The 2015 edition of the Northern Lights Bluegrass and Olde Tyme Music Festival includes three Saskatchewan acts: Dallas Boyer Band, In With the Old and the Northern Prairie Dancers.
In detail, the bands for the festival are:
THE CALEB KLAUDER COUNTRY BAND
http://calebklauder.com/
The Caleb Klauder Country Band represents the best of the Northwest music scene. Caleb has been touring nationally and internationally for over 15 years, first with acclaimed folk-rock band Calobo, a luminary in the Northwest’s burgeoning music scene, and then with the widely celebrated Foghorn Stringband. Today, leading with vocals, guitar, and a mandolin, Caleb hosts some of the Northwest’s best singers and players creating a honky-tonk band that stands out as a totem in the country music scene. The band performs Calebʼs praised original songs right alongside classics from George Jones, The Louvin Brothers and Dolly Parton, all at once sounding timeless, fresh, and alive.
THE GOODBYE GIRLS
http://www.thegoodbyegirlsmusic.com/
The Goodbye Girls are a new and exciting quartet out of Boston. These four women from the US, Canada, and Sweden formed the band out of a common love for old-time and traditional bluegrass music. Lena Jonsson on fiddle, Allison de Groot on banjo, Brittany Karlson on bass, and Molly Tuttle on guitar are individually some of the best acoustic musicians around, and together they create a sound that is exciting,fresh and full of energy.
THE LONELY HEARTSTRINGS BAND
http://www.lonelyheartstringband.com/
The Lonely Heartstring Band is a Boston-based acoustic stringband that plays a mix of original music, traditional bluegrass, vocal, instrumental and contemporary music. LHB began it’s career as a Beatles-bluegrass cover band, but quickly moved into original material and traditional bluegrass (though we throw in the odd cover, Beatles and others). LHB is only 2 years old, but has already toured extensively and headlined major festivals including Greyfox (NY) and Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass festival (ME). The band will be releasing a full-length original record in the Spring of 2015 recorded at the Great Northern Sound Society in Maine and produced by mutli-juno-award-winner David Travers-Smith (Wailin’ Jennys, Jayme Stone). They are touring full time and already have 10 festivals booked for next summer including Romp (KY), Greyfox (NY), Osippee Music Festival (ME) and more.
THE MODERN GRASS
http://www.themoderngrass.com/
The Modern Grass was born in early 2011 in Halifax, Nova Scotia and have since released 5 albums and toured North America extensively and relentlessly. The MG Be – bops, doo- wops, and yeehaws it’s way through roots music freely, setting the mood for real life rambling, gambling and heartbreaking storytales. In February 2014 the Modern Grass released City Ghosts, the highly anticipated follow up to their award winning album High on the Mountain. The Modern Grass continue to emphasize the importance of contrast both musically and lyrically. Hard driving bluegrass flows into tender ballads, groovy blues, and dramatic instrumentals.
STEPH CAMERON
http://stephcameron.com/
Steph Cameron’s music and lifestyle seem to echo another time and place. Think of the beatniks in the ’50s, hitchhiking and hopping freight trains. Think Greenwich Village circa 1963, and the beginning of the Dylan-fueled folk explosion, or a late ’60s commune in northern California perhaps. In fact, Steph Cameron and her community of like-minded friends have made their own time and place, right here, right now. Born in Saskatoon, she has since spent time living in East Vancouver, Vancouver Island, and now the Kootenay region of the B.C. interior, as well as logging serious miles traversing the country. Her songs also draw inspiration from her circle of close and creative friends. Steph Cameron is now gradually surfacing from the underground, but with ideals intact. With Sad-Eyed Lonesome Lady, she is ready to take her eloquent material and compelling voice public on a much wider scale than simply sharing it with friends around the fire or passersby on street corners. For that, we can feel very fortunate.
NORTHERN PRAIRIE DANCERS
Northern Prairie Dancers are a group of young Aboriginal dancers from the Prince Albert area. Their dance is very high energy, participatory and is a great crowd pleaser. They receive standing ovations wherever they go. It takes a lot of dedication and commitment to showcase these marvellous dancing skills. These young people are hard-working and independent, having earned the money required to travel all over the western provinces, and to maintain their beautiful dance outfits. They have given back to their community by dancing for the senior homes in and around Prince Albert. During their performances they love to engage with the crowd and the laugher and fun is very contagious. The highlight of their dancing has been Telemiracle in 2014, where they were proud to display their talent to their families and to all of Saskatchewan.
DALLAS “FIDDLIN FINGERZ” BOYER
Dallas and Phil Boyer are an energetic father and son duo from Saskatoon who have been entertaining for many years. Dallas plays traditional Metis and old time fiddle while his dad, Phil Boyer, accompanies him on guitar. They perform both as a full band and as a duo. They have a long history of performances that include festivals, cultural events, and dances. Dallas has had many highlights during his career which includes the 2010 Olympics and opening for Michelle Wright at the Back to Batoche Festival also in 2010. He has received many awards for his accomplishments. Dallas recorded his first CD in 2011 called “Metis Music” and most recently recorded his second CD called “Metis Music Volume 2”. Phil not only plays guitar but also sings. He has two CDs out that both contain some of his original songs. The first CD is called Looking Ahead and the most recent recorded CD he finished recording this year is called “Waiting”.
THE OSMOND DAVIS BAND
http://www.reverbnation.com/theosmonddavisband
Making their world debut in front of 30,000 screaming football fans, this group of five Manitoba pickers have a common passion for bluegrass and honky tonk music. In a place as flat as their prairie home, The Osmond-Davis Band ensure mountain music thrives by keeping that Appalachian connection with their southern neighbours. Guitar flatpicker Simon Davis and 5 string banjo/dobro player Tim Osmond sing a repertoire of music from the likes of the Stanley Brothers, Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs and other traditional and contemporary bluegrass standards. Joined with them on fiddle is the extraordinary Jeremy Penner, the driving mandolin of Dan Simpson, and the solid backbone upright bass of Karl Ratchinsky. Fans of bluegrass music and supercharged country will love the blend of harmonies and dynamic picking between these fine musicians.
IN WITH THE OLD
http://ellenfroese.wix.com/inwiththeold
Northern Saskatchewan’s In With The Old seamlessly combine raw talent and prairie comradery with a passion and respect for the music from the past. Young and dedicated, they take a unique approach to memorable old-time music through gifted harmonies, fiery hot banjo licks and infectious songwriting all told through a small town perspective.
This young trio, still in their teens, is composed of Ellen Froese-Kooijenga on guitar, Kasia Thorlakson on mandolin, and Jaxon Lalonde on banjo and upright bass. All three members contribute to the vocals. They have spent the better part of the past year and a half doing shows all over Saskatchewan and look forward to the upcoming festival circuit. They are currently nominated for the Saskatchewan Country Music Award’s Group of the Year.
THE ROARING BOREALIS
http://www.roaringborealisband.com/
The Roaring Borealis weave sweet, sweet harmonies with wailing fiddle solos, machine-gun washboarding and bass lines so thick they could stop bullets. You might call their sound roots, folk, or gospel, but they call it hurtin’ music for happy people. The Roaring Borealis is a 5 member band from La Ronge, Saskatchewan, Canada.
THE BARRELMEN
http://www.thebarrelmen.com/
One of Brad Randall’s “5 bands to watch in 2014”, The Barrelmen are the dandelions of the bluegrass scene. Featuring the 2nd best mandolin player in Buena Vista, The Barrelmen make music that your grandma and teenager can enjoy together.
THE RAY ELLIOT BAND
http://music.cbc.ca/#!/artists/Ray-Elliott-Band
Originally from the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Ray Elliot found his home near the North Saskatchewan River. He began playing the music of the prairies, he always carried the mountains with him too – songs that change like the weather in the mountains or flow free like waves on wheat fields in the wind, nothing too complicated, simple really, something to connect with, an experience to be shared.
