Sunday, October 19^th saw the Effie Arts Collective welcoming two up and coming Calgary artists to Kamloops, along with hometown musician Jared Doherty.

Barry Mason Jr. is a guitarist and singer who played an upbeat set of 60s and 70s-inspired rock, with some blues influences for good measure. He played a short set of mostly original tunes, most from his debut EP, The Feels. His songs had a melodic and emotional energy to them, ranging from the love and inspiration of his wife, to the perils of self-expression in the face of personal doubt. He played with a four piece band, who all had moments to shine during his set of music.

Ginger Beef were an unusual but beautiful treat to watch. The core of the band is Jiajia Li and Warren Tse, a married couple with diverse influences. Li is a classically trained flautist, pipa-player and keyboard player, who also plays in the band Who Cares. Tse is a producer, guitarist and keyboardist who goes by MSG when he plays in this band. Their debut album came out in 2023 and was nominated for a Juno Award. Their music is rooted in 70s pop and jazz, with classical and electronic elements liberally thrown in. Li’s flute and pipa playing immediately bring the 70s jazz/lounge-pop of Burt Bacharach to mind, and Tse’s guitar was melodic and suprisingly heavy in parts. They played a lot of their own material, but also featured a cover of Focus’ “Hocus Pocus” and one of Junior Senior’s electro-funk “Move Your Feet”