Category Archives: Festivals

Our next feature artist is hoping to go full circle. Dylan Burk was born in Tennessee and now calls Milton, Ontario home. Winning the Boots and Hearts Emerging Artist Showcase would bring Dylan back to where he started.

Each year Boots and Hearts showcases some of the worlds biggest and best country artists on their stages for one weekend in August. But Boots and Hearts, and it’s partners, also play host to one of the most reputable emerging artist competitions in the country.

Tebey, Tim Hicks, The Reklaws and the James Barker Band are just a few of the artists that have the Boots and Hearts Emerging Artist showcase to thank for their success. This year we’ve got 8 more artists vying for the coveted title and over the next week or so we’re going to introduce you to each of them.

As I left my house for the drive to the first ever Big Sky Music Festival at Burl’s Creek, which is also home to Boots and Hearts, the skies seemed to get darker as we got closer to the Great Lakes, would this inaugural event be a washout? Well once we finally arrived at Burl’s Creek the skies cleared and bright blue skies with no cloud in the sky paved the way for a perfect day.

We’ve been covering the Boots and Hearts Emerging Artist Showcase pretty much since it first started. It’s been an annual tradition to interview and feature each of the finalists, so you get a chance to know them before they become household names like previous finalists Tebey, Tim Hicks, The Reklaws and The James Barker Band to name just a few of those who once fought for the prestigious annual title.

Another successful and very fun Kemptville Live Music Festival is in the books. This festival just seems to get better each year.

Ottawa’s The Riot Police hit the stage for the Canada Day celebrations in Cornwall Ontario giving a heated performance on what what might have been one of the hottest days of the summer.

Last month we managed to catch up with our friends Jenna and Stuart Walker, aka The Reklaws at two events. Watch the interviews below.

(cover photo Aerial shot of Ottawa Bluesfest 2019 ~ Bluesfest Press Images PHOTO/Scott Penner)

It always amazes me how fast time flies from opening night of RBC Bluesfest to the long walk home after the last show on the last night. What a year, the 25^th for RBC Bluesfest and the 7^th for Sound Check Entertainment. Sure, they were met with some weather challenges and some unforeseeable artist cancellations but for the most part RBC Bluesfest 2019 was one of the smoothest runnings of the festival I have ever attended. Mother Nature tried, and failed, on more than one occasion to disrupt the festivities but each time the sun managed to push through and clear things up with enough time to get most of the acts in.

The second last night of RBC Bluesfest was the night that was hit hardest by mother nature over the course of the 2019 event. Thunderstorms threatened to derail the entire night, ended up cutting K’Naan’s set short but, once again, she ran out of steam with enough time left to squeeze in the remaining acts with some minor schedule juggling.

It was another hot night at RBC Bluesfest and July 12 was a night that, for me, had the most acts in the lineup that I was keen to check out.