Taylor Leedahl started Tonight It’s Poetry, a weekly showcase of local poetic talent, in April 2008. Little did she know that a year later, her locally-grown project would attract national attention.

On June 14, at the last Tonight It’s Poetry of the year, the first Saskatoon slam poetry team was decided. They will be heading to Victoria to compete in the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word from Nov. 10 to 14.

“What I’m really excited about is, when our team goes out there, what they’re going to bring back here,” said Leedahl, team manager. “And, you know, next year, there’s the chance for people to be on the 2010 team.”

Winner Megan Lane and runner-up Charles Hamilton were both surprised with their success at the competition June 14. Hamilton said he was nervous going in and Lane said she didn’t think she would make it to the second round. Jocelyn Doepker came in third, Nicole Almond came in fourth and Stephen Rutherford is the team’s alternate.

Though initially a tour comprised of six bands, White Whale Records will be doing a truncated version of their five-year anniversary party here in Saskatoon on June 29. Two indie bands from Toronto,
Octoberman and Mohawk Lodge, will be joined by Edmonton rocker Eamon McGrath for a night of eclectic rock music.

Whether you’re a fan of Canadian indie music or not, this show should be pretty damn wicked — if for no other reason than the varied sounds of these three groups.

Montreal metal gurus Derelict came ripping through town at the end of May, slaying an audience of intense metal-heads at Walker’s Nightclub with their exuberant but deadly brand of extreme music.

Though based in Montreal, Derelict have more than one Saskatoon connection. Impressively, they have managed to steal one of Saskatoon’s best psych-rock drummers, all the while getting their music released on the Saskatoon label Somnambulist Sound (run by Skot Hamilton of The New Jacobin Club and Adolyne).