Colin Linden

 “I’ve been playing country blues, ‘20s style acoustic blues, since I was a really little kid,” the 45-year-old Linden explains. “When I was 11, I met [electric blues pioneer] Howlin’ Wolf. One of the things he said to me that really got me onto this path was that ‘if you want to play this kind of music you should listen to the people I listened to.’ He told me about Charlie Patton and Son House and that generation of artists. That was like opening the biggest door in the world for me, so I just dug in deep. I listened to it and have been playing it seriously for 32 years now.”  http://colinlinden.com/index.html

George McConkey is a northern institution. Fondly nicknamed Harmonica George by his myriad of Yukon fans, he is a founding member of the Undertakin’ Daddies (Juno nominated for Post Atomic Hillbilly in 2002) (West Coast Music Awards nominee for Devil in the Rearview 2004) and has toured Europe, the US and across Canada.

Known as a musician’s musician, Harmonica George has let his lyrical style of improvisation bedazzle and amaze all who listen, performing with the likes of Calvin Vollrath, Lester Quitzau, Carolyn Mark, Hawk Walsh, Gordie Johnson, David Essig, Wyckham Porteous, Cardella De Milo, Dino Spells, Teresa Doyle, Rick Scott, Ray Condo, Gary Comeau, Rawlin’s Cross, Kenny Wayne, Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir, Phil Dwyer, and Phil Lloyd to name a few.  www.myspace.com/georgemcconkey

Songs of healing and love embody the heart of Canadian singer/songwriter Julie Blue.  With a richly soulful and beautifully evocative voice, Blue looks beyond stylistic boundaries, weaving together influences of jazz, classical, pop, and blues with a painter's eye for sonic detail.  An award-winning singer, songwriter, film composer, facilitator and keynote speaker, Julie has released 7 CDs, her most recent entitled "One of A Kind Woman".  She currently writes music for and directs an 80 voice choir "Singspiration Singers".  Julie is offering a gospel vocal workshop that was a hit at last year's festival and an invitation to see how many singers we can get on stage for a couple of songs in her gospel set on Sunday.  

Details coming soon.

Metaphor is a crew of hip-hop artists who build community empowerment and social justice through their art, teaching and facilitation. The team has brought hundreds of performances and workshops to high schools, universities and community groups through BC, Washington and Oregon, including the Burnaby Youth Detention Centre, Waypoint Youth Rehabilitation Services, Surrounded by Cedars Family Services, BC Housing and LINKS Probation School. Metaphor performances are energizing exciting, and engaging experiences of positive hip-hop right in front of your eyes. The crew illuminates hip-hop as a tool for media awareness, community building and self-empowerment. Intelligent and heart warming lyrics, freestyle raps mind-boggling breakdancing body-rocking beatboxing and audience interaction combine to create a show that deals with real-life issues, is easy for youth to relate to, and that will leave them inspired for more.

A versatile country band that combines solid original country with grooving latin-funk to create a sound that is exciting and addictive. Rich dynamic vocals and amazing originals leave you wanting more.  ROSSi wrote her first love song at the age of twelve and has been singing and performing both as a solo artist and with  various bands ever since. Recording experience in both Nashville, Tennessee and Vancouver B.C. with some of country music's hottest players helped with the evolution of her music from country folk/roots to a country-rock style of her own. With a vocal style compared to a mix of Patsy Cline and Annie Lennox, ROSSi has always maintained her focus on songwriting and continues to develop a strong portfolio of original material. She also has a passion for reworking classic country songs and giving them a new ROSSi twist. Her award winning children's CD combines her talent for songwriting and love of country music to offer the smaller folk an upbeat country-rock CD that appeals to all ages.

South Thunderbird is Isaac Mandamin's spiritual name (Aboriginal name). Isaac was born and raised on the Whitedog Ojibway Reserve (Wabseemoong First Nation 100km North of Kenora ON). He was blown away when he first heard Stevie Ray Vaughan’s music and that’s when he knew he wanted to play the Blues. Isaac was mainly influenced by lots of old and new artists of the blues including all the "Kings"; BB King, Albert King, Freddy King, as well as Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan and Colin James among many others.  South Thunderbird has been nominated for their debut CD "Tough Go" for four national awards; 2007 Native America Music Awards for BEST BLUES/JAZZ recording, 2005 Western Canadian Music Awards, 2005 Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, 2006/2007 Aboriginal Peoples Choice.  www.myspace.com/souththunderbird