The Howlin' Cs are an Ottawa rockabilly band that has been playing around town for the last year and a half, seen lately opening up for such bands as the Shakin' Pyramids, N.R.B.Q. and the Bop Cats. They're a four-piece band made up of Paul Steele on vocals and guitar, Joe Myke on bass, Barry Belshaw on drums and Mike Rivoch on lead guitar -- each very talented musicians and the best word to describe this band is tight. They cover songs like "Rave On", "Rockabilly Boogie", "Genie, Genie, Genie" and "Train Kept a Rollin'" with an enthusiasm that is easily picked up by the audience.

Most recently I caught them at the Shakin' Pyramids show at Barrymore's on January 10th and they put on one hell of a show. They had quite a crowd up dancing and they got a well-deserved encore. They get into some of the showmanship that used to be such a big part of rockabilly acts in the '50s such as climbing onto the bass. One thing they don't do much of though is play originals. There's only one song, called "That Kinda Love", that they play publically. Hopefully they'll start playing their others but until then at least their choice of covers is well done. They've picked the kind of songs that make you want to get up and dance so if you're in the mood to do so, keep your ears open and check them out the next time they're playing.