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Perhaps the one biggest complaints about the Junos, or any music award show for that matter, is that music often takes a backseat to the backslapping.

That certainly won’t be the case in the lead-up to the Juno Awards taking place in Calgary on April 3, as the week prior to that Sunday night of glitz and glamor and gladhanding at the Saddledome, will feature a whole host of events to bring the focus back to what really matter.

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Perhaps the most musical of all events is the Juno Fest, which will see more than a hundred Canadian acts and artists of all different genres filling over a dozen clubs and venues around the city on the weekend of April 1 and April 2.

Some of the notable names who will be participating include Lee Harvey Osmond, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Cancer Bats, Alex Cuba, Jim Cuddy, Kalle Mattson, Whitehorse, Marianas Trench, NQ ArbuckleandOld Man Luedecke.

Of course, the local and regional acts are incredibly well represented, facilitated by the fact that talent was collected together by Calgary booker, manager and musician Pat McGannon of PM Gigs, with input and suggestions from other local industry folk. (Full disclosure: I was among them.)