Westfest declares its 5th anniversary as “A Celebration of Canadian Aboriginal Women in Music”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ottawa, Ontario, May 7, 2008 – Westfest, Ottawa’s most diverse outdoor multi-disciplinary arts festival of the summer, is proud to feature a dynamic lineup of female artists with indigenous roots. Most notably, Canadian legend and iconic musician, Buffy Sainte-Marie, will grace the Domicile Mainstage with a rare appearance.Saturday June 14, will be reserved for the culturally rich day featuring a collection of mainstream, emerging and traditional artists, including:

– Buffy Sainte-Marie, Headliner
– Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm
– Kinnie Starr
– Holly McNarland
– Leela Gilday
– First Nations Cultural Performers
– Nemisak Singers
– Nukariik
– Tamara Podemski
– Lucie Idlout

Proud of her own Mohawk and Metis heritage, festival Founder and Producer Elaina Martin wanted to make Westfest’s 5th anniversary “A Celebration of Canadian Aboriginal Women in Music”. “This year’s programming is meant to educate and excite. Festival-goers will experience the grandmother of Aboriginal music and the great granddaughters that have been influenced by Buffy. This will promote a critical artist-to-audience and artist-to-artist dialogue between shows,” says Martin.

With an extended five days of merriment from June 11 – 15 (previous years have been two or three-day long festivals), Westfest has several other exciting musical events. National Night (Friday, June 13) hosts an impressive collection of top tier Canadian acts, such as:

– Joel Plaskett Emergency, Headliner
– Matthew Barber and the Union Dues
– Hurray for Higgsfield
– i see rowboats
– Land of Talk
– Grand Analog

Moncton Rock (Thursday, June 12) brings east coast sounds to the stage, while Ottawa Night (Sunday, June 15) showcases prominent local acts. Both feature geographically distinct, but sonically diverse artists. Headliners include:

– 1755, Moncton Rock
– Lynn Miles & Sue Foley, Ottawa Night

Moncton Rock is a rare spotlight on Moncton’s vibrant music scene, this concert features world-renowned acts 1755, Marie-Jo Thério and Julie Doiron performing on the same stage for the first time. ECMA Lifetime Achievement Award winners 1755, ADISQ Félix Award winner Marie-Jo Thério and Juno Award winner Julie Doiron will perform individually, and end the night with a big Acadian jam! Westfest teams up with SAW Gallery for a parallel showcase between the two entities. We call this inaugural concert and exhibition Moncton Rock: Art and Music in the Acadian Capital. The SAW Gallery show will be on view until August 15 (www.galeriesawgallery.com).

Ottawa Night brings the Westfest anniversary celebration to a close by joining with local musicians and friends. With artists like Lynn Miles, Sue Foley, Kenny Voita, Kyrie Kristmanson, The Ethics and more, Sunday evening will no doubt be an emotional climax to a year of preparation.

With an artist roster too long to list in full, but too brag-worthy not to attempt, Westfest has something for all musical tastes. As the Skydigger’s Andy Maize, a Westfest performer from the past, puts it: “Westfest is a terrific community event with something for everyone.”

Westfest has a knack for booking little known artists on the brink of big success and convincing big names to emerge even when not on tour. The atmosphere is intimate, electric and unlike any other festival in town.

WESTFEST MUSIC LINEUP
“A Celebration of Canadian Aboriginal Women in Music”

Buffy Sainte-Marie

Buffy Sainte-Marie virtually invented the role of Aboriginal activist pop star. Since then, she has far surpassed the achievements of today’s mainstream celebrities. With 17 albums, three TV specials, five years on Sesame Street, movie soundtracks, a Fine Arts Ph.D. and an appearance on White House subversive lists, she is a legend, an inspiration and a source of pride for Canadians. Once a Billboard sensation and sought-after songwriter to such icons as Elvis and Cher, she disappeared from the public eye at the peak of her career. Now making only a few rare appearances a year, she’s a prized addition to any stage.

First Nations Cultural Performers

Sometimes performance transcends entertainment and becomes an artistic lesson in history and geography. That sometimes is always with the First Nations Cultural Performance. It offers a spectacular traditional showcase of various dancers, drummers and singers from Nations like the Mi’kmaq in the East, the Algonquin and Ojibway in the North and the Iroquois Nation. All join artistic and cultural forces to perform a selection of dance styles accompanied by traditional songs and drumming. It is both their honour and pleasure to delight audiences by sharing their pride and heritage wherever they go.

Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm

Hailing from the Chippewas of Nawash First Nation, Anishnaabe Writer Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm is also a collaborator, publisher, Indigenous arts advocate and communications consultant. Her writing has been published in the My Heart is a Stray Bullet collection, a chapbook Bloodriver Woman and in anthologies, journals and magazines in Canada and several other places around the world. Her accomplishments include a spoken word CD called Standing Ground, a feature in the tv series, Heart of a Poet and the 2007 documentary, Words from the Edge. She is also known for Without Reservation, an anthology of erotica by Indigenous writers, which she compiled and edited.

Nemisak Singers

The Nemisak Singers have been performing together for three years. Their name, which means ‘sister singers’ in the Cree language, is appropriate since the group is comprised of women playing traditional hand drums. The three Aboriginal musicians live and work in Ottawa, but hail from various points across the country. Elaine Kicknosway is Swampy Cree from Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation in Northern Saskatchewan. Ida Meekis is Cree from Sandy Lake. Tania Dopler is Cherokee/Sauk Fox, born in Newfoundland. Together, they bring their powerful sound to a number of events for traditional opening ceremonies or simply to share social songs with different groups.

Tamara Podemski

Tamara Podemski doesn’t like to take chances when it comes to her music and image. As singer/songwriter who calls upon her roots to sing in English, Ojibway and Hebrew, she created her own label, Mukwa Music, to protect herself from stereotyping. Tamara launched her music career after starring in the Broadway hit Rent, at which point she became the lead singer of the Los Angeles-based band, Spirit Nation. Tamara has received numerous music awards and has had her music featured on film soundtracks and TV series such as The Rez, Moccasin Flats and The Seventh Generation. With three albums under her belt, she continues to tour world-wide.

Leela Gilday

Leela Gilday is a juno-nominated singer/songwriter from the Dene Nation, in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Her first album, Spirit World, Solid Wood, garnered much recognition including a place in Maclean’s Top 50 Under 30, a Horizon award, several Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards and most recently, Up Here Magazine’s “Northerner of the Year” title. With the release of Sedzé, her second full-length effort, Leela echoes the heartbeat of the north with a modern rootsy acoustic interpretation. The album, whose title means “My Heart” in Slavey, represents the new spirit of rising northern voices and articulates the bridge between worlds.

Kinnie Starr

The story of Kinnie Starr (yes that’s her real name) started well before her debut in 1996. The early nineties were spent honing her rhyming, poetry, guitar skills, intellect and overall creativity. That incubation period gave way to a raw and original groove-based lyrical style. Of European and Mohawk descent, her sound is not only musically diversified, it’s culturally influenced too. With four albums under the trilingual trip-hop-folk-activist artist’s belt, her feral talent has teamed up with the likes of Tegan Quinn (of Tegan & Sara) and Moka Only and has impressed audiences around the world.

Holly McNarland

Holly McNarland is one of those rare female vocalists whose voice isn’t breathy or cute. Her sound packs a wallop that can literally affect your whole body. Debuting in 1995 with Sour, Holly’s whisper-to-a-scream voice really became known in 1997 with Stuff. By her third album, Home is Where My Feet Are, the Vancouver-based siren proved that her pipes could both soothe and send shivers up your spine. With simultaneous intensity and vulnerability, this platinum selling singer/song-writer is a paradox – a super-charged pint-sized phenom, both delicate and beautiful.

Lucie Idlout

If you haven’t heard of her already, you soon will. Lucie Idlout is the complete package – great voice, fresh sound and spirit through and through. Although Idlout is of Native Aboriginal heritage, her music is more than a testament to being Aboriginal, but rather a complete expression of being herself. Out of her tiny body comes a deep, aggressive voice, with passionate lyrics that take you on a journey full of sad stories and emotional unrest (think Etta James mixed with the power of Marianne Faithful and P.J. Harvey). Genuine and uninhibited, she freely exposes her conflicted psyche through voice, presence and passion.

Nukariik

Nukariik, meaning “two sisters” in Inuttitut, brings together talented Inuit sisters and throat singers, Karin Kettler and Kathy Kettler. Formed in 2002, Nukariik have roots in Kangiqsualujjuaq, northern Quebec, but have lived most of their lives in southern Canada, while maintaining a strong connection to their culture through their Inuit friends, Elders, and family. Nukariik have performed throughout Canada and internationally.

National Night

Joel Plaskett Emergency

Hard on the heels of his latest album Ashtray Rock, Halifax indie hero Joel Plaskett is making an impact wherever he can. Along with his band, Emergency, the singer/songwriter has watched his album earn a number one ranking on CBC Radio 3, a Juno nomination, three ECMA wins, international show dates and sold out events. It’s described as a “mini rock opera” – an exuberant romp through the imagination and a celebration of everything important about growing up. With a collection of work that goes back almost a decade, The Joel Plaskett Emergency is without a doubt, one of Canada’s best live acts.

Hurray for Higgsfield

Hurray for Higgsfield formed in 2005 as a musical project based on the folk recordings of Scott LeBlanc and Frank Russell. Both men were eager to find a more elusive style of music. Their collaboration produced unique soundscapes by mixing dark soulful vocal progressions with disillusioned choruses. Independently created within the reddened walls of a rundown city apartment, their first full-length album is set for release in the winter of 2008, followed by a string of tour dates on the east coast. Clever lyrics, reverb-heavy guitar riffs and somber synth undertones, prompt fans to bob their heads while pondering bigger questions in life.

i see rowboats

i see rowboats has quickly established itself as one of the most exciting new bands in Atlantic Canada. With music that is a confident and original mix of melodic, string-infused indie rock, their spirited Halifax sound is changing Canada’s indie scene. i see rowboats formed in 2006 when long time friends William Robinson and Luke Fisher reconnected and collaborated to form the band. Soon after, the duo turned to drummer/percussionist Darcy Fraser as well as multi-instrumentalists Lisa Lipton and Solomon Vromans to complete the band. The five-piece co-wrote all the songs on their debut EP, Hide & Seek Behind the Throne, released in August of 2007.

Matthew Barber and the Union Dues

Sweet Nothing is the record Matthew envisioned himself making when he first started writing songs a decade ago. While crafting it, he was joined by special guests including Matthew’s songstress sister Jill Barber, who delivered haunting vocals and the horn duo of James Shaw (Metric) and Evan Cranley (Stars) who played trumpet and trombone respectively. Matthew was also lucky (or just plain talented) enough to score the production work of Marty Kinack who is best known for his skills applied to both Sarah Harmer and Broken Social Scene’s albums. Matt is currently finishing up his Sibling Revelry tour with sis Jill.

Grand Analog

Only a year old, Grand Analog has already impressed crowds across Canada and in the States. They are unbalanced and dirty, never clean. Their music; a beautiful mess of rap n’ roll, dub and soul – a hip hop slop shop of good times and bad. Their first and current album, Calligraffiti, is for the tired and heavy of heart – those ridden with struggles and striving for happiness. Exactly what the soul ordered, Grand Analog live shows lend a hypnotic blend of poetics and experimentation to a hip hop sound that’s refreshing to any ear.

Land of Talk

Putting the rock back in indie rock, Land of Talk’s sound is fueled by Elizabeth Powell’s stunning, unforgettable vocal melodies, haunting lyrics and a unique guitar style that mixes lush chord voicings with the dissonant urgency of Thurston Moore. The band, composed with Liz’s Concordia music school chum Chris McCarron (bass), has been embraced by music bloggers and other venerable bands who they’ve toured with such as Wintersleep, The Dears, The Stills and more. Their self-released debut is called Applause Cheer Boo Hiss – it will consume you with its warm, yet fierce, embrace.

Moncton Rock

1755

They’re called 1755, they were formed in 1977 and the Acadian group is still making a mark in 2008. Honoured with an East Coast Music Award for Lifetime Achievement earlier this year, the humble Moncton based group remains surprised that anyone still listens to their music 30 years later. They shouldn’t be though. Having an East Coaster play a tune by 1755 is akin to anyone of Irish descent playing a song by the Irish Rovers on St. Patrick’s Day. Though 1755 (aka: The Acadian Beatles) began singing in English, they blazed a trail for Maritime Francophones who wanted to sing in their mother tongue.

Julie Doiron

Julie Doiron has been making music since she was 17 and played bass (as she still occasionally does) with indie rock icon’s Eric’s Trip. Since the band’s first hiatus in 1996, Julie has recorded eight albums of her own which have been released all over the world. She won a Juno for her 2000 release Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars and her most recent release, Woke Myself Up was just nominated for the prestigious Polaris Prize. Julie has also had a book of photography published, toured in Gord Downie’s other band and promoted a music festival all while raising her three children.

Marie-Jo Thério

From being kicked out of Drama Arts school as a teenager to an eventual gold album, Acadian songstress Marie-Jo Thério has run the gamut. As an actress and a singer/songwriter, she has more than one reason to love the stage. Thério has earned parts in TV shows, a full length movie, the romantic opera Nelligan and Les Miserables but it’s her alluring musical delivery, playful tempos and theatrical lyric delivery that has earned her the attention of fans in Canada, Europe and elsewhere. With a career spanning close to two decades, this Moncton musical phenomenon delivers a captivating performance.

Ottawa Night

Lynn Miles

In a career that has seen her move from Ottawa to Nashville to Los Angeles and back, Lynn Miles has been unflinching in her willingness to put it all out there. Fragility, unbridled ecstasy and heartache are all fixtures in Lynn’s songs and themes you might recognize in the music of the voice teacher’s most famous student, Alanis Morrisette. Love Sweet Love, Miles’s fifth album and the follow-up to her 2003 Juno Award-winning Unravel, combines her sweet, melodic and powerful voice with incisive lyrics. The New York Times may have said it best: “Lynn Miles makes being forlorn sound like a state of grace.”

Sue Foley

Ottawa’s own Sue Foley began her career at only 16 years of age. 11 studio albums later, Foley’s 2007 release Time Bomb, has once again solidified her place atop the contemporary blues scene. Foley’s powerhouse approach to writing and performing is distinguished by a smooth purr-to-growl vocal style wrapped around original songs and biting lead guitar work. Time Bomb pairs the songstress with fellow Canadian Roxanne Potvin and American blues guitar heroine Deborah Coleman. The recipient of numerous music awards and author of a book on female guitarists, Sue continues to prove she is one of the most creative and intriguing artists on the touring circuit.

Voices of Praise

Voices of Praise Gospel Group performs a fusion of gospel/soul over a bed of street rhythms, delivering their own special and infectious brand of music ministry. Their new urban attitude is inspirational, energized and entertaining enough to earn the attention of several successful mainstream artists. Whether it’s opening for Jully Black, sharing the stage with Paul Anka or delivering a command performance for David Suzuki, each Voices of Praise performance delivers high-energy gospel praise. Their musical style ranges from funky R&B to soulful a cappella to groovy reggae/calypso beats. VOP has paved the way for people in need of spiritual growth and elevated the audience experience to a divine occurrence.

Mélissa Laveaux

Mélissa Laveaux’s trilingual lyrics are the work of a well-studied wordsmith. Musically, her guitar-playing fluidly syncopates percussive jazz notes and bass lines, influenced by the kreyol-calypso folkloric ballads of Martha Jean-Claude, early 90’s trip hop, and Brazilian samba-rock. More common references lie between Macy Gray and Rickie Lee Jones. Born in Montreal to a proud Haitian family, Laveaux eventually settled in Ottawa. Recently, Laveaux temporarily relocated to Paris (France) to devote herself full-time to working on the release of her upcoming album, a re-imagining of Camphor & Copper, her first album.

Andrea Simms-Karp

It’s not every day you come across a tattooed, petite, sweet-voiced banjo player from Ottawa. But when you do, you take notice. Andrea Simms-Karp is an indie roots powerhouse with a stellar debut album under her belt. Sleeper has already scooped up airplay across the country on CBC and has powered through the album charts at campus and community radio stations. The Ottawa Xpress gave her two honourable mentions for Best New Musical Act and Best Folk Album – proving that she already has a devoted fan base. Throw in a banjo and some sugary vocals, and this is one show you don’t want to miss.

The Ethics

Their blog reads, “The Ethics are an Ottawa-based band dedicated to creating very sparse music.” This is an understatement. One would be hard-pressed to find music more melodic and lyrics more wistful than that of the Ottawa quartet. Their debut album, Even the Stars, was released in late 2007 and features “six sophisticated, dreamy songs bursting with lush harmonies,” according to CBC Radio’s Adrian Harewood. The Ethics are made up of one Kevin Hersak (vocals, guitar), Jeff Gleeson (guitar, vocals), Tim Levans (bass) and Paul Ross (drums) and are driven by a strong philosophy on sound.

The Love Machine

The dance-inducing pep that is the Love Machine came together in early 2004. Their latest album, If You’re A Bird, I’m A Bird, contains the energetic pop sound the band has become known for. Jangly, yet intense guitars, huge synth melodies, pulsing bass, stomping drums and more vocal harmonies than should be legally allowed characterize the band’s approach to music. Well that, and their sense of humour. Part of the band’s popularity comes from a series of comical YouTube short films called 30 Seconds with the Love Machine – chronicling their less public moments in the studio, getting pumped before a show or creating costumes to wear on-stage.

Flecton Big Sky

Flecton Big Sky is the creation of Miche Jette. And while the band is still in its incubation stage, Jette is a fully formed musical entity. As a local musician, he has been playing and performing music in the Ottawa area for 20 years. Jette’s name might sound familiar because he’s occupied such notable bands in this city as Werbo, Jehovah’s Wetness and 7th Fire to mention a few. Never Took A Wife was Mr. Jette’s first solo release in 2005, recorded in Memphis and Chicago with members of the Grifters and Califone. It received favourable reviews from the critics – a response Jette hopes to repeat with Flecton Big Sky.

Meredith Luce & The Man Dates

Meredith’s “heady mix of folk, alt-country and pop” in her latest album, October, earned four stars in the Ottawa Citizen. Her vocals, lyrics and guitar play have garnered North American attention. Following in the same tradition as other Canadian music fixtures, Meredith has been influenced by Feist, Joel Plaskett, Wilco and more. But with a rapidly rising star of her own, she’s quickly carving out her own place in the national scene. In fact, she’s commanding so much space that CBC’s Jian Gomeshi warns, “Move over Kathleen Edwards, there’s a new contender in town!”

The Polymorphines

Formed in 2007, The Polymorphines are a five-piece band from Ottawa. They began as the rural sounding Crowded Skies in 2006 and evolved into hardened 70’s style rock a year later. Drawing on Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Velvet Underground influences to create their sound, The Polymorphines have other non-musical sources from which to draw their creativity. Well acquainted with the gritty side of existence, the band brings real life experience and struggle into their music. The Polymorphines have been working diligently on their self-titled debut album that is anticipated for release in the early summer of 2008.

Lyndell Montgomery

Lyndell has embraced music not only as a career, but as a life force. It’s no wonder then that she has attracted other such passionate performers as Pete Seeger, Melissa Ferrick, Xavier Rudd and Kinnie Starr for collaborations. Her most notable partnership is with Ember Swift. For over ten years, Lyndell has toured and recorded extensively with the folk fusion dynamo. Her on-stage charisma and jack-of-all-instruments approach have helped define Swift’s enigmatic sound. Raised in BC, Lyndell now happily spends her time restoring an Eastern Ontario wood-frame house. Slowly but surely, she’s retrofitting it to be off the grid – reflecting the same values you’ll find in her music.

Kyrie Kristmanson

Some know her for her white fur hat, others know Kyrie Kristmanson as a fresh voice on Canada’s independent music scene. Her unique musical style evokes the maritime, prairie and urban landscapes she grew up in. At only eighteen, she has already captivated audiences at home and abroad with her fusion of folk, jazz and alternative rock influences. She writes powerful, exciting and thoughtful songs in both English and French.

Lonesome Paul

Lonesome Paul’s music is securely rooted in traditional country. You can hear his affinity for the sounds of Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, Merle Hagard and Buck Owens in the songs he’s been performing at various honky tonk festivals for the last 20 years. Known as The Bank Street Cowboy, thanks to a 10-year resident gig at Irene’s pub and the Lockmaster Tavern, Paul will soon be heading out west to earn himself a few new titles. Until then, he’ll be working hard on his latest project, The Experimental Farmers, with Lynn Miles and Keith Snider.

Kenny Voita

Kenny Voita is an alt-folk singer/songwriter performing in the same vein as Gordon Lightfoot and Woody Guthrie. The difference is; he’s only 19 years old. With astonishing maturity and a diverse musical style that marries blues-country with folk troubadour, it’s no surprise that Voita has converted cross-over audiences. Born to an American father and Canadian mother, Kenny recently moved to Ottawa, the place of his mother’s birth. His debut album, Hard Road, will be released in early spring 2008.

About Westfest

A not-for-profit organization, Westfest, Westboro Village’s Festival of Music, Art & Life (www.westfest.ca), is a free festival that takes place annually in Westboro Village, Ottawa. Westfest is a diverse celebration dedicated to showcasing music, literature, spoken word, dance, visual art, performance art and theatre. Now in its 5th year, Westfest is Ottawa’s premiere outdoor festival of the summer. An estimated 50,000 Westfest-goers will walk the streets of this 100% Canadian festival from June 11 to 15, 2008.

WESTFEST IS GRATEFUL FOR ITS 2008 SPONSORS

Westboro Village Business Improvement Area, Canada Council for the Arts, National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, The Ontario Trillium Foundation, Ontario Arts Council, City of Ottawa, McMillan, Scotiabank Group, Domicile, Embassy West Hotel, Galerie Saw Gallery, Westboro Station Living, DISH, Morris Home Team, Westboro Village Pharmasave Pharmacy, Amica at Westboro Park, Bridgehead, Ginsberg Gluzman Fage & Levitz, St-Ambroise McAuslan, Pelee Island Winery, Employment Ontario/Emploi Ontario, CBC, Ottawa Citizen, Kitchissippi Times, CKCU, CHUO, Xpress, Ottawa Festivals d’Ottawa, Rogers, Retrotown Music, Maplesoft Consulting, Rose Draperies, Clinique d’Optométrie Westboro Optometric Clinic, +1 Natural Spring Water Biodegradable Bottle, Vitallife Centre for Integrative Medicine, Westboro Flooring & Décor Inc., Milagro Grill, Marklyn Management, Tivoli Florists, Athlone Investments Limited, Harvest Loaf Bakery, Ten Thousand Villages, Moe’s World Famous Newport Restaurant, Agora Westboro Inc., Beacon Lite Ltd., Direct Access, Paper Sign Man, Mrs. Tiggy Winkles/Lost Marbles, Whispers Pub and Eatery.