Ross Neilsen and The Lonesome Line take top honours in Festival competitions
September 19, 2011
Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival week may be most known as a place to see world-class musicians play, but the Festival also prides itself on being a platform for up-and-coming artists to showcase their talents, such as Harvest’s 2011 Galaxie Rising Star, The Lonesome Line, and the IBC Finals winner, Ross Neilsen.
On Friday of the Festival, the Galaxie Rising Star Showcase took place in the Barracks tent, where six of New Brunswick’s most promising young talents, spanning many genres, laid it out there on the Barracks stage in the hopes of being named the 2011 Galaxie Rising Star, following in the footsteps of past winners such as Ross Neilsen, Matt Andersen and Andy Brown.
Edmundston’s power folk-rock trio The Lonesome Line won the title after strong online votes leading up to the competition and an impressive showing at the showcase that wowed judges and audience alike.
“Usually we find with this competition an inevitable hometown advantage when it comes to public voting, but these guys from up north kind of came out of nowhere and knocked all our socks off,” says Festival music director Brent Staeben. “I think they are a fine choice for our Galaxie Rising Star, and will represent the title well in the year to come.”
Galaxie Rising Star wasn’t the only competition during Harvest week. The Festival also held the IBC Finals, where four New Brunswick blues acts battled it out on stage to represent the Festival in Memphis Tennessee at the 2012 International Blues Challenge – the world’s largest gathering of blues.
Dominating online votes ahead of the competition, audience voting on site, and the favour of the panel of industry judges, Fredericton’s Ross Neilsen was named the winner on Saturday, September 17th.
Ross and his band, The Sufferin’ Bastards, competed in the IBC in 2010 while recording their acclaimed album Redemption down south. Now Ross will return in January 2012 as a solo act to compete once again, representing Harvest and New Brunswick alike.
“Ross has been a great asset to the Festival for many years, and we have seen him grow as an artist tremendously over the years,” says Staeben. “We feel – and clearly the public agrees, based on the votes – that this year will be Ross’ time to shine in Memphis.”
The 2012 International Blues Challenge will be the 28th year of Blues musicians from around the world competing for cash, prizes, and industry recognition. The Blues Foundation will present the IBC January 31-February 4, 2012 in Memphis, TN.
