Did Mamaguroove’s last minute cancellation leave you distraught and in bad need of good music? Fear not, for one of Canada’s most acclaimed and accomplished performers is bound for the Downstream next Wednesday (November 23).

Advance tickets are on sale for the Todd Butler Trio’s Jasper stop on their “Idle Canadian”  tour. Half the tickets were already sold by early this week, so the show could be sold out before you finish reading this article.

Still there? Good.

Butler has been praised in equal measure for his comedic stylings at the microphone as well as his abilities as a guitar player. Performing with drummer and vocalist Vince Ditrich and bassist Lee Oliphant, Butler’s set list will likely include songs from the trio’s new  “Idle Canadian” CD, along with audience favourites from the past.

A good illustration of Butler’s versatility as a performer is the fact that in the same calendar year that he served a six-month term as host of CBC Radio’s “Madly Off in all Directions,” his instrumental collaboration with slide guitarist David Cox was picked as one of the Top Ten albums of the year by Acoustic Guitar Magazine.

Commonly sighted on the comedy festival circuit, Butler’s satire has been featured in guest spots on “This Hour Has 22 Minutes.” If his website is any indication, Butler wears his political heart on his sleeve off the stage as well, writing about supporting the BC Teachers Federation during the spring provincial election in that province and deriding the Gordon Campbell government.

“The BC government’s plan is a simple, yet brilliant one; destroy quality PUBLIC (that means you) EDUCATION so that the poor people can’t get smart enough to realize they are being screwed by the rich people,” he writes.

When it comes to his music, it seems that with every performance, Butler discovers another genre to explore.

“I have been told that I am all over the map and need to focus more on one style or another to be commercially successful...I can’t do it! I enjoy playing and writing so many different kinds of music that I could never imagine limiting myself to just one,” he writes on his website. “I believe that audiences today want variety and excitement and surprises when they go to a concert. We definitely give them that!”