Kemptville Live Music Festival 2017 is set to kick off in dramatic fashion. They've already announced that David Wilcox will headline the Thursday July 20 show, Gordon Lightfoot will headline the Sunday stage and that Bill Durst will be performing in our Saturday lineup.
Now we can tell you about two great Canadian bands we have signed to ensure that Opening Day will be a sensational start to the festival - Soulstack and MonkeyJunk.
MonkeyJunk
In a world where "same" seems to be common, there is MonkeyJunk. This power trio is totally different. Different sound, different take on blues and roots music. They combine quality song-writing with strong vocals and high caliber musicianship to produce something quite unique. MonkeyJunk was formed in 2008 and has been one of the busiest, hard-working bands around. Whether its coast-to-coast Canada, the USA or Europe, these guys seem to be on the go all the time. The band is made up of Steve Marriner, vocals, guitar, bass, harmonica and organ; Tony 'D' lead guitar and Matt Sobb drums and percussion. As Stony Plains recording artists, they have five studio albums to their credit; the latest, Time to Roll was released just last November. In addition to their 2012 Juno Award for Best Blues Album of the year, Monke Junk have also collected an amazing total of 10 Maple Blues Awards including winning Electric Act of the Year, five times. Come out Thursday, July 20 and be prepared to be impressed!
Soulstack
Fronted by vocalist Jon Knight, Soulstack is a band that can be rather hard to define. They describe what they do as everything from "Detroit-influenced, fuzz-tinged, rootsy rock and roll to Alabama soul." To cover this range of musical styles, they combine southern harmony with tremolo-denched guitar tones aided by a Hammond organ sound and driven by a New Orleans style rhythm section. This Kitchener, Ontario based five-piece group consists of Jon Knight, guitar/vocals; Chris Latta, guitar; Mark Wessenger, vocals/piano/ organ; Darryl Peterson, bass and Tom Bona, drums. Soulstack have produced three studio albums, Big Red (2012), Five Finger Discount (2013) and Soulstack (2015), as well as their Live & Acoustic DVD/Blue Ray release also in 2015. Soulstack has been nominated for a total of 8 Maple Blues Awards, winning
3 of these as Drummer of the Year. Recently the band has welcomed a special guest musician, Michael Francis, a 5 time Grammy Award Winning Sax Player from 'Asleep at the Wheel' fame. This multi Maple Blues Award nominee band will be on the Kemptville Live Music Festival stage on Thursday, July 20 to provide festival goers with their special blend of blues and swamp roots music.
For more artist info and festival info, visit:
Kemptville Live Music Festival https://www.kemptvillelivemusicfestival.com/Cover photo: MonkeyJunk performs at RBC Bluesfest in 2015 photo by Sean Sisk for Sound Check Entertainment
