2023 Artists Listed Below
The Strumbellas
Formed in 2008, multi-award winning internationally renowned alternative rock band The Strumbellas have built their career on crafting exceptional songs, easily connecting with fans through their honest and relatable lyricism and versatile sound. The two-time JUNO Award winners have spent much of their time on the road, delivering standout performances at such notable festivals as Bonnaroo, Governor’s Ball, Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits and more.
Their 2016 studio album Hope gained international attention with single ‘Spirits’ topping the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, earning them the JUNO Award for ‘Single of the Year’ and a coveted performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. ‘Spirits’ has since been certified 3x Platinum in Canada and Italy, Platinum in Germany, and Gold in Belgium, France and the United States. Their 2019 release Rattlesnake and lead single ‘Salvation’ garnered another TV performance opportunity, this time on Late Night with Seth Meyers, and the track went on to win the band a 2020 SOCAN ‘Rock Music’ Award.
Now, with four full length albums under their belt, an iHeartRadio Music Award, three Canadian Radio Music Awards and two Canadian Independent Music Awards, The Strumbellas recently reconfigured from six to seven members, adding frontman Jimmy Chauveau to the mix after original lead Simon Ward opted to pull back from the rigorous touring schedule that’s become routine for the group. The latest iteration of The Strumbellas look to the future of the band, working towards the next chapter of their career; ever evolving, adapting and growing. The Strumbellas are Jimmy Chauveau (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Jeremy Drury (percussion), Jon Hembrey (guitar), Darryl James (bass), Isabel Ritchie (strings), David Ritter (keys), and Simon Ward (songwriter).
Yukon Blonde
After ten years since forming and five LPs in, Yukon Blonde have been characterized in a lot of different ways.
They emerged as a guitar-heavy rock band with their debut self-titled LP in 2010 and by the release of On Blonde in 2015, Yukon Blonde were experimenting with slick, ‘80s inspired pop elements like those heard on the album’s driving hit single “Saturday Night.” More recently, on 2018’s Critical Hit, the Vancouver-based five piece band turned their attention to mood making, largely ditching their guitars in favour of synths and drum machines to build danceable, multi-dimensional soundscapes.
With their fifth release, Vindicator, Yukon Blonde rewrote their story again. Jeffrey Innes (vocals/guitar/keys), Brandon Scott (vocals/guitar), Graham Jones (vocals/drums), James Younger (vocals/bass/keys), and Rebecca Gray (vocals/keys) douse keyboard melodies and relaxed grooves with psychedelic hues that are both playful and expansive. The kaleidoscopic voices of opening track “It’s What You Are,” immediately put you under a joyful spell and then never let you go.
“We’re more mature and comfortable with ourselves now and we know that we can try something new even at this stage in our career,” explains Younger. “We completely deconstructed the narrative of the band and made the music that felt good at the moment.”
Vindicator is the first Yukon Blonde album written, recorded, and produced entirely by the band. It took shape in their jam space in East Vancouver, a cabin on Galiano Island, in a closet at Younger’s home, and in Innes’ kitchen. But this DIY ethos has always been the backbone of Yukon Blonde who are curious artists with a passion for honing their craft.
The in-house approach to Vindicator allowed Yukon Blonde to stretch themselves creatively and experiment with sounds and styles in ways they haven’t before. The band share vocal duties – Gray thrives in the spotlight on the groovy “Fickle Feelings” – and Innes, the band’s primary songwriter, let his lyrics – which touch on everything from love to redefining your relationship with social media – drive the shape of the songs.
Most strikingly is the imaginative “Good Times,” a song that moves from sounding like it could soundtrack a bleary house party and then a riotous rooftop nightclub as their bouncy pop melody transforms into a pulsating beat. In the song’s third act, the club’s floor caves in and suddenly you’re cruising through a futuristic, neon light embossed cityscape.
Admittedly, making Vindicator by themselves was a creative risk but it’s one that’s paid off. Even the album title is a nod to how Yukon Blonde feel about the record’s outcome. As Innes notes, “You don’t really need to compete with yourself, you just need to challenge yourself.”
“It’s a very rewarding feeling taking control of yourself and your creative ambition,” adds Younger. “It’s something that you can ride high on because expectations were met and fulfilled and that’s a joyous thing.”
The Sadies
Without doubt or qualification, The Sadies are one of this continent’s greatest extant rock ’n’ roll bands — just as they have been for the last quarter-century. Versatile and imaginative, they skip from astral psychedelia to shuffling bucolics and leap from puckish pop to righteous garage-rock without losing momentum or mastery. Their albums deliver masterclasses on pointed songwriting, lockstep harmonies, and a devil-may-care attitude to expectations and past successes. With their new album – Colder Streams – out now, check out what Shindig Magazine calls “a stone-cold masterpiece”.
Jesse Roper
With a famously raucous live show, a diverse history of international touring, burgeoning streaming numbers, sync placements in major TV shows, and an ever-expanding fanbase, Jesse Roper returns with Horizons, his third album and first full-length release in over four years.
In the time between Roper’s last record, Access to Infinity (2018) and this year’s Horizons, much has changed. Previously, Roper’s sound was still searching for a quality that he’d yet to fully realize, and has since discovered through melding an vast pool of influences unlike ever before; from 70s Motown, Soul, acoustic rock, and Funk-laden Blues.
Working closely with famed, Juno-nominated producer, Gus van Go, (Metric, The Stills, Arkells, The Trews, Sam Roberts) on this new collection of songs has pushed Roper into creating some of his best work.
“Recording with Gus and Werner F was on a whole new level. They really cared where the songs were headed and that they ended up just right”, Roper shares. “Everything was broken down to the finest details and nothing was allowed to sit at just ‘ok’. It was all about getting the vibe right.”
And the vibe is certainly right. There’s a depth and a confidence to this new body of work that hasn’t necessarily been at the forefront of Roper’s previous offerings; one that expresses his maturity as both a songwriter and artist. With a richer infusion of vintage R&B and Retro Soul as a background, Roper’s powerful vocals are have a vibrant skyline to soar over. Like contemporaries Nathaniel Rateliff, Michael Kiwanuka and Jack White, Roper tells his story with heart, and a growl to match; conjuring music a heartfelt story, without pulling any punches.
Roper’s return is buoyed by an all-star band of drummer Josh Dion (John Scofield, Paris Monster), saxophonist Tony Jarvis (Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Charles Bradley, Phish), and bass by Horizons’ producer, Gus Van Go himself. Title track, “Horizons,” is propelled forward by pulsing percussion, driving guitar, and breezy brass, with Roper’s expansive vocals taking centre stage. The layered production style lends itself to a mysterious, almost seductive edge to Roper’s soulful refrains; it tantalizes and charms, hooking the listener in.
No stranger to gig crowds and life on the road, Roper’s live shows are a tour de force. Backed by the Pretty Good Band, his magnetic stage presence is renowned across Canada and beyond. A maverick figure, he’s equal parts charismatic, mischievous and talented in spades. Roper has opened for Canadian legends, Colin James, Burton Cummings, and many more high-profile artists and contemporaries., He’s toured North America with Canadian-American rockers, Big Wreck, while cultivating his own teeming audience base. From selling thousands of tickets a show in his home province of BC to selling out shows in far-reaching territories, Jesse Roper’s steady transformation into a Canadian Rock luminary is clear.
Roper has also found new audiences through prudent song placements on a plethora of shows and movies including Riverdale (The CW), The Equalizer (CBS), ABC’s The Rookie and more. With tracks racking up millions of streams and six-figure monthly listeners on Spotify alone, his global fan base is constantly growing.
For Roper, this isn’t the end, or even the middle. This is still the emergence… The first part of a journey with much more to come. Music is a lifelong pursuit for those that embody it so completely and have chosen to continue on its path.
Look out for Jesse Roper, a rising star burning brightly upon the horizon.
Louise Burns
When writing Portraits, Vancouver songwriter Louise Burns went back to where it all began: Los Angeles, the same city where she got her big break two decades earlier as the bassist of teen pop band Lillix. But while those early years had been full of dizzying highs and crushing lows, she now had the poise and self-assurance of a seasoned songwriter.
“L.A. is a very specific place for me,” she reflects. “It reminds me of some really bittersweet memories — some really happy ones and some really awful ones. This record was about embracing my past rather than trying to hide it or be self-deprecating. It’s okay for me to feel proud of having done all this weird shit when I was really young.”
Louise spent a wildly prolific month in Los Angeles in early 2018, working on sparkling electronic pop songs with collaborators like Damian Taylor (Arcade Fire, the Killers), Stint (Carly Rae Jepsen, Santigold) and Jasper Leak (Sia). This was the first time Louise had worked with co-writers on her own material, and it helped to unlock some of her most emotionally forthright songs yet.
“I normally don’t like telling people how I feel,” she admits. “Pop music allows me to be vulnerable. I’m hiding behind seemingly joyful, danceable music, but I’m getting away with saying something more substantial.” Damian Taylor acted as Louise’s co-producer and right-hand man, and he encouraged her to get autobiographical with her lyrics.
Unlike her prior albums — 2011’s Mellow Drama, 2013’s The Midnight Mass and 2017’s Young Mopes — which had been shrouded in reverb and gothic mystery, Portraits is unflinchingly direct. The towering “Cry” sets lyrics about emotional repression against a backdrop of towering hooks and shimmering new wave guitars, while “Just Walk Away” is a bubbly blast of tropical pop. The sighing dream pop anthem “Cheers” presents stark lyrics about growing up in the music industry and the resulting eating disorder, and “Everything You Got” splits the difference between pulsing dance grooves and heavy-lidded soft rock.
The soaring melodies are instantly catchy, and the twinkling sophisti-pop synth-scapes are the result of Louise’s burgeoning side-career as a producer. Having built her own Amethyst Studios in her East Vancouver home, she’s been co-writing and producing for other bands, and Portraits is the first time she’s put those new skills to use in her own music.
After the initial sessions in Los Angeles, she went back home to Vancouver to perfect her new material. She took a hands-on approach during every moment of making the new record, acting as curator for a dream team of collaborators. She got additional synths from Matt Robertson (Björk, ANOHNI), jazz sax from Dominic Conway, guitars from Darcy Hancock (Ladyhawk) and Jason Corbett (ACTORS), percussion from Pedro Dzelme (who also served as audio engineer), and drum samples from David Prowse (Japandroids). Singers Hannah Georgas, Alanna Finn-Morris (Fionn) and Jody Glenham contributed to some of the backing harmonies.
This process was a culmination of everything Louise has experienced in her 20 years in the music industry — both a celebration of her past and a bold step into the future.
“When I first came out as a solo artist, it wasn’t really cool to be a pop artist,” she reflects. “A lot of my indie rock peers were these really serious people who thought it was silly. I should have said, “I sold a hundred thousand records before I was 18. What have you done?’”
Field Guide
Field Guide (aka Dylan MacDonald) is a weaver of worlds. Built around his inviting voice and wrapped in warm textures, his self-titled sophomore full-length builds his most engaging world yet. It lives in a place between darkness and hopefulness with unshakeable melodies at its heart. “Melody is what makes words fall out of my mouth. It’s disarming. When I find a melody that represents my internal world, I drop my guard. I allow the words to appear out of thin air without judgement. A lot of these songs came to life that way. I wasn’t trying to make anything, but the songs became a home for words that I wasn’t yet ready to write on the page,” MacDonald says.
The past few years haven’t allowed for much escape from our interior worlds. There’s been a lot to move through, and many things can be true at once. This album lives at the sometimes-tense intersection of those truths – loving someone dearly while being pulled toward something new, feeling joy in the melancholy, a gratitude for deep friendship and an uncertainty of one’s place in it.
The album is also alive with the people and places that surrounded its creation. Vocals and acoustic guitars were recorded near Riding Mountain National Park in a woodstove-heated cabin during one of Manitoba’s coldest winters in years. Bass and drums were tracked at Breakglass Studios in Montreal, a room that already felt familiar from falling in love with the records of tour-mate Leif Vollebekk. Final overdubbing took place at Monarch Studios in Vancouver surrounded by trusted engineers and friends. And constant inspiration was found in his circle of Winnipeg creators working away on their own projects. Like The Big Pink house – Boy Golden, Slow Spirit, Roman Clarke, Kris Ulrich and others dropped in on each other to share demos and often lend their sounds to each other’s albums.
Beyond his hometown, Field Guide has had the opportunity to meet some heroes and new friends. He’s supported Leif Vollebekk, Bahamas, SYML, Wild Rivers, JP Saxe and Penny & Sparrow on their tours this year. He’s built a legion of fans online and on the road. So, while this is a solo album that invites the listener inside Field Guide’s inner monologue world, it really is meant to be lived in together. “These are the truest, rawest songs that I’ve ever written. I’ve never felt so sure about something I’ve made before. And now, it’s yours.”
Mother Sun
Mother Sun creates warmth with their music. Formed at the end of 2017, the four-piece from the sprawling interior desert of Kamloops BC Canada make thoughtful and melodic pop accented by warm waves of psychedelia, jazz sensibilities, and surreal dreamlike imagery grounded by a concise groove-oriented musicality. The band’s lush, kaleidoscopic production is preceded by their telepathic live performance, often recording a song initially as a live band and then building layered arrangements in the studio. Mother Sun released their third LP ‘Train of Thought’ via Earth Libraries and Divine Bovine Records in October 2022.
Mother Sun’s prolific work ethic has resulted in 3 full length records and a handful of singles since their debut Caramel Clouds in 2019. After releasing the first record independently, the band signed with Boise / Birmingham based label Earth Libraries in 2020 to release ‘SIPS’ in July 2020. Mother Sun then issued four singles in 2021 before releasing three more singles throughout the summer of 2022. This consistent musical output, accompanied by consistent DIY touring of western Canada and the promotion of curated shows in Kamloops, has contributed to a growing indie and psych scene in the band’s hometown, where they run Divine Bovine Records and Holy Cow Studio, two interrelated initiatives sparked from collaboration between members.
In 2022, Mother Sun celebrated the return of live music by extensive spring and summer touring of western Canada including stops in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Tofino, Nanaimo, Victoria, Nelson, Prince George, Lethbridge, Vernon, and Kelowna as well as several hometown shows in Kamloops. Through the summer and fall, the band shared three singles from their third record Train of Thought in advance of its release on October 28th.
Rumour Mill
Rumour Mill is a west-coast Canadian duo headed by multi-instrumentalists, Aline Deanna and Anna Katarina, currently residing in beautiful British Columbia. They are releasing their first full-length album in Fall 2023, produced by Murray Pulver (Crash Test Dummies, The Bros. Landreth) and supported by FACTOR’s Juried Sound Recording grant and Creative BC.
Inspired by the likes of Stevie Nicks, Brandi Carlile and First Aid Kit, the duo crafts beautiful, groovy and memorable songs that feature a lush and groovy topography of violin, keys, guitar and mandolin, led by a narrative of iconic harmonies.
Despite the restrictions of the last three years, the duo led three sold-out (restriction-abiding) tours across British Columbia, and toured in the Southeastern USA. While in Nashville in 2021, they recorded an upcoming single with Dan Knobler (Allison Russell, Lake Street Dive, Rosanne Cash).
Rumour Mill has charted in the top 100 in US College Radio (2020), received a nomination for Group of the Year at the 2019 Kootenay Music Awards, placed in the Top 100 in CBC Searchlight, and received a full scholarship to the 2020 International Folk Alliance Conference in New Orleans, LA.
Notable performances include The Dream Cafe 2023 (Penticton, BC), Whitefish Songwriters Festival 2022 (Montana), The Capitol Theatre (Nelson, BC), UTOPiA Festival 2021 (Texas) and Blizzard Festival 2021 opening for Moontricks (Rossland, BC).
Rumour Mill’s entire catalog has also recently been licensed by 13 television networks, including Discovery, Oprah, TLC, MTV, A&E, and E!TV.
With melancholic melodies, soulful harmonies and lyrics that weave the listener through an exploration of timeless themes, these ladies will sweep you off your feet and leave you wanting more!
Earth Freaks
Since forming in 2021, Earth Freaks have worked at a feverish rate and continued to push themselves in a fashion that can be described as nothing short of miraculous.
The four piece, which trained at Selkirk College’s renowned music program, has shown no signs of slowing down from the time of its inception. A jam-packed summer in 2022 saw constant touring around British Columbia’s Interior, including opening the Canada Rock Fest in Grand Forks, performing at the Nelson International Mural Fest and RED Mountain Ski Resort’s Oktoberfest, as well as a string of sold out 3 hour marathon shows at The Royal in Nelson.
The release of two singles last August – Heavy Sunshine and Colour Tones – proved to be sound evidence of the engaging, feel good songwriting that is characteristic from Earth Freaks, and was followed up by a full length debut album at the end of the year. March 2023 saw the release of the group’s latest single, the fan favourite ‘Remedy,’ as well as their first venture outside of Canada as they brought their high-energy live experience to Mexico for a run of shows supporting reggae legends, ‘Antidoping’ and ‘Los Pericos.’
Summer 2023 is sure to be the busiest chapter yet for these young rockers. After relocating to Victoria last Fall, the group has been working tirelessly to write and record new material and practice their incendiary stage experience.
The infectious charm that emanates from Earth Freaks is clearly the result of four best friends doing what they love most
The Heavy Lighters
The Heavy Lighters are a 4-piece band that play high energy and heartfelt bluegrass-inspired music. The band formed in 2021 in Nelson BC and have written a catalogue of original songs that have captivated audiences across the Kootenays. Often joined by a drummer for live shows, The Heavy Lighters don’t shy away from pushing the boundaries of bluegrass to give audiences an experience similar to other improvisational bands such as String Cheese Incident and Railroad Earth, all while staying rooted in the earnest songwriting which forms the foundation of The Heavy Lighters.
Garret T. Willie
Garret T. Willie is an old soul masquerading as an uncommonly wise, weathered, witty and world-weary 23-year-old and he’s about to give rock ‘n’ roll a formidable 21st -century kick in the ass. Garret T. Willie hails from Kingcome Inlet, off the coast of British Columbia but while Willie’s back story also gives him more right than most to sing the blues – and at heart, Garret T. Willie is a rock ‘n’ roller – he’d rather that not be the whole story.
Willie is the personification of an open book in the lyric sheet to his upcoming debut record Same Pain. What he offers the world is something it has genuinely been missing for awhile: a contemporary take on hardscrabble blues and the purest and rawest rock ‘n’ roll to follow its teachings thereafter.
He’s studiously schooled in all the right source material, from Howlin’ Wolf, Albert King and Muddy Waters to Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis to The Rolling Stones, Ten Years After, AC/DC, Stevie Ray Vaughan, George Thorogood and everyone else who’s carried the torch into the present, with a little Johnny Cash and Hank Williams thrown in for some outlaw-country flavour on the side.
And that’s why, on Same Pain, Garret T. Willie can not only really rip it up on the guitar, but also with the gut-busting honesty of someone who understands that if you ain’t lived it, you shouldn’t sing it. At least that’s the way it is for him.
Garret T. Willie has absolutely no interest in emulating the musical past, emulating his heroes. His interest is only in channeling every ounce of the classic blues and rock ‘n’ roll he venerates so deeply into something new. Bringing it into the now, hustling it towards the future and maybe leaving his signature on the wall for a few of the bored kids to follow in his footsteps.
Dan Tait
Originally hailing from the Ottawa Valley in Ontario, Dan Tait has been a man-on-a-mission for over 15 years in the music industry. After originally cutting his teeth in the Ontario scene in bars, cafes and halls all around the province, he made his way out to BC for the snow and the lifestyle. It was in BC where Dan really pushed his music career into the next level, becoming a household name in the South Interior.
Dan Tait’s one-man-band is defined by his warm guitar lines, pulsing kicks, and his powerful soaring voice. His songs vary from driving folk & rock songs to ballads and blues. As a folk/roots musician, his sound is unique and all-his-own. His laid-back on-stage demeanor endears him to every audience he performs for, and will assuredly carry him deep into the Canadian music scene.
Dan has performed as a professional musician for 15 years all over Canada, touring as a performer, songwriter, and manager for many acts. He is now based in Kelowna, BC – but continues to release music and build tours across the country.
The Bankes Brothers
With the release of their forthcoming In Waves EP, The Bankes Brothers are about to light up Canada’s indie-rock scene and ignite audiences everywhere.
The Victoria, BC four-piece—brothers Nelson and Morgan Bankes on vocals and guitar, lead guitarist Carson Cleaver, and drummer Gray Oxley—formed in a pool hall one Friday night in 2017. Less than a week later, they played their first gig. Delivering a dynamic set list ranging from Otis Redding to Talking Heads, the former high school classmates were overwhelmed by an undeniable musical chemistry. Within three days of the first show, they had written a handful of original songs, including an early version of “See Me Run”, the EP’s soulful, swelling closing track.
Determined to grow their own sound, over the next year the band played every gig available—from community fairs to jazz clubs—and rapidly built a reputation for wailing new life into classic hits. This acclaim landed the band a residency at the former Canoe Club in 2019, where they sharpened their live show every weekend in front of raucous audiences—until the pandemic abruptly pulled the plug. Filled with the electricity and drive of their live shows, the band used the pressure cooker of lockdown to channel their creative energy into writing fresh songs. When the world opened back up many months later, The Bankes Brothers came bursting out with a refined sense of direction and purpose.
The result is In Waves, a six-track shot of dopamine spilling over with irresistibly catchy melodies, exhilarating vocals, and joyous indie-rock instrumentation. Produced and recorded by indie legend Steve Bays (Hot Hot Heat, The Zolas, Mounties), the EP is the culmination of the band’s wide-ranging influences–from Elvis to The Strokes, Paul Simon to The Pixies—coming together in a way that defies sonic parallels, yet remains welcomingly familiar. The first release has the pretty grittiness of The Lumineers, the free-wheeling energy of the late-aughts indie bands, and the powerhouse belting of blues-rock contemporaries like Marcus King. Yet the sum of these parts is something fresh, exciting, and uniquely vibrant within the current sea of sleepy vocals and sedated guitar tones. The Bankes Brothers sound like the youthful high of a late-night romance and the blissful stagger home the next morning.
The honest simplicity of Bankes’ lyrics leaves space for the energetic melodies to pick us up and sweep us away, again and again and again. The EP’s title track just begs to be belted out, whether driving in your car or locked arm-in-arm with your best friend at one of the band’s electric live shows. A common theme running throughout In Waves is the universal coming-of-age moment when one is about to break free from the confines of childhood and step—or run—into the next phase of life. The debut begins and ends with The Bankes Brothers on the move— “Walkin’ to the Beat” and “See Me Run”—a fitting reflection of a band that is about to hit its stride.
The Tuques
Formed in Rossland, BC in 2000, Southern Interior music pioneers The Tuques continue to stomp it. Born in the low-ceilinged, condensation- laden ski bars of the Kootenays, The Tuques have provided the soundtrack to the kootenay lifestyle with a repertoire of original songs inspired by the fusion of folk, rock country and bluegrass.
Sunny And The Dead
Vigorous Lyricism, and Soul-Punk Mannerisms. Singer-Songwriter Jonny Dudar sculpts stories out of habits, and melodies from bad decisions. Contolled Chaos – Beautiful Disaster.xo
Stubbs And The
Stubbs and The are ever-enigmatic. The evolving nature of their name reflects the organic spontaneity of their sound. Rooted in Rossland, BC, this 5-piece first bloomed playing crowd-pleasing covers before transforming into their independent, theatrical original music.
From head banging to their Italian metal song Cannibali, or ballroom dancing to The Waltz from their 10 part Odyssey of Barbara T., the crowds can’t help but join their wacky, whimsical, wingdings.
With lyrics in 7 different languages and a tracklist that defies labelling under traditional genres, Stubbs and The Experience speaks for itself.
The festival will utilise the natural slopes and stunning amphitheater-like setting at the base of Red & Granite Mountains. There will be generous viewing areas across 2 stages set around RED Mountain Resorts day lodge and base area.
Food and drink vendors will be comfortably spread throughout the festival grounds, including beer gardens, merch booth, and base lodge deck access.
We aim to present world-class celebrations of music and art by bringing in both national and international acclaimed artists from a variety of regions and genres. Our goal is to have Between the Peaks also be a strong supporter and encourager of the professional artists within our community while introducing thousands of new eyes to the beauty of Rossland and RED during the summer and fall seasons.
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For media, press, or other inquiries, please fill out the form below or contact betweenthepeaks@redresort.com.
