And to finish off the Vancouver set, Carolyn Mark. Who’s actually a Victoria girl, but we’ll ignore that for the moment. The first show I ever saw her play was as part of a big Kingston hootenanny two years ago this fall, and it was the best time I’d ever had at a concert. With the likes of Luther Wright and the Wrongs, Oh Susanna and secret guest Sarah Harmer, it’s hard to go wrong, but Mark held the whole thing together as its spiritual leader, taking drinks from everyone and introducing everyone who played before stepping a foot off the “stage” to dance in the front.

Yes indeed, if she ever decides she can’t cut it in music, Carolyn Mark should be assured of a job as a comic—or, of course, a hostess. But the rest of us will all miss out on her luxurious voice, her easy-going stage banter, and her hilarious country songs, filled with drinking and heartbreak and all they entail. And even if the lyrics don’t suit you or (like me) you don’t listen to lyrics much, Terrible Hostess is filled with purebred country songs designed to get you dancing the night away.

Speaking of which, apparently the Hootenanny is set for another run at the end of August in Kingston. If you’re in town, you’d better go for a night of boozin’, laughin’ and dancin’, lest you miss the likes of Carolyn Mark, Sarah Harmer and Luther Wright.