Try as hard as you can, you can't chase the blues away for good.

With the closure of Calgary's official home of the blues this week, the King Eddy, there were many mourning the loss.

It was only fitting, then, the Blues and Roots Fest should step up to the plate on its second night and supply the city's fine folk with the sounds they're gonna miss.

Last night's lineup, performing in front of the organizers' guesstimate of 6,500 at McMahon Stadium, was heavy on the music, featuring such artists as local powerhouse Tim Williams and The Electro-Fires, Texas outfit Omar and the Howlers, and young American axeman Jonny Lang.

Sure, there were a couple other non-blues practitioners -- lovely Alberta country gal Jane Hawley and the evening's headliner Lyle Lovett and His Large Band -- but the emphasis was on the songs of sorrow, heartache and redemption found in bottles and smoke-filled rooms.

If the night had one flaw, it was probably the scales tilting too much that way.

Then again, it's the music that gets top billing in the festival's name, so to complain would be ludicrous. Best just to enjoy -- an easy task, at that.

The city's hardest-working bluesman Williams and his band set the tone beautifully. Rousing, rocking, rolling -- allowing each member to showcase his incredible skills -- it was a joyous kickstart for a slowly growing, casually drinking Friday night crowd.

Between mainstage acts was Hawley, a longtime veteran of the roots scene, thanks to stints in Edmonton's Jr. Gone Wild, Calgary's Beautiful Joe and The Three Canaries, as well as an on-again, off-again solo career.

Here's hoping it's on-again for good as the sunny western sweetheart is pure prairie bliss -- someone who should be exported around the world as the perfect example of what country music is all about. Hawley has a voice that could sweeten England's tea, butter its crumpets and uncloud its skies all in one go.

Only in Canada? Pity. And something that should be changed.

On the big stage after her breath of fresh air was Omar and the Howlers, with their slow-cookin', smoky blues style and Kent (Omar) Dykes' Wolfman Jack vocals.

About halfway through their set, the limited showmanship of older bluesmen became apparent -- a typical case of amazing players, static performers, which ultimately translates into something relatively forgettable.

Which made Lang's set all the more welcome.

Lang, who's had a guitar in his hands since he was a fetus, provided some much-needed energy on the stage.

Part of that could be because he's still only in his early 20s, but part of it's also that he's been moving into the mainstream rock realm for awhile, and understands that motion in music -- even if much of it is in the facial features -- will get you further along.

So, too, will hard, heavy, upbeat fare that allows you to flex your guitar muscles bluesman style, while still putting the melody can be front and centre.

Eclectic performer Lyle Lovett closed the show with a highly anticipated set -- judging from the crowd, which included a mother-daughter tandem clad in "I Love Lyle" T-shirts -- of his exuberant country swing.

The artists' well-tailored set had all the warmth and appeal of a lakefront lot -- even with an early ill-advised reference to Calgary as Canada's Texas. At times, it also seemed as though vocally Lovett was buried far too deep inside his big band -- a fact made even more apparent when most of the band stepped aside an let him perform virtually solo. But that was more than made up for by his polished pick-up truck pop and a stage presence that was the personification of a shy smile.

It wasn't the blues, but then again, it's nice to chase 'em away every once in awhile.