Finley Quaye (from London, UK)

Reggae infused jazzy pop - 4 piece band

Finley Quaye has a multifaceted, multi-ethnic catalogue of music that meshes light, pure pop to an underground, Reggae-styled rock groove. In the mid 90's, he moved to New York and began working with Epic/Sony, eventually   hitting the Top 20 with singles Sunday Shining , and Even After All , included on 'Maverick A Strike' -   an adventurous album that went gold less than three weeks later (and eventually multi-platinum).   This prompted the 1997 Mobo Award for best Reggae act, and the 1998 BRIT Award for Best British Male Solo Artist.   Two more albums were released on Epic, Vanguard (2000) and Much More Than Much Love (2004). In 2004 the single "Dice" was released in collaboration with producer\composer extraordinaire   William Orbit (Blur, 13 & Madonna), and featuring Beth Orton.   In the past he has worked, both on stage and in the studio, with the likes of Amy Winehouse, Iggy Pop, Tricky, Primal Scream, and Lee Scratch Perry, while also as a support act for James Brown, Ben Harper, Robbie Williams, and The Stereo MCs.

www.finleyquaye.com              www.myspace.com/finleyquayeuk

Blackalicious (Oakland, California, USA)

Emerging from the influential Bay Area indie scene of the mid-90s, Blackalicious burst onto the world stage and provided a roadmap for hundreds of hip hop artists to follow. They went on to tour the globe, headlining hundreds of shows and joining the likes of Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige, The Roots, Public Enemy, and their Quannum homies. In the studio, critically acclaimed albums and EPs include Melodica, A2G, Nia, Blazing Arrow, and 2006's The Craft.  With songs & production of great detail, depth and visceral impact, dj/producer Chief Xcel (Xavier Mosely) ploughs the field in which Gift of Gab (Tim Parker) can then plant introspective, self-searching lyrics with his mind-blowing, tongue-twisting, MC-crushing battle skills.  

Instead of cranking out hits, Blackalicious abides in creative patience (an anachronism in today's industry), cultivating a flowing, intuitive creativity process within themselves, and thus directly with their audience. We are "always, always, always studying new music ... digging to find inspiration", says Xcel. "You really have to let yourself be the vessel and step out of the way and the inspiration will come. When you force it, it never ever works". States Gift of Gab: "When it comes to the celebration of music -- live shows, creating art/music -- ain't nothing goin' on but a party. You have to let it flow out. You can't sit and think about it, you have to let the creative energy take over. And then it becomes a party." This is the perfect party - an intoxicating mix of brilliant, elastic lyricism and body-shakin beats.

www.blackalicious.com            www.myspace.com/blackalicious

Youssoupha Sidibe with Steve Kimock (Africa, SanFrancisco and Pennsylvania, USA)

Collaborative Afro Sacred Soul Pop - 4 piece band

Youssoupha Sidibe is a Kora (African harp) player and singer born in Senegal, West Africa, and has performed and/or collaborated with India Arie, Bela Fleck, Charles Neville, Michael Franti and Steve Kimock, amongst others.   His 2006 album 'Youth' went gold and was nominated for a Grammy award.   The ethereal-yet-earthy evocations from Youssoupha's music fuses traditional West African Kora riffing with the Sufi devotional chanting of the Senegalese Baay Faal community.   His performances and healing workshops have been hugely inspiring and empowering for people of all ages throughout the US, Europe, and Africa.

Steve Kimock is a true artist of electric guitar, with a rare ability to relay genuine passion from exquisitly dexterous virtuosity.   His eclectic, improvisational approach - alternately subdued and vibrant - has been captivating audiences for over 30 years.   Moving to San Francisco in the 70's, he cultivated his sound with many key people in that area, eventually forming the psychedelic rock ensemble Zero with former members of the Quicksilver Messenger Service.   One of the most collaborative artists around,   Kimock has toured and recorded with many musicians, including Henry Kaiser, Bruce Hornsby, and a bunch of Grateful Dead-related bands - including Bob Weir's Kingfish (1986) & RatDog (2007), Phil Lesh and Friends (1998-99), and Kreutzman & Hart's 'supergroup' Rhythm Devils (also featuring Mike Gordon of Phish).   He also has his own projects, including the Steve Kimock Band and, most recently, Crazy Engine (featuring Melvin Seals).

This is the first festival appearance for this magic, fertile combination!!   Appearing with The Mystic Rhythm Band.

www.myspace.com/youssouphasidibe         www.kimock.com         www.myspace.com/stevekimock  

Emmitt- Nershi Band  (Colorado, USA)  

4-piece acoustic newgrass string band

Fronted by String Cheese Incident's Bill Nershi, and Leftover Salmon's Drew Emmitt, this is a perfect 'Americana fusion' of an authentic old-style pickin shindig with modern song-writing sensibilities, setting the stage for a breezy, free-form rootsy romp.  

A founding member, main song-writer, vocalist and guitarist in The String Cheese Incident ,   Bill Nershi is a seasoned veteran of flat-picking and a variety of acoustic styles.   He invariably adds a unique, colorful perspective to any musical situation he encounters, and his enthusiasm and playful spirit encourage an interactive, participatory experience for musicians and fans alike

A mandolinist, guitarist, fiddle player, occasional flutist and singer best known for being one of the founding members of Leftover Salmon (as well as the Left Hand String Band & the Drew Emmitt Band), Drew Emmitt lays down unique high-octane stringed licks, versatile 'story-telling' vocals, and is revered as one of the most innovative mandolin players on the jamband/newgrass scene today.   His influences include Lowell George, Steve Morse, Duane Allman, John Cowan, Bill Monroe, and Sam Bush.

Together with hot-picker banjoist Andy Thorn and bassist\guitarist Tyler Grant, ENB delivers the dancing, fun-grass goods.

www.emmittnershiband.com       www.myspace.com/emmittnershiband

Mel Watson & Corbin Keep - aka "Travelling Light"

Formalizing their partnership less than a year ago, Mel Watson & Corbin Keep have harnessed their prolific & accomplished individual creative energies into one incendiary package. Known best for her multi-instrument virtuosity, 4 octave voice and passionate song writing in the Aussy indie folk sensation Fruit , Mel Watson is a multi-award winning creative dynamo. Her genre-crossing, innovative musical boldness is infectious - attracting artists like Michael Franti, Bruce Cockburn, The Neville Brothers, Jane Siberry, and the great Tommy Emmanuel - and the force behind her involvement in over 16 independent releases (including 4 solo) and extensive world-wide touring. Personifying terms like 'creative' and 'inspired', Mel lives, sleeps, and breathes her song.

In his second Starbelly appearance (also 2003), the 'wild cellist' Corbin Keep brings his own frenetic passion, technical wizardry and insightful wit to this mix. With wonderous improvised riffing on his cello, Corbin engages audiences like a master - one moment profound, even spiritual, and the next bursting with spontaneous humour - pushing boundaries and transforming this thickly traditional instrument into a tool for musical experimentation.

In solo performances Corbin and Mel regularly bring audiences to their feet.   Together, they are poised to turn them upside down.

www.wildcellist.com      www.myspace.com/thewildcellist

www.melwatson.com    www.myspace.com/100thmonkeyrecords

David Starfire (California)

Integrating his multi-instrument fluency in his DJ performances, David Starfire has gigged for many years at venues small and very large, including Coachella, Burning Man, Shambhala, Love Parade, Winter Music Conference and other A-list festivals. With ingredients of electronica, funk, dubstep, dancehall, hip hop and - most prominently - classical and devotional Indian music, he simmers away until rendered into a world-electro fusion that nods to the Asian Underground movement and neo-Bhangra, alongside an acoustic guitar-driven groove. "I've tried to keep as much soul in my music as possible even though it's programmed and electronic", emphasizing the emotive impact of his sound as well as the physical.

     davidstarfire.com       www.myspace.com/davidstarfire

Les Boukakes (France)

Arab soul-rock fusion

Les Boukakes fuses North African vocal stylings & grooves with lyrics sung in French and Arabic -   a rich cultural pool to draw into their rock-riff sensibilities.   This pool includes Rai - a form of folk music originating in Oran, Algeria with Bedouin shepherds, mixing Spanish, French, African and Arabic forms, dating back to the 1930s.   While Raï musicians, including many women, often sing about social issues affecting native populations - and Les Boukakes often seems on a mission to transcend borders and integrate cultures - this group is in substance an apolitical musical cauldron of celebration & collaboration, into which everyone can happily melt.

      www.boukakes.com/en/boukakes.php

Aspen Switzer (Nelson, BC)  

Folk singer/songwriter

Aspen's pure and powerful voice sets her apart and brings meaning to the subtle poetry found in her lyrics.   Her influences range from Folk to Country to Bluegrass to Rock and Jazz, but she has evolved a style that is all her own. Aspen's second CD, "Humble but bearing no apology" (released Nov. 2008), was chosen as a finalist for 3 awards at the 2009 BC Interior Music Awards and she won for best Folk/Traditional Recording of the Year and best Roots/World Recording of the Year.

www.aspenswitzer.com       www.myspace.com/aspenswitzer

Bocephus King  (Vancouver, BC).  

5 piece band - dreamy gutbucket alt roots rock

Dynamic songwriting (lyric & melody) within a joyus mash-up of genres & styles that churns along as an aproachable-but-weird, hazy-but-distinct, hang-loose rollick which seems to complete a continuum echoing Louis Armstrong, Willie Dixon, Elvis and Tom Waits, without sounding anything but delectably original & inspired.  Bocephus King's new album Willie Dixon Goddamn is set to be released this summer, following that of All Children Believe in Heaven, Blue Sickness , and Small Good Thing, which was an immediate success, reaching top-ten lists from Canada to Italy.

www.myspace.com/bocephusking    radio3.cbc.ca/bands/Bocephus-King

Ghostkeeper (Calgary, AB)

Calgary-based Ghostkeeper produces raw and electrifying music. A colourful patchwork of heartfelt, outsider blues and noisy pop, perhaps their music can be best understood through the distinctive Northern Alberta origins of Shane Ghostkeeper (vocals, guitar) and Sarah Houle (drums, vocals), who developed their own storytelling language with which Shane could voice the traditional songwriting he grew up with and Sarah could provide skewed drum patterns as a backdrop.   While traditional influences remain at the very core of Shane's songwriting, a healthy irreverence towards standard song structure and an idiosyncratic storytelling voice results in something undeniably Ghostkeeper.

myspace.com/childrenofthegreatnorthernmuskeg

radio3.cbc.ca/bands/Ghostkeeper

    Photo - Jared Sych

Allan Merowitz & Friends (Montreal & Nelson)

Rich, ethnic storytelling for kids and everyone

Formerly of Toronto's Flying bulgar Klezmer Band, Allan Merovitz is an accomplished singer, actor and storyteller. Recording & touring North America and Europe with top klezmer (Ot Azoj from Amsterdam) and yiddish ensembles (Simcha Klezmer Ensemble), he has also performed his one-man show If Cows Could Fly to critical acclaim at theatres across Canada and Europe. Allan recently participated in Peace Project in Israel (a collaboration of Christian, Muslim and Jewish artists). Joined by Bessie Wapp (drama, accordian & vocal), Frank Rackow (sax) and Ben Jonson (percussion), Allan and co will offer a variety of shows and workshops, often intent on engaging children, but always drawing everyone into an interactive celebration in music, stories, and dance, all with a colorful dash of historical cultural interpretation.

Pureblend (Nelson, BC)   

5-piece band -   jazzy folk pop

A unique hybrid that includes traces of funk, blue grass, afrobeat, jazz, hip hop, cuban and dub, Pureblend is a multi-talented array of musicians who love to blend all the different styles of music for dynamic dance floor fun.

Their jam-like songs deliver a fresh mix of laid-back pop style, beautiful harmonies and improvised 'space explorations'.

pureblend.ca

The Arcane Garden (Gray Creek, BC)  

Singer/songwriter & effects/percussion duo

A perfect symetry of ambient electronic and heartfelt folk lyricism, Arcan Garden creates a nuanced, organic idiom evoking a sense of those wonderfully mysterious, dimly lit layers of consciousness that touch us most deeply and shape our spirit of inspiration.   Will's rich and often dance-inspiring soundscapes support the powerful caress of Michelle's personal-yet-spiritual songs. The effect is one of dreamy revelation, a sonic & lyrical eulogy to nature & our place within it.

www.myspace.com/thearcanegarden

Versatile, veteran Jazz

Did you know this region had such a rich resource of accomplished jazz musicianship? Kootenay boys Donnie Clark (the great trumpet vetran who's worked with the likes of Ella Fitzgerald & Tom Jones), Hans Verhoeven (drums), Paul Landsberg (guitar) and Rob Johnson (bass), welcome talented vocalist Monica Shore from Montreal for an early evening concert of soul-satisfying jazz.

All world-class performers, playing in our backyard on the Friday evening.            

monicashore.com

Aerial Dance and Music

This Canadian circus troupe, now based in the Kootenays, has a passion for the circus arts, focusing on aerial silks acrobatics, stiltwalking, juggling, dance, martial arts, theatrical costume design, and gypsy caravan markets.They travel in a bus named "Iris", powered by waste vegetable oil. The pop-up aerial rig on the back of the bus makes rigging easy for outdoor venues and performances. In respect for the earth and its inhabitants, they are minimizing their carbon footprint using sustainable living practices, low pollution technologies, and reducing consumption, while providing communities with breathtaking aerial acrobatic performances and the message of co-operation and environmental interdependance. Their performances truly are wonderful to watch.

www.elvolutionaries.com

Chris Murdoch (Vancouver, BC)

Crystal Juggling and tales

Chris has been studying & teaching unusual performing art techniques   for nearly fifteen years,   touring across Australia and Canada. At times mystifying, then powerful and inspiring, his shows weave a spell of enchantment with things such as crystal ball contact juggling, poin spinning, Chinese yoyo, all set within a context of strange myths, funny tales, and wierd science facts. Not just the kids will love this!

www.ministryofmanipulation.com/blog/chris-murdoch-fairycon

This wonderfully colourful and entertaining mother and daughter will be periodically roving through the festival on stilts. ....hoola hooping, blowing bubbles for the kids, performing with wings, engaging with people, and enhancing the festival with more beauty and joyous ambiance.

They have performed in parades and at festivals throughout the States and BC and have a wide variety of magnificent costumes with different themes.