises and a fine opening act that almost stole the show.
The opening act was Mike Donaldson on guitar and vocals. This veteran, solo perfomer, put on a great show consisting of popular country classics. Some of the tunes he played were “Nobody Knows,” “Seven Spanish Angels,” “Delta Dawn,” and “Folsom Prison Blues.” He was cheered on by many friends and family in attendance.

Damn Cantinas were up next for “The Songs of John Prine.” Both Gerry Sherk and Justin Bentley handled the microphone duties. They have plenty of knowledge about John Prine. Prine has a very large catalogue of music and it must have been difficult to pick the music to play for this event. They did a very good job. While almost every Prine song is a gem I am glad they played “Illegal Smile,” “Angel From Montgomery,” “Spanish Pipe Dream,” and “Please Don’t Bury Me.”
The talented band that worked hard to get this show together are Gerry Sherk, on vocals, guitar and harmonica. Justin Bentley played ukelele, guitars and vocals. Kris Ruston played keys and guitar. Eddie Carusi handled the percussions and Karl Thibaudeau played bass.

Two songs, enriched the night’s entertainment. Sherk asked for two volunteers to put on some Hawaiian dance costumes and dance around while they played “Lets Talk Dirty in Hawaiian.” A couple assembled the costumes on stage. They did a great job with what was available and danced as if they were at a Hawaiian luau. The audience loved it.

The final song of the evening was “In Spite of Our Selves.” Traditionally it includes a male and female duo. Justin Bentley and Miss Holly Van Tramp put on quite a show. Miss Van Tramp was actually Gerry Sherk in disguise. The audience enjoyed this burlesque version of the song.

It was a great night of music and humour. A sold-out venue is a rarity in Kamloops. The audience laughed, applauded long and loud and really enjoyed themselves. The band is already talking about doing this again. I sure hope they do.