Temperatures are heating up and so is the slate for the 2015 Roots and Blues Festival.
Ten new performers have been added to the list: Marty Stuart and The Fabulous Superlatives, John Oates, Royal Southern Brotherhood ft. Cyrille Neville, Adam Cohen, Elephant Revival, Tony McManus, Quartetto Gelato, Rockin’ Highliners, Monica Heldal and Hanggai.
• Described as “the corner of sacred and profane, two doors up from the blues and folk, and just across the street from gospel, R&B and rock ‘n’ roll,” Marty Stuart and The Fabulous Superlatives hail from the US.
• Also from south of the border, John Oates paired up with John Daryl Hall, through their mutual love for urban rhythm and blues blended with the more rural roots of American music. As well as performing in the most successful duo in rock history, Oates also flies solo with back-up band Brothers’ Keeper, who are already signed on to the festival.
• USA’s Royal Southern Brotherhood combines the talent of Cyrille Neville and Devon Allman drag their thrilling new brand of blues-rock and white-hot musicianship from the Southern States onto the world stage.
• Canadian Adam Cohen’s songs, performed on a nylon-string guitar, have a deep connection and engage in deep personal conversation with one of his greatest musical influences, Leonard Cohen, his father.
• Elephant Revival has a simple line at the top of their Facebook page: “Where words fail … music speaks.”
The sentence reveals volumes about the band’s reason for being. Music unites us in ways that no other medium can. Even when we don’t understand one another’s languages — we can be moved by a rhythm, soothed by a song. Brought together by a unified sense of purpose — the spirit of five souls working as one, in harmony, creating sounds they could never produce alone.
• Tony McManus of Scotland and Canada, has both extended and transcended the parameters of contemporary Celtic music. Ranked by peers and predecessors alike alongside the guitar world’s all-time greats, his fiendishly dexterous, dazzlingly original playing draws on traditions from the entire Celtic diaspora - Scotland, Ireland, Brittany, Galicia, Asturias, Cape Breton, Quebec - along with still further-ranging flavours, such as jazz and east European music.
• Virtuosic showpieces, romantic tenor arias, pyrotechnic solos, blazing gypsy show pieces, multi-instrument mastery and a World Accordion Champion – this is Quartetto Gelato.
• The Rockin’ jump blues quintet known as The Rockin’ Highliners are back together again after a 10 year holiday.
• Norway’s Monica Heldal’s major influences include Nick Drake, Emmylou Harris, the Irish blues artist Rory Gallagher, and acoustic segments from Led Zeppelin’s portfolio. Though blues may be the foundation of many of her songs, her music encompasses equal measures rock and folk.
• When Hanggai lead singer, Beijing-based punk rocker Ilchi, heard throat singing for the first time, he was determined to investigate his family’s Mongolian heritage.
He journeyed there, met two traditional musicians named Hugejiltu and Bagen, and soon Hanggai was born. Based in Beijing but devoted to traditional Mongolian songs, Hanggai’s spacious, undeniably gorgeous music has won it many fans.
Catch these amazing bands along with many others Aug. 14 to 16.
In the meantime, Roots and Blues has had a few hurdles to clear over the past year and you can help clear another one by supporting their Doin’ It Right Dance and Concert at the Shaw Centre Arena this Saturday, March 14.
Buying a ticket provides a great evening of music with one of the greatest blues band to have ever called Canada home.
Tom Lavin and company will be delivering all the hits, Doin’ It Right, Boppin’ With The Blues, Hear That Guitar Ring, Thirsty Ears, What’ve I been Drinkin’ and more for two full sets of timeless sounds.
With the help of Kelowna’s Devon Coyote, and Salmon Arm’s own Patrick Ryley from EZ Rock and Seal Skull Hammer, Doin’ It Right promises to be a night of great music, fun and community bonding.
Get your tickets by calling the Roots and Blues office at 250-833-4096.
