Sam Salmon & The Grand Manan Bandits

Sam Salmon & The Grand Manan Bandits play Bearly's House of Blues and Ribs on Thursday, October 1, starting at 8:30 PM. It's a single-act bill, with the band taking the whole night.

If you're not familiar with them, they're a bare-bones country band from Fredericton, New Brunswick. They formed around members of the alt-rock band Motherhood, who teamed up with guitarist Keith Hallett to shift gears into Americana and country. That's the core of what they do: a mix of the two, played by a small group rather than a big production. The set will be a straightforward run of their material, with the band as the sole feature of the evening.

Coming from Fredericton, they're playing a few provinces over from home for this one. The music sits in that Americana and country pocket—the kind of sound that works as well in a small room as it does on a larger stage. With the Motherhood connection, there's a bit of a rock background running underneath the country lean, and Hallett's guitar work is a key part of the sound.

It's a mid-week show, so if you're heading out on a Thursday, the details are simple: Bearly's House of Blues and Ribs, 1579 Grafton Street, Halifax, NS, B3J 2C3, with the music kicking off at 8:30 PM.