The best part of the Juno Awards when Saskatoon first hosted in 2007 was, in my opinion, Junofest. The two-day music festival had artists and bands playing all over the city, and it felt like a competition to see how many great bands you could see in one night. There's a picture of my cousin, Troy Weppler, and I standing in the cold out in front of Amigos taken by sister after we had just seen Rob Baker of The Tragically Hip, who was watching a band called Jets Overhead, and we look so darn happy!

I wanted to do a podcast episode on Junofest, the work it takes to pull off this festival, and what it means to local venues to host Junofest shows because I love live music. I believe live music is one of the few things in life that can bring people together and that we should celebrate it every chance we get. 

That's why Janelle and I braved the frigid temperatures on a Saturday morning in February to meet up with Aryn Otterbein of The Broadway Theatre. She opened up the theatre special for us and explained why it was important for the Broadway to be involved in something like Junofest. We also met her amazing dog, Dolly. You can see pictures of Dolly on the YXE Underground Instagram page! You must see these photos!!

Then we drove down to 9 Mile Legacy Brewery where CEO and co-founder, Shawn Moen, poured us pints of delicious beer and talked about why music means so much to him and his family. He also makes a really strong argument as to how music and beer are two things that bind Canadians. It's a pretty compelling argument!

The last stop was The Underground Cafe, which is tucked away on 20th Street. To be honest with you, I didn't realize it was a music venue until Junofest officials listed it on their website. My wife and I go the Underground Cafe on weekends to eat their waffles, but now I want to see shows there! It's a long, narrow and cozy space that owner Dallyn Guenther notes is perfect for acoustic shows. Dallyn gives some really heartfelt answers about why it means so much that the Junofest folks selected his cafe as a venue. You'll enjoy his interview.

We also hear from Dan Clapson from the Eat North food blog because he's bringing his Bluejay Sessions to the Somewhere Else Pub and Grill. 

As you can see, we put a lot of work into this episode, but it really was a labour of love. There's nothing better than live music and Saskatoon is about to experience a very healthy dose of it in the next few days! 

A big thanks to Janelle for working so hard and capturing some stunning photos and to my cousin Troy for being such a kickass co-host and saving a table for us at Amigos. Who knew the restaurant was also hosting a Girls Rock Camp Saskatoon dance party?? We certainly didn't!If you like what you've heard, please give the podcast a 5 star rating, subscribe for free and tell your friends.Enjoy all the Juno festivities and thanks to all the local venues to being so easy to work with!

Cheers...Eric 

• Host, Producer, Editor: Eric Anderson
• Theme Music: Andrew Dickson
• Website: https://www.yxeunderground.com
• Recorded: On Treaty 6 Territory and the traditional homeland of the Metis