If he could be at this year’s James Muretich Rock and Roll Circus, a fundraiser that earned $4,000 in its inaugural run last year, the concert’s namesake would no doubt love it. After all, a whole shwack of his favourite bands are playing, and there is a free barbecue to go with it. Those who knew James would agree there were few things he loved more than being fed and “watered” while listening to tunes and bellowing out a play-by-play of the bands.

The colourful Calgary music writer died of brain cancer in September of 2006. The proceeds of last year’s event went towards the James Muretich Memorial Bursary for journalism students attending Mount Royal College. Earlier this year, the bursary’s first recipient, fourth-year student Rachel Anne Maclean, walked away with $1,000. No word on whether they threw in a bottle of Scotch or a Speedo to go with it.

Organizer Richie Lazarowich, in his fourth year of Communications at the college, came up with the bursary idea as he spoke with James’s mother Giselle and sister Louise at Muretich’s wake. “It just seemed like we needed a way to remember a guy who did so much for his community and was loved by so many,” Lazarowich says.

It was tough not to offer a repeat after last year’s show went so well. “The turnout was way better than we anticipated,” Lazarowich says. “I was really worried that no one would come, and I’d lose a lot of money, but it was a sellout. The best part of the whole event was how easy it was to get all of the bands to play. Everyone I asked said yes and it was the same way this year.”

When the smoke (from the barbecue, of course) clears and the music stops ringing after the show, Lazarowich will likely feel the same way he did last year: “Relief and satisfaction that we had pulled it off,” as he puts it, “and a little sad that James wasn’t there in person to enjoy it and slap a big, sloppy, Scotch-flavoured, wet kiss on me and everyone else, too.”