Highlighting Canadian talent is an integral part of the Salmon Arm Roots & Blues mandate.
This year the festival lineup includes a large number of Canadian acts coming from across the country, including both veterans of the industry and some just beginning the journey.
Staying true to this mandate, the festival welcomes four more stellar Canadian acts: Paul Reddick, Herald Nix, Cannery Row and Heather Blush and The Uppercuts.
Reddick is a Canadian blues musician and songwriter who has been a part of Canada’s rich roots music scene for more than 20 years. He began playing the harmonica at the age of 12, his earliest musical influences being masters of the blues like Charley Patton, Robert Johnson and, of course, generations of harmonica aces.
Reddick is a grounded, articulate and witty artist. His music, underlined by his expressive harp playing, is simultaneously a century old and totally brand new, but it may be the passionate way he delivers his songs.
Reddick has been nominated for Junos, Blues Music Awards and he is a seven-time Maple Blues Award winner.
Herald Nix has long been one of the most respected artists in the Canadian underground music scene.
Years before people started talking about ‘alt country,’ Salmon Arm’s Nix was writing and playing music that drew on very deep roots.
He can stand up to the microphone alone with his guitar and, with just a few words, draw you into a new world.
With stoic detachment and a weather-beaten, “I’ve-seen-it-all” voice, he can make a three-minute song of disillusionment sound as epic as King Lear.
Nix’s guitar style is so personal that it defies categorization, think Hank Williams or Lefty Frizzell with fangs and a distortion pedal. Using fingers and slide together, he evokes bottleneck blues and pedal-steel styles. His use of echo harks back to Carl Perkins and Scotty Moore while his gritty amp tones might easily have been devised by the Memphis and Mississippi transplants who invented Chicago blues.
Cannery Row is a Lower Mainland trio featuring the talents of Gary Comeau on piano, fiddle, accordion, mandolin, guitar, banjo & vocals; Tim Hearsey on guitar, slide guitar, banjo, vocals; and Chris Nordquist on drums, percussion, washboard and vocals.
With diverse musical backgrounds and a common love of roots, folk, Latin, jazz and blues music, Cannery Row has woven an eclectic mix of original tunes.
Hear the influence of Mardi Gras from New Orleans, the blues from Memphis and the Mississippi delta, the Latin rhythms of Cuba and a sprinkle of the early roots of jazz as the trio performs songs from their self-titled album.
Heather Blush and The Uppercuts are sassy, sultry and just plain fun. A trio of rogue troubadours based in Calgary, they perform original songs in genre-crossing jazz/blues/roots. Blush’s voice is often compared to those of Norah Jones and Maria Muldaur, and she is quickly becoming known for songwriting that covers all bases, from witty sarcasm to gut-wrenching honesty.
With “Captain” Steve Hazlett on drums, a rotating cast of stellar upright bass players and an energetic, audience-engaging show, this group packs a punch that leaves a lasting impression.
One of the hottest shows in town, Roots and Blues runs Aug. 15 to 17. Tickets are available at www.rootsandblues.ca or by calling 250-833-4096.
