Although it helps, every show doesn't necessarily need a headliner. Locals Coffee House rarely has a performer of the statue of Mighty Joe Young in the line-up, but given his reputation, the indications were for an exceptional night of music at the first coffee house of 2011, Saturday, Jan. 8, at the Studio Stage Door.

As usual, the line up was mixture of novices and the top echelon of local musicians. The show opened with two very young performers; Ben Mindek on guitar supporting Delisia Reeser on vocals and 12-string guitar. Their program of original songs included Delisia's "Empty Bottle," "Only Sort of," "Take on the World" and "The End Could Be Beautiful." This was the duo's first time on the Locals' stage and it will not be their last.

Mike Peabody (guitar & vocals) is no stranger to local audiences. His usual musical fare is usually one of wall to wall humour but on Saturday night he presented a more serious side of his musical personality. His original songs included "Not Quite a Love Song," "My Depression, my Disease" and "On My Mind." Mike is getting married in a couple of months, so should we be worried by this serious turn of mind in his music?

"The Amazing Sarah Marriott and her Mediocre Friends" was the next band of merry musicians. This collective, also known as "Thistle and Weeds," ramped up the humour and joy component of the evening. The mediocre friends (not really) included Joel Purdy on vocals and guitar, Matt Kidd on Djembe and Alex Marriott on upright bass. Their set, once again of all original material, included "Is That Alright," "Back to Eden," "Beautiful," and "Love with You." The highlights of their set were Joel's power house guitar playing and the interplay of Sarah's and Joel's vocals. The remaining mediocre friends, Matt Kidd and Alex Marriott were not over shadowed by their band mates. This rock solid rhythm section added a very original dimension to the music. Mat Kidd with his impeccable timing, tonal palette and great rhythm, must be one of the most proficient Djembe players in the area. It is also easy to see why Alex, his rhythm partner, has been lusting after an upright bass for years. It is not often he gets to play his instrument of choice but this was his lucky night. For a short while he was in seventh heaven using Steve Jones's double bass.

After the intermission, and on a slightly quieter note, Robin Sudo on vocals, accompanied by Jim Cameron on nylon strung guitar stepped through a number of "animal" themed songs. These included Heart's "Dog and Butterfly," Carole King's "Will you still love me Tomorrow" (Jim insists that the song is about his cat) and Fleetwood Mac's "Song Birds are Singing." Robin is a very lucky lady to have found a musical accompanist of Jim's talent and statue.

The band Grand Larceny is one of many musical groups that coalesce around a dozen or so very talented musicians that are permanent fixtures on the local scene. Keith Larsen on vocals and guitar is probably one of the most versatile and proficient guitar pickers in the area. Steve Jones has to be the area's first call bass player and Mike Hepher (guitar, mandolin and vocals) has graced some of the most successful bands (As the Crow Flies and RedGirl) to come out of the East Kootenay. All these musicians, amongst their many other talents, have solid Bluegrass credentials. True to form they used a single microphone and opted for a purely acoustic set. This included the Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil", an original by Mike called "All the King's Men" and the Grant Parsons classic "Wild Horses". This was a set of exceptional acoustic music.

Mighty Joe Young does not often get to perform for Cranbrook audiences. He is better known on the festival circuit for his blazing amplified blues/rock. So, Saturday night was a rare treat for this small Cranbrook audience to hear Joe in an acoustic setting. With just his voice and acoustic guitar he kicked off with an original called "Just Show me the Highway" followed by "Can't you See."

A quick change into an open tuning allowed for a slide version of the classic "Rolling and Tumbling." Joe finished his set with T-Bone Walker's "Stormy Monday."

Muddy Waters may be credited with the "invention of electricity" but the honour really belongs to T-Bone Walker and his 1940 to 1954 classic recordings. The trail that T-Bone blazed became the well traveled highway of modern electric blues. Without T-Bone there would have been no Chuck Berry. But, just for at least one night, Joe turned the original electric "Stormy Monday" into an acoustic country blues. With Joe's beaten and ravaged voice and his beautiful acoustic guitar sound it was a spell binding performance.

It was a fitting finish to a night of mighty music by a whole cadre of local musicians.

The next Locals Coffee House at the Studio/Stage Door will be Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011.