When you combine the honesty of Johnny Cash, the rocker grit of Joan Jett, and a dash of Lucille Ball, you get close to the music and spirit that embodies Lori Yates. She is finishing her latest cd, "Queen of E Minor," at Blue Rodeo's Woodshed Studio and writing her memoir, "Sunday Drunks; A Life Well Wasted in Music" Lori has spent a lifetime writing/performing/teaching in the alternative roots/ country vein, which she is considered a "pioneer of the genre" in Canada since bursting onto the cowpunk scene of the 80's Queen St. W. She has worked with; Rick Danko and Guy Clark, mentored by Tammy Wynette.