Cheri Nichol is suing local concert promoter Concerts North. (Brooks DeCillia/CBC)

A Calgary woman has filed a lawsuit against a longtime local concert promoter.

She alleges the operator of Concerts North defrauded her of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

When the Blind Boys of Alabama cancelled a show in Bowness last week, there was a sign posted on the concert venue saying call Cheri Nichol for a refund.

But Nichol is suing the promoter Concerts North and its owner Bryan Taylor.

According to a statment of claim, she invested $716,000 for 17 shows.

"I'd been volunteering at Bryan's shows for a couple of years and he was bringing in great acts," she said. "I hadn't heard anything bad about Bryan. Nothing negative came up on due diligence and [I] love music, so [I am] a girl with a dream."

Nichol claims that Taylor promised investors would make a handsome profit from his concerts.

But the statement of claim alleges Taylor misrepresented the revenue generated from those concerts, claiming they had all lost money.

Court documents allege he spent the money on himself, using the rest to pay other investors.

Taylor has not filed a statement of defence but last month he did file for bankruptcy. He has not returned any interview requests from CBC News.