On Valentine’s Day 2014 Fosston-born, Regina-based singer Belle Plaine a.k.a. Melanie Hankewich played a show at the Artesian. She had her usual bandmates Elizabeth Curry (upright bass, vocals) and Jeremy Sauer (keys, accordion, vocals) with her, and also had Chris Sleightholm (guitar), Tyler Hammer (drums), Cheney Lambert (trumpet), Karl Valiano (saxophone) and Anna Rose (backing vocals).
The show was recorded and later mixed at Soul Sound Studio in town. As indie albums sometimes do, it took awhile to get mastered and to have layout and design done on an album jacket, but Belle Plaine’s finally ready to release her live album.
The Unrequited Love has a mix of original and cover tunes, along with conversational interludes from the stage. And on Saturday March 5 Belle Plaine will be returning to the Artesian to do a release show. Megan Nash is the back-up act, and tickets are $20.
You can get more info on the Artesian website, or in this article in our March 3 issue, and here’s some video from last summer of Belle Plaine doing a solo version of a song called “Squared Up” as part of Creative City Centre’s Empty Room Series: