Hannam, concert series aren’t slowing down
By Lethbridge Herald on August 2, 2025.
Folk singer John Wort Hannam, fiddler Scott Duncan and Jason Valleau perform at Rotary Square Thursday; during the Allied Arts Council's 2025 Upside-Downtown summer performance series.Joe Manio
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative
The fifth annual Upside-Downtown summer concert series is just past its halfway-point, but is far from slowing down; and on Thursday evening a crowd of 500-600 live music fans packed Rotary Square at Casa to hear award-winning Canadian folk musician John Wort Hannam perform.
“Lethbridge has a unique and vibrant music scene. It’s small, but it’s vibrant and there’s a lot of creativity in this city,” says Hannam, who has performed in Lethbridge many times.
The John Wort Hannam Trio consisted of Hannam on the guitar, Scott Duncan on the fiddle and Jason Valleau on the upright bass.
Based in Fort Macleod, Hannam is known for his story-telling through music. Central themes in his music include life in Western Canada, and the human experience as seen through the eyes of everyday working folk. And for Hannam, many of his songs are about relatable personal experiences.
“Folk music is extraordinary stories of ordinary people,” he says. “The thing about personal songs is I realized when I started writing songs that that was how I made sense of the world, and my place in the world. I remember whenever I was sort of troubled or I couldn’t figure something out, I would write a song.”
One of the songs in his set titled “Young at Heart” was about, and dedicated to, Hannam’s late father, who passed away during the COVID-19 pandemic. Another song called “Hurry Up Kid” was about parenting, his personal relationship with his son and the fleeting years of childhood and adolescence.
Over two decades into his career, Hannam shows no sign of slowing down.The JUNO-nominee and Canadian Folk Music Award-winner continues performing at music festivals and gaining a wider audience. He also won two more Canadian Folk Music Awards for Solo Artist of the Year and Contemporary Album of the Year in 2023.
Hannam was a full-time Grade 9 public school teacher until 2000, and has since performed at festivals in Canada, the United States, Great Britain and Australia and he appeared at the 2006 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C.
“I always sang, like, even as a little boy. I sang in the Calgary Boys Choir. I never really thought about pursuing it as a career or as my main source of income.That kind of came later in life. But when I was actually teaching, I was like, maybe I could get paid to play and that’s where that started. And that’s living the dream.”
Like Hannam, the Upside-Downtown series isn’t slowing down either, with more performances featuring diverse performers every Thursday through the end of August.
“We’ve still got a lot of really, really great stuff upcoming,” says Allied Arts Council Executive Director Steven Foord. “We’ve got Noella Charles, who’s all the way from Edmonton next week, kind of in the soul R&B sort of vein of things.
“We’ve got Badlands still to come, which is an incredible sort of folk roots, or I guess roots rock sort of vein of things. And a big grand finale on August 28th, which is going to be a more (block party) festival style evening.”
14-13
awesome stuff! john is amazing and so were scott and jason – what a trio! the upsidedowntown experience is a special piece of the lethbridge summer. thanks to all the volunteers that make this so great, to steve for his work, to the exceptional players that share their talent, and to the sponsors and the providers of the delicious beverages!