Those who saw Steven Page play Surrey Arts Centre a few months ago also witnessed the guitar-playing brilliance of cohort Craig Northey, who strummed and joked around with the former Barenaked Ladies singer.

Northey, of The Odds, is stoked to announce a July 7 date for A Good Weird Story, "an anthology, an autobiography, a concert" at Evergreen Cultural Centre in Coquitlam.

"This one is an actual Odds show - it's actually 'Odds Plus,'" Northey told me. "A couple of years ago, we wrote a play about our strange history. It's a multimedia event (big screen, pictures, video, etc.) that was intended as a special 20th-anniversary concert. It stars ourselves and features all our best known material with insight into how it happened. We're finally going to debut it locally. We've performed it a dozen or so times in other Canadian cities already."

Northey added: "The folks at the theatre are also providing a barbecue before the show, with Odds prizes. You can all get together and hang pre-show!"

Concert details are online at www. evergreenculturalcentre.ca.

PEAK TIME FOR BANDS

The top-20 finalists in the big Peak Performance Project band contest were announced June 5 on The Peak radio station, much to the excitement of those named (with good reason).

This year, another $320,000 will be awarded to B.C. artists to support the province's burgeoning music scene, including $100.50 for the contest winner.

After an intense six months of activities for the finalist bands, including an industry boot camp and juried showcases at The Red Room (Sept. 13 to Oct. 18), the top five acts will be announced Nov. 2, followed by a finale concert at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver on Nov. 22.

But first, Surrey gets to see and hear all the bands in action, on two stages during the big Canada Day party at Cloveradale's Millennium Amphitheatre. The 20 PPP contest finalists for 2012 are Alexandria Maillot, Ali Milner, Beekeeper, Dear Rouge, Dominique Fricot, Facts, Fields of Green, Georgia Murray, Headwater, Jordan Klassen, Maurice, Mike Edel, Portage and Main, Redgy Blackout, T.

Nile, Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra, The Fugitives, The Gay Nineties, The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer and The River and the Road. Contest details are at www.thepeak.fm.

'KID' EXCITED AGAIN

"Just as I was ready to get a job and get away from this music thing, here it is pulling me back in."

Those are the words of Surrey-raised Billy "The Kid" Pettinger, a talented roots/rock musician who last year moved Stateside to record and tour.

This week, Pettinger was very stoked to announce news of an opportunity to work with Grammy-nominated producer Jamie Candiloro this coming summer.

In part, Pettinger is thrilled by the deal because Candiloro has worked with Ryan Adams.

"I am a huge Ryan Adams fan - well, massive is an understatement," Pettinger revealed.

Candiloro has also worked with Willie Nelson, Courtney Love, the Eagles, Luscious Jackson and on some R.E.M. records.

Pettinger will be launching a Pledgemusic campaign to raise the funds to get to L.A. and live/get around for a bit while making her next record with Candiloro.

"The album Jamie is producing right now, he had Ryan Adams play guitar and sing on," Pettinger said. "I am crossing my fingers the same might happen for my album!"

CALLING CARLY RAE

It'll be a busy summer for Mission-raised Carly Rae Jepsen, who will be preparing for the biggest concert tour of her life and writing/recording more songs for a fall album release.

I recently chatted with Jepsen for a feature story in Look magazine, out next week.

Jepsen, who now lives in Kitsilano, will be backing Justin Bieber on a concert tour this fall. Prior to that, she headlines a July 6 concert date as part of the threeday Summer Playland Festival (SPF) in Vancouver (info online at pne.ca).

No question, Jepsen's hectic schedule is thanks to "Call Me, Maybe," her huge hit song. "It's been a little insane but it's also a lot of fun," Jepsen, 26, a former Canadian Idol contestant, told me. "It's been a long time since I've dreamed of an opportunity like this and now that it's here, I feel like I'm ready for it - more ready than I imagined I could have been."

NEW MUSIC FROM METRIC

The Commodore Ballroom will be hopping Saturday night (June 23) for a "win to get in" performance by Canadian synthrock darlings Metric, on the heels of the release of the band's new Synthetica album. Expect more big things for Metric, whose 2009 album release, Fantasies, their fourth, was filled with solid songs, including "Help, I'm Alive," "Sick Muse," "Gimme Symphathy" and "Stadium Love." Tickets for Metric's weekend gig can't be purchased, only won via a variety of Rogers-sponsored contests.

tzillich@thenownewspaper.com