Vancouver’s Cannery Row will be headlining the Raising the Roots Dance, a fundraising event for the Roots and Blues festival on April 16.
Cannery Row play infectiously danceable roots music with a Cajun flare. The band features talented multi-instrumentalists, with songs pairing piano, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, accordion, washboard and more with three-part vocal harmonies.
The band is comprised of veteran B.C. musicians Tim Hearsey, Chris Nordquist and Gary Comeau, who have been playing together as Cannery Row for four years.
“It’s a real mix, I’ve heard it described as Americana but it’s Canadiana. I guess it’s generally under the broad umbrella of roots music with influence from New Orleans,” said Nordquist, noting the band also plays zydeco, Cajun and jazz.
Cannery Row played the Roots and Blues festival in 2014.
“It was great fun; we did a couple different stages and we had our own featured set on the blues stage,” said Nordquist.
Nordquist thought Cannery Row was very well-received at the festival, particularly when they played, between main acts on the main stage, while another band was setting up.
“All these kids out at the main stage to see The Sheep Dogs – I don’t think they’d seen anything like us; it was a very positive experience, a lot of fun,” Nordquist said.
He said Cannery Row agreed to play the dance at the request of Roots and Blues Festival artistic director Peter North. The Raising the Roots fundraising dance will take place at Gleneden Hall on April 16 at 6:30 p.m.
The rambunctious, crowd-pleasing members of Seal Skull Hammer will open for Cannery Row.
Tickets to the dance are available online or at the Salmon Arm Folk Music Society office, 490 Fifth Ave. SW.
