Wednesday, January 6 If you’re downtown and feel like alternative indie chick pop, then Canadian duo Tegan & Sarah are playing the Orpheum Theatre tonight. Not down for such a mainstream crowd? Head over to the North Shore Presentation House Theatre for hard swinging melodic jazz when the Burrows/Matheson Quartet features Douglas College faculty members Jared Burrows and Alan Matheson. My Pick: Go north for some awesome jazz Thursday, January 7 The Railway club is a pretty good place to be tonight if you’re not feeling too rowdy, where three local acoustic acts will be jamming out original tunes. But, if you are feeling vulgar, then head to the Princeton pub for Glory Whore, Hookerpop and Hobosexuals. It’s your call really. My Pick: I’m feeling classy —hit up the Railway Friday, January 8 It’s a night of great Canadian rock past and present. Now-Vancouver- based ‘80’s rock band-Loverboy are shaking their thing at the Commodore Ballroom for the umpteenth time. Younger rascals The Enigmas are going to be doing the same but at the Bourbon on Cordova in the downtown east. My Pick: Unless you belong to the over-40 crowd, Bourbon’s the place to be Saturday, January 9 Loverboy plays again tonight at the Commodore, just in case you were at the Bourbon last night, but I'd head a little farther down Granville to O’Doul’s pub and hear the Karin Plato Jazz Trio. However, if you happen to be in Whistler for the weekend, check out Dusty’s Bar & BBQ for one of the best “60s cover bands Whole Lotta Led. My Pick: Local jazz hits the spot, but Led is worth it if you’re still on vacation Tegan and Sara int. Another jazz venue fears closure in 2010, this one hits a little closer to home By Jay Schreiber, Arts Editor ow local is local anymore? Some He argue that anything artistic with a maple leaf attached is considered local these days, just so long as it fits Canadian content laws. Some people think that so long as the artistic creation comes within our province of British Columbia it can be considered home grown. Most times, local is referred to as anywhere within a 45 minute drive of home, in other words, the GVRD. the club is looking to do renovations and a change of environment that could be happening as soon as February because of money issues. Taking a walk up 6th Street, you'll find Java Jazz, a great little restaurant run by a very musical Indonesian family. The food is everything from pastas to Asian cuisine and the atmosphere is generally very friendly. If you need to take the family out for dinner, then this is a great recommendation, but check ahead for schedule of night open per week, they tend “In the New Year, with the Olympics threatening a nationwide coup d’état, the smaller “family run” venues are losing business and facing closure.” All of the above are considerably local to some degree or another depending on how big of a scale you look at, but the local I’m talking about has to do with a few blocks from where you’re probably reading this paper right now. The Lower Mainland is a great place for live music, but very few people are aware of the outside downtown venues that are high in quality, low in price and always great fun. In the New Year, with the Olympics threatening a nationwide coup ” d’état, the smaller “family run” venues are losing business and facing closure. For anyone who loves jazz, the Heritage Grill is probably a favoured local hangout. Located right next to Columbia SkyTrain Station on Columbia Street, the Grill offers high quality music, great food, cheap drinks and an overall great location. Live music happens every other night and if you’re a player, then coming out on Thursday’s for jazz jams with a bunch of great local players is one of the best experiences you'll have. As it stands now, to change depending on performers. Going even further up 6th Street is the Orange Room, an urban lounge for a somewhat postmodern crowd of individuals. This is a fairly versatile venue for everything from acoustic teenage angst rock to flamenco guitar styles. Thursdays are ladies night and Saturdays the mood is Spanish fever. While some venues have not been so lucky in remaining open for this long, these places still have a dedicated crowd of regulars. The issue is whether these regulars can remain steady enough to keep a place afloat or if reinforcing members of the community can help make the difference. The problem is just where it has always been, in the hands of the patrons of free local venues. My advice to you, oh faithful reader of The Other Press, is to make the effort to support your local live music restaurants, for without them, we have that much less of an artistic identity.