The good news is that local blues-roots musician/actor Jim Byrnes has a show booked at Blue Frog Studios in White Rock for Friday, March 14.
The bad news is that tickets for the concert sold out in about seven hours.
"Only the folks on our email list got a crack at tickets," studio boss Kelly Breaks told me.
Elsewhere, Byrnes is due to also perform Friday, April 11 at Cascades Casino Resort in Langley, with Babe Gurr opening.
Blue Frog will be hopping in March and April with several concerts, including a Mardi Gras-flavoured show by Gary Comeau & the Voodoo Allstars (March 8), a St. Patrick's Day party with Pat Chessell Band (March 15), Celtic fun with South Surrey-based fiddler Kiérah Raymond, accordionist/pianist Adrian Dolan and guitar player Adam Dobres (March 21), Dreams (a tribute to Fleetwood Mac, March 22), Tiller's Folly (March 29), Stonebolt (April 4) and "Jump!" (the Diane Lines-led jump blues/swing revue show, April 11). All the details are at www.bluefrogstudios. ca/newshows.html, or dial 604-542-3055.
Regarding Raymond, she won the 2013 Canadian Folk Music Award for "Young
Performer of the Year" for the album Stonemason's Daughter - and she really is the daughter of a stonemason, and sister to four brothers in the stone industry, too.
IRISH FESTIVAL IN WHITE ROCK The shows by Raymond, Chessell and Tiller's Folly at Blue Frog are part of the month-long Irish Festival in White Rock. A number of music-oriented venues are part of the celebrations in March, including Jimmy Flynn's Celtic Snug, Sandpiper Pub, Ceili's, Sawbucks, White Rock Elks Lounge and more.
A detailed calendar of festival events - more than 40 of them, including music, poetry, dancing, food and beverage tastings - can be downloaded from www.InWhiteRock.com.
The fest kicks off Saturday evening (March 1) at Semiahmoo Arts' studio in Centennial Park with a tribute to the music and words of Van Morrison, as performed by Speakeasy Music Trio (both acoustic and electric). Admission is by a $15 suggested donation in support of the food bank.
At the Semiahmoo Arts space, at 14600 North Bluff Rd., the "Art O' The Green" exhibit will grace the walls for the month of March, featuring paintings by local artists in which green is a prominent colour.
CLUB NIGHT AT DELTA LION The back room of Delta Lion Pub in North Delta will be turned into a dance club this Friday night (Feb. 28), in an event promoted by One Three One Events (onethreeone.ca). The company plans to bring strobes, lasers, lights and bass-bumping sounds to the venue on a monthly basis. Tickets are available at www.ticketzone.com/event/Club-Night/227212.