Harvest Media Center
Harvest Unveils Full Festival Schedule of National and International Acts
July 14, 2009
Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival organizers unveiled a full 2009 schedule brimming with top international and national acts today.
Among the headliners announced this morning in Fredericton's Historic Garrison District were the Joel Plaskett Emergency, JJ Grey and Mofro, Roland Tchakounté, Michael Kaeshammer, Jill Barber, Matt Minglewood, Hey Rosetta!, Roberto Lopez, and veteran jazz master Phil Nimmons.
The complete 2009 schedule with artist bios and audio and video clips of the acts is now live at www.harvestjazzandblues.com.
Tickets and passes for the September 15th–20th event in Fredericton go on sale 8:30am this Saturday morning, July 18th. Tickets are available online at www.harvestjazzandblues.com, at the Festival store at 81 Regent Street or on the toll-free line at 1-888-NB-BLUES.
Headliners already announced for the Festival include slide guitar legend Elvin Bishop, Latin rockers Los Lobos, young U.K. guitar god Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam, blues guitar and vocal superstar Susan Tedeschi, folk blues artist Eric Bibb, and Original P featuring the original members of Parliament Funkadelic.
"This is our strongest overall schedule in 19 years. With this many international and national A-list acts, this year's Festival has depth in every show, every night," said Brent Staeben, long-time music director for the Festival.
The 2009 Festival, Fredericton's largest annual event, will showcase more than 350 musicians in 125 performances on 23 stages in just four historic downtown city blocks. There will be 14 international acts from the France/Cameroon, Columbia, the United Kingdom and the United States. There will be four free public stages with 49 free performances in addition to more than a dozen street buskers each evening.
"We're investing more in the music than any year in our history. People thought with hard economic times, we might scale back but we didn't create Eastern Canada's largest international music experience by being afraid to take a few good risks. We're giving Atlantic Canadians a schedule worth celebrating and believe they'll respond by joining us again this September," added Staeben.
Other national acts announced today included Shad, House of David Gang, Jack de Keyzer, Moreland and Arbuckle, Watermelon Slim, MonkeyJunk, Fruteland Jackson, Ray Bonneville, Julian Fauth and Dave Rotundo, David Braid, Doc MacLean and Big Dave McLean, Beyond Brazil, Teresa Doyle, Chris Kirby, Joel Miller Tantramar and the United Steel Workers of Montreal.
Of special note is a performance by former Fredericton resident Phil Nimmons and David Braid. The show is a homecoming of sorts for Nimmons who many see as introducing the city to live jazz music in the 1970s when he was an educator at the University of New Brunswick. Nimmons went on to national prominence with his group Nimmons 'n' Nine. He'll perform on Thursday in the Playhouse with David Braid, one of Canada's hottest young jazz composer-performers.
More than 35 per cent of the Festival's schedule is filled with local New Brunswick performers. "It's important to us that we provide key showcase and developmental opportunities for New Brunswick acts. It was part of a mandate we gave ourselves when the Festival was founded 19 years ago and we've never veered from that. Harvest remains a community-based Festival," said Staeben. "And we know some of our local performers can hold their own with the best in the world."
Local performers in this year's event include: Thom Swift, Matt Andersen, The Downtown Blues Band, Grand Theft Bus, The Joel Leblanc Band, Ross Neilsen and the Sufferin' Bastards, Keith Hallett, George Street Blues Project, Olympic Symphonium, Glamour Puss, Dub Antenna, The Don Bosse Sextet, The Mary Milliken Jazz Quintet, Ryan LeBlanc, Isaac and Blewett, and Theresa Malenfant.
Patti Graham, the 2009 Festival chairperson, said in addition to a fantastic line up of great acts, Harvest is investing heavily to improve the patron experience. The Festival will provide more seating this year with the purchase of seven sets of new bleachers and picnic tables in the larger tents. Additionally, the Budweiser Blues Tent is now free-standing with no tent poles obstructing the view of the artists.
The Festival is also implementing a Room-to-Groove philosophy aimed at ensuring there's enough elbow room in major tents to enjoy the music, socialize with friends and get to the bar.
"We've spent the winter planning some key improvements to enhance the overall Harvest experience," said Graham. "I think patrons will be pleasantly surprised. We're aiming to create one of Canada's great festivals and this is another step towards that goal."
Patrons purchasing tickets online will now be able to print their tickets at home. The Festival is partnering with TicketPro which will allow buyers to print a bar-coded ticket at home. Print-at-home tickets will be scanned at the door of festival event.
