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British Columbia's Folk and Roots Talent to Shine at Salmon Arm ROOTSandBLUES!
The talent pool in British Columbia's folk and roots scene has never been deeper and one of the mandates of the Salmon Arm ROOTSandBLUES Festival has been to make sure that British Columbia artists are front and centre at the annual event.
ROOTSandBLUES has already announced a number of homegrown artists for the twenty-seventh edition of the event, including The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer, Early Spirit, Tonye Aganaba, Ostwelve, Qristina & Quinn Bachand and Valdy, and organizers are pleased to announce another batch of fine B.C. artists.
Kicking off the list is one of Canada's finest soul singers, Dawn Pemberton. With Pemberton appearing at ROOTSandBLUES with The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer it made sense that this vocalist stand in the spotlight during the festival with her own band.
Dawn is a staple of the Vancouver music scene and can often be found tearin' it up as a vocalist, teacher, facilitator, choir director and "go to girl" for live performances and studio sessions. A passionate performer, Dawn crafts her music with a sense of adventure and a serious groove. One listen to her "Say Somethin'" disc confirms that Pemberton is Canada's Queen of Soul.
On the acoustic side of things, Victoria's Unfaithful Servants stand as the most impressive new unit to add their collective expertise to Canada's bluegrass and newgrass scene.
American born, virtuoso mandolinist Jesse Cobb is a founding member of the critically acclaimed bluegrass group The Infamous String Dusters, and with that group he received a Grammy nomination and worked with the likes of Bela Fleck, Lee Anne Womack, Dirks Bentley, and Jim Lauderdale. Shortly after Jesse's move to Vancouver Island, singer/songwriter Dylan Stone began to collaborate with Cobb. Their collaboration grew to include Miriam Sonstenes on fiddle, who was a founder of beloved Canadian roots trio The Sweet Lowdown, and upright bassist Alex Rempel. Together The Unfaithful Servants are pushing forward the limits of traditional music and have a strong foundation of experience and skill to boast.
Also from the west coast comes young Luke Wallace,
a folk musician and coastal advocate from unceded Coast Salish Territory known as Vancouver. Luke's music is a platform for the voices of communities fighting to protect the systems that help them thrive. Since 2012, Luke has relentlessly toured the west coast of North America with the mission of inspiring audiences into action focused on social and environmental justice. Drawing from folk heroes like Pete Seeger and Woodie Guthrie, Luke embodies a new a wave of political folk music.
From Campbell River comes
Big Willie G
, an 18-year-old blues, rock, and country folk musician. He grew up listening to greats like Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, and Johnny Cash and has a serious handle on this kind of music. He'll be working with the House Band and some of the veterans of the Canadian blues scene.
Rounding out this release of artists is Salmon Arm's own Jordan Dick who will be leading a guitar driven quartet for multiple performances at ROOTSandBLUES and The Music Crawl. An avowed disciple of the masterful Bill Frisell, Dick will be showcasing unique interpretations of folk and rock tunes in an all-star quartet setting.
ROOTSandBLUES still has a few more artists to announce and for complete details on this year's festival, that will be headlined by the likes of The Jim Cuddy Band, Jamaican reggae legends Third World, the magnificent Ruthie Foster and Ireland's Dervish, head to rootsandblues.ca or phone the festival office at 250-833-4096.
Spring Concert Information
ROOTSandBLUES and The Salmon Arm Folk Music Society are pleased to present MonkeyJunk frontman Steve Marriner at the Salmon Arm Legion on Wednesday, June 5.
On a hiatus from the award-winning MonkeyJunk, the multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter is currently on a national tour playing harmonica and singing back-ups for Colin James.
Stony Plain Records released Marriner's latest project, a duo effort with his onetime mentor Harry Manx. Titled Manx-Marriner Mainline, the album features songs by both artists and interpretations of classic blues tunes. The album has already received a four-star review in the prestigious jazz/blues publication Downbeat.
The concert stop in Salmon Arm is part of a two-week tour that cuts through Alberta and B.C. with Marriner playing guitar and harmonica.
Marriner hosted what was arguably the hottest blues workshop in the history of ROOTSandBLUES last August when he hosted an amazing set featuring his fellow MonkeyJunk bandmates, Fleetwood Mac's Rick Vito, Colin James. and Big Dave McLean.
There's no reason to think this dynamic young artist won't be firing on all cylinders again. Doors at the Salmon Arm Legion will open at 7 p.m., showtime is 8. Tickets and info at Roots and Blues office in person or by phoning 250-833-4096 or by going on line at www. rootsandblues.ca.
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