2012 Performers already announced:
- Dougie McLean is one of Scotland’s most successful, respected and popular musicians. From his home base in Scotland, MacLean tours the world with his unique blend of lyrical, ‘roots based’ songwriting and instrumental composition.
- Arrested Development – Two-time Grammy award winning hip-hop group, true trailblazers in hip-hop. Since 1991 they’ve championed fresh sounds, spreading unique hip-hop around the world, including a successful stop at the 2009 Edmonton Folk Music Festival.
- Martyn Joseph – A festival favourite with shades of Springsteen, Bruce Cockburn and Dave Matthews, he stands in his own right, built on a reputation for giving what thousands have described as the best live music experience of their lives.
- Dry Bones – Leonard Podolak, Nathan Rogers and J.D. Edwards, all Winnipeg artists, and each a success in their own ensemble or career, have united to perform as DRy Bones. “One moment Dry Bones sounds like a traditional jug band and then shifts and becomes the arousing herald of today’s acoustic rock and roll.”
- Geoff Berner – An evening spent with Geoff Berner’s music is, in the words of the good Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, “a wild combination of menace, madness, and genius… fragmented coherence that wreaks havoc on the mind of any listener.” – Vue Weekly, Edmonton
- David Bromberg – Contstantly bending musical genres, he’s played with everyone, he’s toured everywhere, he can lead a raucous big band or hold an audience silent with a solo acoustic blues.
- Andrea House – A singer with a penchant for melody whose writing floats beautifully between the hits of Patsy Cline and Billie Holiday, Willie Nelson and Irving Berlin, Allison Krauss and Norah Jones. Whether the influence is obvious or ambiguous, the focus is clear: this is a impassioned voice reminiscent of the great singers of the 1940’s and 1950’s telling stories of depth and meaning.
- Wool on Wolves is a band; pure and simple. They’re musicians who hold a genuine belief that music has the ability to move beyond speakers and headphones to truly encapsulate the human experience. Each member of the group is a multi-instrumentalist, well-educated in classic and modern musical aesthetics and with tastes as diverse as their University degrees, the band aims to write and perform material that is fresh yet familiar at the same time.
- Rory Block - Heralded as “a living landmark” (Berkeley Express), “a national treasure” (Guitar Extra), and “one of the greatest living acoustic blues artists” (Blues Revue), Rory Block has committed her life and her career to preserving the Delta blues tradition and bringing it to life for 21st century audiences around the world. “Some of the most singular and affecting Country Blues anyone, man or woman, black or white, old or young, has cut in recent years.” Rolling Stone
- Oscar Lopez - Never afraid to venture into different genres, Lopez easily incorporates jazz, blues, and even pop sensibilities into his music. But one thing remains constant: letting the passion and fire within his soul loose through his fingertips and onto the guitar strings. His deep commitment to his art has earned Lopez two Juno awards, critics praise, and thousands of devoted fans who have filled theaters across the continent to experience his amazing performances first hand.
…plus 50 more to be announced.
