Edmonton Blues Festival 2023

Edmonton Blues Festival 2023

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Line-Up
We still have a couple of acts and big surprises we’re putting together, but the line up for the 24th Edmonton Blues Festival, our first in our new home of RE/MAX Field, is nearly complete.

Mark August 25-27, 2023 in your calendars and get ready to party in a brand new space as we prepare to “Hit One Out of The Park”!

Friday
Rick Estrin and the Nightcats
Friday August 25 - 5:30PM

Born in San Francisco in 1949, Rick Estrin picked up the harmonica at age 15. At 19, Estrin relocated to Chicago and worked with some of the city’s best bluesmen. He met and jammed with the legendary Muddy Waters, who told Rick, “You outta sight, boy! You got that sound! You play like a man!”. Eventually Rick moved back to the Bay Area and met the late, great guitarist Little Charlie Baty. They formed Little Charlie and the Nightcats. The band was a multi award winning hit; Rick’s sly songwriting and showmanship led the way, and with Charlie’s retirement in 2008, Rick brought in guitar virtuoso Kid Andersen. Without skipping a beat, the band continued to create incredible music and put on spellbinding shows. Little Charlie and the Nightcats closed the first Friday night of the inaugural Edmonton Blues Festival in 1999, so we wanted them back to help christen our new home!

www.rickestrin.com
Annika Chambers & Paul DesLauriers Band
Friday August 25 - 6:50PM

Love at first sight? Check. Soul meets Blues? Check. Award winning chemistry? Check. Edmonton debut? Check.

Annika Chambers, Blues Music Award winner of the 2022 Soul-Blues trophy at the Blues Music Awards met Canadian blues guitarist, and winner of multiple Maple Blues Awards as guitarist and bandleader, very briefly in the lobby of the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis during the 2018 International Blues Challenge. The brief meeting left a lasting impression on the pair that blossomed into a full-fledged love affair and the two were married in August 2019!

Together on stage, they are a force to be reckoned with; Annika’s soul grooves mixing with Paul’s incredible guitar work have led to electrifying performances around the world. Their latest recording “Good Trouble” is a chart topper, and we are incredibly happy to be able to present their Edmonton Debut Friday August 25!

annikaandpaul.com/
Jimmie Vaughan and the Tilt a Whirl Band
Friday August 25 - 8:30PM

When it comes to the blues today, there are a handful of guiding lights to make sure the music stays true to its powerful source. The mojo must be there. For Jimmie Vaughan, he's dedicated his life to making sure the blues not only stays alive but remains full of life and an inspiration to all who listen. It's a spirit he holds close to him, and for over 50 years of holding the blues close inside him, Vaughan isn't about to stop now. Jimmie and the Tilt-A-Whirl Band have played the Edmonton Blues Festival twice before, in 2004 and 2010 and we’re way past due in welcoming him back to our party.

www.jimmievaughan.com/
Saturday
Local Opening act To Be Announced
Saturday August 26 - 1:30PM

We always try to showcase great regional talent on the big stage and 2023 will be no exception. Stay tuned to find out who will be getting this coveted spot!

Brandon Isaak and the David Vest Band
Saturday August 26 - 2:15PM

Both Brandon Isaak (2002 with The Twisters) and David Vest (2008, 2011,2018) have graced the stage at The Edmonton Blues Festival, but never together. Brandon was born in Whitehorse, David in Alabama, but call BC home today. Both are multiple Maple Blues Award winners, and both are electrifying performers in their own right. Now, these two incredible Canadian bluesmen will team up with David’s road tested band to propel our Saturday on its’ way in fine style

www.brandonisaak.ca
davidvest.ca/
Lightnin’ Malcolm
Saturday August 26 - 3:45PM

Get ready for a trip to the Hill Country of North Mississippi with cutting edge Mississippi bluesman Lightnin’ Malcolm. An energetic and charismatic guitar slinger with a deep soulful voice who learned his craft from the likes of R.L. Burnside and Big Jack Johnson, Malcolm will bring his “Power Duo” of guitar and drums to Edmonton to electrify us all. A Blues Music Award winner, Malcolm released his latest disc “Eye of the Storm” to rave reviews in late 2022. Don’t miss him!

www.lightninmalcolm.com
Veronica Lewis
Saturday August 26 - 5:00PM

Every year The Edmonton Blues Festival brings you new, up and coming talent that is lighting the way in the blues. Veronica Lewis is a performer you may not have heard of, but we think she’ll be your “find of the festival”. A teenage prodigy, piano player, singer & prolific songwriter is “Changing the game” according to American Blues Scene. Her chart-topping debut album “You Ain’t Unlucky”, released by the then 18 year old in 2021, won her instant accolades and snagged her 2 Blues Music Award nominations. That same year she won the Sean Costello Rising Star Award and the Best New Artist Debut Album awards at the Blues Blast Music Awards. She was the Blues Artist of the Year at the 2020 Boston Music Awards. Buckle up, hit the dance floor, and meet Veronica Lewis!

www.veronicalewis.com/
John Primer, Bob Corritore & Friends
Saturday August 26 - 6:30PM

Every year at The Edmonton Blues Festival we love to put artists together in combinations that can only be achieved at big events. This year is no exception as we team Chicago blues legend John Primer, who worked with Junior Wells, Willie Dixon, and Muddy Waters before an extended stint with Magic Slim and then forming his own band in 1995 leads the way in this revue featuring some of the best in the blues today. Backing John for this performance will be bandleader, harp player, record producer and club owner Bob Corritore. Add piano player extraordinaire Anthony Geraci, Bass playing legend Bob Stroger, who at 92 brings nearly 7 decades of experience playing with the greats of Chicago blues to the stage along Jimi “Primetime” Smith and veteran drummer Wes Starr and you’ve got a combination that will deliver the “Real Deal” blues. Not to be missed!

www.johnprimerblues.com
www.chicagobluesnetwork.com/faculty/bob-stroger/
bobcorritore.com/
www.anthonygeraciblue.com
jimiprimetimesmith.wordpress.com/biography/
Tom Lavin and The Legendary Powder Blues Band
Saturday August 26 - 8:30PM

For over four decades Powder Blues has been Canada’s leading blues band. The mix of swing, blues, jazz, rock & roll and r & b has an appeal so wide that people from seven to seventy swing side by side at a Powder Blues concert. Over the years the band has toured non-stop through Canada, the United States and overseas, spreading feel-good music that makes people dance and shout.

With a Juno win, headlining at the Montreux Blues Festival, and winning a Blues Music Award it’s hard to believe that Powder Blues has NOT been at The Edmonton Blues Festival before.

Dust off those dancin’ shoes and start “Boppin’ With The Blues”! You’ll be “Doin’ It Right” with Powder Blues to cap our Saturday!

powderblues.net/
Sunday
To Be Announced
Sunday August 27 - 12:30PM

We always try to showcase great regional talent on the big stage and 2023 will be no exception. Stay tuned to find out who will be getting this coveted spot!

Johnny Sansone with The Tony D Band
Sunday August 27 - 1:30PM

We all know Tony D these days as part of Canada’s multi award winning, super popular blues phenomenon, Monkeyjunk. He’s an incredible guitarist, song writer and performer in his own right having a recording and performing career that predates Monkeyjunk by a couple of decades. Tony will be joined by long time New Orleans resident, award winning harp player, singer, songwriter and guitarist Johnny Sansone. A meeting of like musical minds that will be sure to get your feet moving on a Sunday afternoon.

www.johnnysansone.com/
www.tonyguitarro.com/
“Pianorama” featuring David Vest, Anthony Geraci and Veronica Lewis with the David Vest Band
Sunday August 27 - 2:45PM

What can we say…the idea of 3 piano greats lighting up the stage simultaneously is beyond fun and to say the least, highly entertaining. This will be a performance you don’t want to miss!

davidvest.ca/
www.anthonygeraciblue.com/
www.veronicalewis.com/

Blue Moon Marquee
Sunday August 27 - 4:05PM

Blue Moon Marquee is a swing blues, stomp jazz band born of the wild rose country. They currently make their home in an island shack on the coast of the Salish Sea. A.W. Cardinal (vocals/guitar) and Jasmine Colette a.k.a. Badlands Jass (vocals/bass/drums) write and perform original compositions influenced by anything that swings, jumps or grooves. Artists such as Lonnie Johnson, Louis Armstrong, Blind Willie Jonson, Charley Patton, Howlin' Wolf, Screaming Jay Hawkins, Tom Waits, Memphis Minnie, and Django Reinhardt are deeply infused in the soul of their music.

“Scream, Holler & Howl” their 2022 release spent weeks atop the charts across Canada and garnered them 4 Maple Blues Award nominations and we are pleased to bring their unique sound to the stage of The Edmonton Blues Festival!

bluemoonmarquee.com/
Monkeyjunk and Friends 15th Birthday Party! Special guests TBA
Sunday August 27 - 5:30PM

Since 2008, the name MonkeyJunk has been synonymous with the emergence of a new kind of blues on the Canadian and international scenes. Continually pushing boundaries and blurring genre lines, the Ottawa-based trio has added an edge to their music by incorporating swampy blues & rock with thoughtful and intelligent lyrics. MonkeyJunk is Tony D on lead guitar, Steve Marriner on lead vocals/baritone guitar/harmonica and Matt Sobb on drums.

With 23 Maple Blues Awards, 2 Indy Awards, 1 USA Blues Music Award, 2 JUNO AWARDS under their belts Monkeyjunk is ready to party on their 15th birthday ... and they’ll be celebrating the occasion with a very special guest, Gordie Johnson! It’ll be a party you don’t want to miss!

monkeyjunkband.com/
Samantha Fish
Sunday August 27 - 7:00PM

Over the course of her career as an award-winning artist, singer/songwriter/guitarist Samantha Fish has brought extraordinary power to her self-expression, capturing her inner world in combustible riffs, visceral rhythms, and spine-tingling vocal work. Growing up in Missouri, Fish first found her love of songwriting in her late teens, mining inspiration from the likes of Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen. Having taken up guitar at age 15, she soon began seeking out gigs by cold-calling countless local bars. “I used to open the phone book and call up every place in Kansas City, even if they didn’t have live shows,” she remembers. “I had maybe a three percent success rate, but eventually I started filling up my calendar—if you put on a good enough show, word of mouth gets around.” Over the years, Fish has maintained her reputation as a phenomenal live act.

For Fish, one of the greatest joys of making music is the powerful exchange of energy at her incendiary live shows. “I fell in love with music from going to shows, and I know how cathartic it can be. It heals your heart,” she says. “Anytime I play live, I just want to want to make people forget about everything else in the world and feel that same joy that I feel on stage.”

Samantha Fish was last at the Edmonton Blues Festival in 2018, welcome her back as she brings her singular, supercharged vision of the blues to our stage!

https://samanthafish.com/
Colin James
Sunday August 27 - 8:30PM

Colin James career has spanned over 30 years, with a track record that includes 20 studio albums, 8 Juno Awards, 27 Maple Blues Awards and multi-platinum record sales. His latest release, Open Road, is a celebration of personal connections. It includes original tunes written with long time collaborators such as Colin Linden, Craig Northey and Tom Wilson and reinterpretations of covers by a diverse group of songwriters including Bob Dylan, Albert King, Tony Joe White and others.

Looking back over Colin’s career, it’s a timeline rich in highlights. His 1988 self-titled debut, featuring his two self-penned hits “Voodoo Thing” and “Five Long Years,” was the fastest-selling album in Canadian history. It won him his first Juno and an opening spot on tour with Keith Richards.

His 2019 release Miles To Go earned the Juno Award for Blues Album of the Year, as well as 6 Maple Blues Awards.

A consummate professional and a superb guitarist, Colin is a musician’s, musician. The confidence that comes with maturity can be heard in his voice and seen in his electrifying stage performance. He does what comes naturally – he always has – he knows no other way and no other life.

Colin James will bring the 2023 Edmonton Blues Festival to an electrifying close Sunday August 27… Be There!

https://colinjames.com

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