Russell Decarle with Braden Gates

Tickets $37.50 Edmonton's own Braden Gates is a folk singer through and through, and in the best possible sense of the word. His songs are full of stories that flow through him easily, and with all the grace, empathy and nuance that masterful story telling requires. His warm and slightly gravelly voice relays stories that are funny and heartbreaking — usually over the course of the same tune. Full of wit and wisdom, folksy charm and sharp observations, Gates’ compositions are relevant and, strangely, very rooted in the present —even if he plays that fiddle and picks that guitar like an artist three times his age.

As the lead vocalist and bassist of the iconic Canadian country roots band Prairie Oyster, Russell Decarle is no stranger to awards and accolades — his “Oyster years” were rewarded with six Juno Awards, more than a dozen Canadian Country Music Awards and enough gold and platinum records and #1 singles to fill a living room wall. The truth is, though, that Prairie Oyster was always more than a “country” band, and with his solo career, DeCarle’s warm, burnished and intimate voice has always honoured an eclectic range of songs. songs that mix southern soul and restrained balladry, with obvious touches of jazz, blues, old-school country, and western swing.