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A place of unexpected surprise and discovery, Saskatoon provides visitors from near and far with the opportunity to experience the unforgettable.

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eBulletin - January 2013

2013 Saskatoon Blues Festival Winter Meltdown

Shakura S'Aida headlines the 2013 Saskatoon Blues Festival

The Saskatoon Blues Society is thrilled to announce the signing of established international artist Shakura S’Aida to the exciting line-up for the Saskatoon Blues Festival Winter Meltdown that will heat up the streets of downtown Saskatoon February 25 - March 3.

Artistic Director Stan Budgell comments that “Shakura S’aida is a truly international star who can speak and sing in four languages. In 2012 she performed everywhere from Abu Dhabi to Moscow to the U.S. and helped organize a festival in Kigali, Rwanda.”

The 2011 Maple Blues Female Vocalist of the Year and 2011 Indie Blues Artist of the Year will command the PotashCorp stage in the Electric Blues Room at the Odeon Events Centre with her soulful voice, energetic personality and charismatic sense of humor that will demonstrate why her music transcends to worldwide audiences. Two favorites from her latest CD Time worth checking out are “Devil Only Knows My First Name” and “That Ain’t Right”.

The Saskatoon Blues Society is highly recommending that you add the 2013 Saskatoon Blues Festival to your “Blues Bucket List”. Tickets go on sale January 17, 2013.

For more information and updates on artists, events, venues and tickets – go to www.saskatoonbluessociety.ca, Facebook (Saskatoon Blues Society), Twitter (@stoonbluesfest).

Blues Festival Kick-off

Blues guitarist/singer Albert Castiglia headlines opening night of the Saskatoon Blues Society’s 2013 Winter Meltdown, Thursday, February 28. The Electric Blues Cabaret at the Odeon Events Centre will feature three dynamite performances that will get blues fans warmed up enough to keep the heat on for the entire blues weekend.

Saskatoon’s own Apollo Cruz will ignite the evening with its young and vibrant sound. Led by Nick Longpre’s searing guitar and deep throated vocals, along with Brandon Ziola and Aiden Currie’s “beyond their years” rhythm section, this trio manages to pay homage to the blues masters, whether it be covering the classics or playing their own songs. When recently asked about opening for the “Winter Meltdown”, the collective feeling of the band members is “an honour”, “so much respect for the blues guys”, “really cool to be opening”, “the velocity of the event is astounding”!

The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer, the Vancouver-based duo of Shawn Hall and Matthew Rogers steps onto the stage with a sack full of harmonicas, a mess of foot percussion and a greasy Telecaster. The 2013 Maple Blues nominees have earned praise for their decades-deep blues style. They’ve been described as Canada’s answer to The Black Keys, playing blues that will get you up on the dance floor, plain and simple.

The Saskatoon Blues Society is thrilled to bring Albert Castiglia ferocious guitar and soulful vocals to the 2013 Saskatoon Blues Festival. Delivering a truly powerful message similar to his mentor Junior Wells (Vietcong Blues), Castiglia shows he’s no mere minstrel to the blues, but is also a world educated songwriter trying to keep the world aware of itself. His latest album “Living the Dream” spent most of 2012 in the top 10 on the blues charts. The Saskatoon Blues Society is very proud to be the first to present Castiglia and his powerful trio to this area.

Media Contact:
Janette Schwandt              
Janette@saskatoonbluessociety.ca 
Ph: 306-343-6527

Source: Saskatoon Blues Society

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Cross the street for the quiche

BY JENN SHARP, THE STARPHOENIX

I’ve never gone out of my way for quiche. Quiche just isn’t a food that you cross the street for. Made wrong, it’s runny and flavourless. Done right, the egg base is perfect for creating any number of combinations. But frankly, I could never be bothered to find out. That’s how much I cared about quiche. Until now.One of Saskatoon’s newest restaurants, the Two Gun Quiche House, is not only worth crossing the street for, it’s worth driving here from Regina. Bill Matthews quietly opened the bright mustard yellow and plum-coloured Riversdale restaurant in September. Business has been growing steadily ever since. Matthews attracted a loyal following from his now closed café in the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market, Giuseppi’s, along with enough newcomers to keep the place happily buzzing during the noon hour.

A decidedly prohibition-era theme dominates the interior and makes the establishment’s unique name work. Black and white wanted signs for gangsters line the walls and Frank Sinatra plays in the background. The Italian mobster concept may seem strange for a quiche house. I was puzzled too — why not a stereotypical deli or sandwich shop? There are a number of classic Italian sandwiches on the menu, like the Mortadella, or as the menu states: “Baloney on steroids.” Prosciutto, Calabrese salami, roasted peppers, provolone cheese and lettuce on focaccia bread for under $12.

But Matthews’ new spot is a throwback to one of Riversdale’s original settlers, Two Gun Cohen. The Londoner, and former pickpocketer, Morris Abraham Cohen was sent to Saskatoon in the early 1900s. When a holdup ensued at his favourite restaurant, the Alberta Cafe on 20th Street, he punched the gunman in the face, earning the respect of the area’s Chinese community. After moving to Edmonton and fighting in the First World War, Cohen would later become a bodyguard for China’s first president, Sun Yat Sen.

The menu is small, but that usually means the ingredients are fresh and dishes made to order. If quiche isn’t your thing, there’s a porchetta sandwich, pulled pork with a homemade BBQ sauce, a smoked chicken salad sandwich, salads and “life changing” soups. For dessert, try ice cream with local sour cherry topping or Italian lemon rice pudding, finished with a glass of homemade lemonade.

The quiche is what made Matthews a mainstay at the Farmers’ Market for years and I suspect it’s the quiche that will keep people coming back to his new 20th Street venture. He’s got nearly 40 varieties in his repertoire and every morning makes six to eight different kinds.
“It never sits in the fridge for more than two days,” he says.

The day I visited there was a breakfast, Italian, mushroom and Swiss, broccoli and cheddar, spinach and feta, and ham quiche. The generous slice comes with a bowl of the so-called life changing soup, salad or coleslaw for $10.90. I tried the broccoli and cheddar, while my dining partner had the spinach and feta. As stated earlier, I’m no quiche expert. I’ve definitely had bad quiche though so that qualifies me to talk about how deliciously luxurious Matthews quiche is. The vegetables and cheese were perfectly folded into the fluffy, light egg base, which sat atop the flakiest, most flavourful crust I’ve ever tasted. I raved about that quiche for days and you will too. Even if you’ve never gone out of your way for quiche before.

Source: The StarPhoenix

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Sketch comediennes team up for a Girls! Girls! Girls! night out

Live Five's third show this season comes with a warning...

“This production contains language and content that may be offensive to some viewers but will be par for the course for any who have been to a modern-day stagette.” Ominously post-scripted in the press release, this note adds a certain frenzy of anticipation to Llewelyn Production’s upcoming show Girls! Girls! Girls! opening next week at the Refinery. 

If you’ve seen anything from local sketch comedy group Skit Skit, you’ll know what to expect and you won’t want to miss out. Never afraid to push the envelope when it comes to comedy, Tara Schoonbaert has written an original script featuring herself and two other female Skit Skit members, Ashley Turner and Kristen Holfeuer. After the success of Llewelyn’s first show Charlie and Ella, which premiered with Live Five in 2009, Schoonbaert confesses Girls! has been in the works for a while, “It’s been in my brain for a few years now... just after Charlie and Ella I had the idea and it’s just been stewing in my brain... I’m a gal who likes a deadline in order to get stuff out, so I signed up with Live Five last spring and have been writing ever since.”

The show takes place in the course of an evening, when three life-long girlfriends congregate for a stagette, hilarity ensues and things end up getting out of hand. Having worked on the script in earnest for the past year Schoonbaert explains, “It’s always a challenge to get the web of all the characters working together, especially because this one is just start to finish one night and everybody’s on stage the entire time, so it’s a bit of a marathon.” Many women (and men for that matter) are going to relate to these characters because no matter what age, we all have friends who have been a part of our life for as long as we can remember. But as we see with these characters in their late 20’s and early 30’s, “when they bonded they were all very similar, but now they’ve moved on to this place where they’ve changed and they’ve grown... so it’s very interesting to see how those relationships still work.”

Read the full story at therooster.ca.

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Register for TMAC 2013 Conference & AGM

Saskatoon is delighted to host the 2013 Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC) conference and AGM, June 12 to 15.

Last year, the conference focused on the art of place in Fredericton, New Brunswick. This year, delegates will experience Saskatoon, a city on the edge. On the edge of what? Attend the conference to find out!

Follow the story on Twitter (@TMACyxe2013) and Tumblr for the latest information on the 2013 conference and Saskatoon events.

Don't miss out on the media marketplace, professional development sessions and networking opportunities - register today!

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Contact:

Alexandra Stang
Media Relations Coordinator | Tourism Saskatoon
Ph: 306.931.7587 | astang@tourismsaskatoon.com

Angela Moore
Director of Media | Tourism Saskatoon
Ph: 306.931.7585 | amoore@tourismsaskatoon.com

Copyright 2012 Saskatoon Visitor and Convention Bureau. All rights reserved.