They’re ready to rumble – in the best of ways!
As well as taking their own acts onstage, many Roots and Blues Festival performers create new magic while participating in workshops.
As he books acts, artistic director Peter North asks certain performers who they might like to make music with.
“For example, Jerry Lawson, as much as he’s a real gun on his own, he really wanted to have an opportunity to sing with (Leon) Bibb, so we made that happen on a couple of stages,” he says. “I also go for that balance of combinations where you’re working without a net and not sure what’s gonna happen.”
Get your cèilidh on at 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19, when Crossbow and HarpPixie will run through Celtic history in music.
At 8:45 p.m. on the Jack Daniel’s Barn Stage, Blues Heaven Juke Box will be hosted by David Gogo. His guests, Crystal Shawanda, Tim Williams, Steve Kozak and Sugar Brown will bring their versions of the blues.
As always, it will be hard to choose from Saturday and Sunday’s lineup of workshops that will be held on the CBC Blues Stage, the SASCU Shade Stage and the newly named Jack Daniel’s Barn Stage. Jack Daniel’s owner Brown-Forman Canada have taken over sponsorship of the stage.
It will be the site of workshops during the day but will be the place to boogie at night. But it certainly won’t be ho-hum during the day either.
Among the many offerings on Saturday is a toe-tapping Canadian Cèilidh, with Tom Lander of Locarno and a number of other former members of Vancouver’s Paper Boys. Tiller’s Folly, Miranda Mulholland from Great Lake Swimmers and Crossbow’s Neil Burnett will add to the lively Celtic jam.
Jerry Lawson’s request will be accommodated in Call and Response, a vocal workshop with Eric Bibb, Roy Forbes and others.
“There will be really great vocal fireworks,” says North.
North has made good use of an abundance of mandolins this year by creating Mandolin Magic with John Reischman, Joe Craven, Nolan Murray, Tim Williams and extra musicians from Birds and Colin Maier of Quartetto Gelato and Jim Nunally of the Jaybirds.
“There will be blues mandolin to swing mandolin to country mandolin,” adds North.
On Saturday night, Locarno, kLoX and Delhi to Dublin will take audience members on a wild ride to end the day at the Jack Daniel’s Barn Stage with La Carnival, something North refers to as a big world electronic mash-up.
Some of Sunday’s standout workshops include The Latin Quarter, featuring Quartetto Gelato, Joe Craven and Salmon Arm’s own Willy Gaw Quartet that “will mine all sorts of sounds from the equator south.”
“I am very excited about the gospel show because we haven’t had one since I have been here,” North says of the spirit-lifting workshop that will feature the music of the Sojourners, Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar and Jerry Lawson.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to convince Amy Helm to join in on that one,” he says. “Instrumentally, we’ll have great guitar players - three of the finest you will find anywhere, not just on our site.”
Called Lightning in a Bottle, the workshop will feature Jarekus Singleton, Matt Andersen and Jake Eckert and Jeff Watkins from New Orleans Suspects.
“I think there should be some fireworks there; they’re not just phenomenal guitar players,” they’re great singers as well, says North.
In New Orleans Piano Styles, CR Gruver, Mean Willy Green and Reggie Scanlon of New Orleans Suspects will take the audience on a trip from Professor Long Hair to Doctor John.
“I try to deliver things you haven’t had in the last couple of years to make sure some holes get filled. We can’t do everything every year,” North says, noting Last year’s Latin offerings were pretty electrified while the genre this year is represented more in acoustic ensembles and music.
Roots and Blues will get an off-site start with a Music Crawl on Aug. 18 at a number of venues around town. Award-winning bluesman Tim Williams and new duo Harrow Fair, featuring Miranda Mulholland from the Great Lake Swimmers and Andrew Penner from the Sunparlour Players will perform at Shuswap Theatre. Roots music fans will be able to catch hot sounds of local and touring acts at the Blue Canoe, Shuswap Pie Company, Shuswap Chefs, and the new Urban Market.
To bring the evening home, Music Crawl 2016 will, for the first time, funnel down to the festival site at the Salmon Arm Fairgrounds for a rockin’ good time at the Boogie Bar-N.
Colombian reggae band De Bruces A Mi and blues maestro David Gogo and his band will rock the Boogie Bar-N starting at 8:30 p.m.
A pay-what-you-can policy is in place for the cafés, pubs and theatre performances, members of the Salmon Arm Folk Music Society will gain free admission to the Bar-N show, which is a licensed event. Memberships are $15 and are available for purchase at the Roots and Blues box office at the festival site until 5 p.m. before the Thursday evening concert. Non-members admission is $20 at the gate.