Geoff Arsenault W/ Glenn Patscha

Geoff Arsenault plays The Carleton on Thursday, November 26, with special guest Glenn Patscha. It's a seated show, and the two of them share a fair bit of common ground: both were born in Winnipeg in 1970, and both have spent a good part of their careers working their way through the roots and blues traditions of North America.

Arsenault is an award-winning veteran drummer and recording artist who describes his style as sitting somewhere between Tony Joe White and J.J. Cale. He blends original Americana, New Orleans blues, and deep swamp, and he's built a reputation as one of the East Coast's finest rhythm players. His latest release, Hired Hand, is billed as his most ambitious to date, and that's the kind of material that will be on display here.

Patscha brings a New Orleans pedigree to the night. He moved there in 1989 to study piano with Ellis Marsalis and Harold Battiste at the University of New Orleans, and he's since played and recorded with New Orleans icons like Earl Palmer, Victor Goines, Danny Barker, Brian Blade, Nicholas Payton, and Leroy Jones. A 1998 stint with Marianne Faithfull reignited his composing, which led to the critically acclaimed band Ollabelle, signed by T. Bone Burnett to Columbia's DMZ imprint in 2003. He's also scored the Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Sangre De Mi Sangre, and he currently tours and records with Bonnie Raitt, playing keyboards and singing on her Grammy-winning album Just Like That.

Between Arsenault's swampy Americana and Patscha's New Orleans background, the two of them should slot together easily. It's a seated show at The Carleton, 1685 Argyle Street, starting at 7:30 PM. Tickets are C$30 plus HST, which comes to C$34.20 including taxes.