The Venue Bar and Grill will close out the month of August with a first time performance by Dr. Friday on Aug. 31. The four-person rock and blues band is made up of guitarists Allan Garrett and Ramona Rupert, lead singer James Malec and drummer Danny Ray Stocknow. Garrett recorded and played with various bands, such as recording act Assailant, in Calgary in the 1980s. A few years ago he toured full time with country artist Rob Russell, playing some very large venues including the Big Valley Jamoree and participating in the All-Star Band Jam Session at the 2006 Canadian Country Music Awards in New Brunswick. He has been and still is involved in many other musical projects, including a guest stint in a Lynyrd Skynyrd cover band and musical director for a children's theatre group. Rupert started playing keyboard in 1980 with the popular dance and party band: The Dynamics. After many years with The Dynamics, she moved on to sing, play bass, mandolin and keyboards with The Benders ... after a few years off she joined Dr. Friday. Before joining Dr. Friday as one of the original members, Malec jammed regularly around Calgary, as well as making many guest appearances on stage with his harp. Stocknow has been part of the Calgary music scene since the early 1980s. He's played all the top Rock rooms in Calgary and surrounding area with many popular bands over the years and he has an extensive collection of pictures, posters and recordings that show his success. Founding members Stocknow and Malec met in 2002 through an ad in the paper. Originally, the band with two other members played mostly pure blues music, hence the name, Dr. Friday. In 2006, after the original bass player moved on, Rupert joined as bass player. After a long, six year maternity leave from music she was itching to play again. She added her influence and the band morphed in a slightly different direction and Rupert took over some of the lead vocal duties with her favourite classic rock tunes. In 2009, working around gigs in pubs and learning new songs, Dr. Friday also recorded and released a CD containing thirteen original songs. More changes occurred in 2010 as another long time member decided to pursue other musical interests. Dr. Friday found their treasure in Garrett, multi-talented lead guitar player and vocalist and can also play any genre of music. After spending a few years writing and arranging almost twenty original songs, recording started in spring of 2016. Twelve songs of these songs were released January 2017 on CD. The album Cruisin' was also released for digital distribution via CDBaby to iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. The free rock and blues show will begin at 8:30 p.m.
