It's not summer yet but August is coming to Ladner next week.

Made up of three West Coast singer/songwriters, Rae Armour, Beverley Elliott and Linda Kidder, August will play a show at Genesis Theatre next Friday as part of the venue's live@5005 concert series.

The members, each with a successful solo career, came together about six years ago. They were friends that would cross paths by seeing each other at shows.

"It started when Rae just said, 'Hey, why don't we do a gig together one day?'" says Elliott.

"We took our original songs and learned each others' harmonies and then we expanded from there and started writing together and writing songs with contributions from all three of us," she says.

Having people to bounce things off and inspiring each other are some of the pros of being in a group, she notes.

"I find things get done. Songs actually get finished. I start writing lots of songs on my own but when you have three of us there's usually somebody who picks up the creative energy ball again and says, 'Let's get that third verse' or 'Let's finish it.' That's great."

Delegating different tasks is also a plus, Kidder says.

"We each have our strengths and we bring it to the table and it just works out so well."

For the upcoming show in Ladner, August plans on performing songs from its current album, The Sweetest Day, unreleased tunes and likely songs from the members' individual CDs.

"I'd say it's a combination. We've got the ones that are tried and true that we love and know will get a big response," says Elliott. "We do have a couple of new ones up our sleeve, mostly in the comedy vein. We've been writing some funny stuff."

The three singer/song-writers also tell stories about their lives during the course of a show. The stories are important to the show, says Kidder, noting they can set up a song by giving a background to it or help to explain a meaning.

Elliott says the stories resonate.

"We speak to things that are kind of universal truths for women of our age."

She also notes stories can help disarm the distance between the audience and the performer on stage.

"You kind of just feel like you're in a big living room talking to your friends."

The Sweetest Day combines a mixture of jazz, pop and roots.

"We all brought our own flavour. Linda's a bit more jazzy and Rae's more pop. I'm maybe a bit more folk/country. We mix that all together and come up with our own sound," says Elliott.

The trio will be joined on stage in Ladner by jazz guitarist Daryl Jahnke.

August performs at Genesis Theatre, 5005-45th Ave., on Friday, Jan. 25 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door.

More information is available at www.genesistheatre.ca.

For more on August, visit www.augustmusic.net.

dwillis@delta-optimist.com