A yearly challenge for Kitchener Blues Festival promoter Claude Cloutier is to create a fresh musical theme yet still retain a focus on authentic blues. This year in particular, Canadian fans will be thrilled by the domestic content Cloutier has assembled.
The annual four-day festival which takes over downtown Kitchener August 8th-August 11th will feature a diverse lineup of talent including classic rock bands like The Box and The Kings, legendary East-Coast Blues artist Matt Minglewood, Ottawa’s Country Rock stalwarts, The Cooper Brothers, Colin Linden and even an alternative rock band, Halifax Nova Scotia’s Wintersleep headlining Saturday’s YNC Stage.
“We just wanted a strong Canadian lineup this year.” Beamed event promoter Claude Cloutier, who has been in charge of the 24-year-old festival since 2007. Next year will be our 25th year so we plan to be even bigger we are still a strong blues festival spread over three days on four stages, but we try to cater to different demographics”.
This year’s festival kicks off with a fundraiser concert featuring the always-popular Colin James on Thursday at the OLG Clock Tower stage at Victoria Park with advance tickets going for $40 and $45 at the venue. The other three days are all free and will be staged at the YNC Stage In front of City Hall. The aforementioned Clock Tower location, the Europro BIA Stage downtown (near Victoria Park) and a special Children’s Stage located at Joseph Street (in front of the Clock Tower, that will feature performers Ronno, Erick Traplin, and Sandy MacDonald putting on a special show for the kids on Saturday and Sunday.
“It’s nothing blues related but it’s something for families to bring their kids down and keep them entertained,” noted Cloutier.
The festival will also feature live entertainment in a select number of bars following a 12-bar blues theme (all featuring live entertainment at 11 p.m.) and also two Workshops located at Bobby O’Brian’s venue where people can celebrate O Canada stories, pay tribute to Matt Osbourne (who passed away in 2009) and even learn how to participate in an authentic Jug Band.
Probably the biggest surprise is the inclusion of Wintersleep, the Halifax quartet who have opened for Pearl Jam, won a 2008 Juno Award and have released seven studio albums. “I wanted to appeal to the rockers who might not be into, say, A Pursuit Of Happiness.” noted Cloutier. “They are not the typical band to appear at a rock festival but we wanted to put them on after The Box and Rochester, New York Bluesman Chris Beard so fans of those bands can catch an amazing blues artist.”
As usual, Cloutier is proud to present a number of unique artists including Izaak Park And Roast Chicken, Elliot Brood, this year’s Juno-award winning Blue Moon Marquee, and Johnny Rawls mixed in with tribute performances for Eric Clapton and Tom Petty.
“I like all genres of music, I really do,” Cloutier concluded.” But my focus is always making it a great blues festival while trying to cater to a wide demographic and book artists who are a little outside of the box.
For a complete schedule and more information on the scheduled artists, visit kitchenerbluesfestival.com.
