<![CDATA[The Harvest Sun Music Fest

<![CDATA[The Harvest Sun Music Fest - ON THE BLOG]]>Sat, 18 Apr 2026 02:33:32 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Artist Spotlight: Scott Nolan]]>Tue, 13 Aug 2019 01:20:01 GMThttps://www.harvestsunmusicfest.com/on-the-blog/artist-spotlight-scott-nolan

Singer/songwriter, poet, and all-around storyteller, Scott Nolan, has been treating audiences to introspective, moving art his entire career. Incorporating short poetry readings from his debut poetry book, Moon Was a Feather, and songs from his massive collection, his upcoming Harvest Sun set will for sure be a feast for the soul.

Scott spoke with us about how music and poetry helped him through a difficult youth, finding his footing as a performer, and what it means to continue creating art.

How did you get started in writing and recording?
I started playing guitar probably around six years old. I was always attracted to music, but no music teachers really had much to do with me. My first music teacher fired me, and I was chased out of junior high band. I fumbled around until maybe my very young teens when I first discovered Osborne Village. There I met Lenny Broad, a revered virtuoso guitar player and his son Chet. Chet was the first person that sat with me in any form or capacity as a teacher and recognized that not all kids learn the same way. The writing [started] around eleven or twelve. During a difficult period of my adolescence, I had a cousin who committed a murder and wound up spending the rest of his life in a prison in California. Through my difficult adolescence and substance abuse and all kinds of stuff, he mentored me through prison letters from somewhere around 11 on, maybe when he first turned his life around with poetry.

I often say at the end of violence is poetry. As a young kid, I had one foot in music, and the rest of me was in a darker place. I had this cousin, and he was a heavy guy, somebody that you looked up to whether it was for the right reasons or not. He was writing to me, and he would always encourage the music and encourage the poetry. He would send me poets’ names. He would take books out of the prison library and mail them to me. I always had that whether I knew what it was at the time or whether I could fully appreciate it at the time.

Going back to how you weren’t the best student when you first started learning guitar and how Chet helped you with that. What do you think made those lessons different for you?
I think Chet was probably a young person that struggled. I think the connecting point was, maybe this was more than just a young kid learning music, it was a lifeline. I'd like to believe it was. I could be using my imagination a little bit, but I think part of it is people that are hurt or damaged or spiritually carrying some weight, they tend to recognize one another. At the flip side, music and art was the key link to everything, to happiness and the drive. I consider myself lucky that the role of art and music has typically played in my life is that it saved me and continues to.

Because it was that outlet for you when you were struggling, and people around you were struggling, is that what led to a bit of that darker, bluesy kind of sound?
I think so. It's also the company you keep and the circles you move around in. For much of my life that's how and where I lived, so I think it definitely did. As a little kid, I remember seeing Elvis on TV, and it wasn't that long after that, I discovered Black American music. I don't know what you would call that in a politically correct way, but with the early blues guys, the early soul guys, it seemed every time I found something I liked, if I looked a little further, a Black artist would have done it first and more effectively.

So if you kind of look at it from a slightly more mature place, you realize music is intrinsically connected to suffering, marginalization, and oppression. I’m certainly not comparing my struggles to anybody else's, but I started seeing that correlation to where it's not just being an entertainer. It took me a long time to get to that, but I don't know that I'm an entertainer.

What would you see yourself as?
As I get older, I see it more as being in service to something and not in a religious way. It was a hard thing because I was never a natural performer. I didn't take to it right away. It was a necessity because if I'm going to write these songs, they aren’t even songs if I'm not sharing them in some way. That was a harder thing to learn, to talk to audiences, and lead a band.

Not in the preacher's sense but when I say ‘in-service’ I mean, for me, when I go to see music or something in the arts I want to be moved or uplifted or challenged or inspired. I have this songwriter friend whenever we'd be traveling to see a performer, he would always lean in and whisper into my ear ‘better not waste our time,’ and I always loved that. I want to see somebody walk on stage and I want to be taken somewhere. Looking around at the state the world is in, I don't know if there's enough room for frivolous ear candy anymore. Maybe what we endeavour should be more meaningful and should be designed to resonate the right ways.

I mean this could all just be me getting older too. As I say it now, it sounds like a guy just getting older.

I feel that does just come with age because when you're younger, everything is always about you and what is happening to you. But when you get older, you get to see a different perspective about the world around you.
That's very true. It's also very informative coming back to the you part of it, where you realize and learn to take things in a certain context and understand and appreciate them. And your suffering seems different when you've seen somebody else that’s suffered.

I do want to talk about your specific set at Harvest Sun. You are going to be doing something different: a poetry reading as well as a performance.
Yeah. I've done this a handful of times since the book came out. When I was writing it, I reconnected with a trusted friend. We had met in grade 4; lifelong friends. We were in our first band together as kids. We were terrible.

We reconnected after 20 somewhat years. I had begun producing artists here in my little studio, and he had been a fly on the wall for more than a dozen recordings with all these artists he's never heard of. This was a whole new world for him, and somewhere in the middle of it he said to me, ‘you know I've got this ten-year dream. I'm going to use your songs to teach myself to play the piano, and I want to be a piano player and travel with you.’ I loved that. I was so taken by the idea that I said ‘let's just do this. Let's dive in!’ He's done a handful shows with me. He was walking with me on many outings when I was writing the poetry, so it's neat for me that it's going way back to where I started and the first people I ever tried to make music with.

What's also been neat is that I stopped touring. I stepped away from a lot of that stuff, and I'm easing my way back out, and I'm seeing things a bit through his eyes now. Everything's amazing to him. This is so new. I love telling the audience, here's a middle-aged guy; like who decides that at middle age I'm going to learn the piano. I'm going to start doing this, and it's had an amazing effect on his life and his family. And I love that story.

It's a quiet set. It's not a rock ‘n roll show, but it combines short poems and short songs that relate to those poems and then basically our story. We've done this a handful of times now, and audiences seem to get something out of it.

For anybody that’s sort of on the fence about heading to Harvest Sun. What would you say are the best reasons to go?
I think most people feel overwhelmed with everything going on in current society from the news to politics. I mean there's no shortage of things to be overwhelmed by. This is the folk ethic where it goes back to this little town that has a sense of spirit and energy invested in it. Look what happens, there’s Harvest Sun, and now there's Harvest Moon. There are these festivals that are bringing life back to their community. It's not just some pop thing where we roll in and get up on stage. It's meaningful, so I'd say if anybody were on the fence, if they felt overwhelmed or cynical or depressed, and they wanted to step out of it, this is where you step out of it.

Be sure to catch Scott Nolan at The Harvest Sun Music Festival in Kelwood, MB - August 16 - 18th. With only a few days left to go tickets are still on sale now but they’re going fast!

Follow Scott on Facebook, Instagram, and his official website.

Interview by Janet Adamana
Janet Adamana is the Founder/Editor-In-Chief of Sound, Phrase & Fury Magazine - a Winnipeg-based digital publication dedicated to promoting independent artists and industry professionals from all over the world. More than just about inciting hype, she interviews/writes to capture an artists’ essence and their greatest passions to ignite meaningful connections between fans and really great bands.

]]><![CDATA[Artist Spotlight: James Culleton]]>Sat, 10 Aug 2019 20:02:19 GMThttps://www.harvestsunmusicfest.com/on-the-blog/artist-spotlight-james-culleton

James Culleton is an all-around multi-faceted artist. From being a musician, painter, and illustrator, James gets to exercise every aspect of his imagination to create an endless portfolio of awe-inspiring and moving pieces of work.

As a true artist never rests, James sat down with me all the while drawing our interaction, we spoke about his beginnings in art and music, and how he melds both visuals and sound to create his masterpieces.

You’re a multi-faceted artist, so what artform came first?
Art and drawing. My older brother was an artist, so I followed in his footsteps. The person who taught me how to play guitar was my cousin, Billy. Years later, I found out he actually didn’t know how to play guitar.

So would you say that you came from an artsy family?
Not so much my parents but my mom’s side of the family is from Quebec, and back in 2004, I did a project where I was rediscovering my french roots. I found all sorts of music and art. My grandfather was a fiddle player, and my aunt Doris played music, so there’s quite a bit of music on that side.

You're mainly a guitarist, but do you play any other instruments?
I've been playing a lot of piano lately. At the festival, I might even add that to the set.

Can you go into developing your sound, especially when you first started?
There was a band in my neighborhood called the Crop Circles. They were a bunch of friends of mine who played music, and I always wanted to be but was never in the band. I was writing and playing my own music alongside what they were doing. I just never stopped where that band folded a long time ago. My interests are varied. I like old-timey music. I like Elvis and Ray Orbison, but my songs are probably a mixture of country, folk, rock and maybe some old-time jazz. The last full album I did was called ‘Vanished Days.’ That one was about farming in the early 1900s in the Red River Valley. It was all a part of an artist residency that I did while I was in North Dakota. I had unearthed all of these poems and prose that was written in the 20s and 30s and rehashed them into an album.

When you’re writing songs, do you visualize how it will translate through different forms – performance-wise or through music videos, and all these other avenues?
I don’t really know how it comes together. It’s never the same, but I know for [Vanished Days] there was just such a tight visual component to it because I was drawing throughout the whole residency. Now I’m starting to work on another record. I have at least ten songs, but not all of them have visuals tied to them, while some of them do.

I have one song where I was asked to enter a poem contest with a poem and a piece of art. The piece of art I had was a bicycle, and so the poem is about the bicycle from the bike’s point of view. As it goes through the seasons, it’s talking, and you can almost feel time is passing. The bike is talking like, ‘remember when we went down the ditch and ran into the tree swing?’ and all of these fun things. Now birds are pecking at its seat and taking stuffing for its nest. Spiders are going through its spoke. It’s sad, but it’s like life, right?

Would you say that your songwriting or your artwork is very story-based and autobiographical?
Yeah. I think I'm at a moment where they are. When I look through all of my albums, there are songs about telling stories about yourself, and experiences you've gone through. When I was doing the one about other people’s experiences, Vanished Days, it was something different. Now this new one, I have a song about my brother. I have a song about my dad and my family. I’m cycling through that, but I don't know if that’s what the album will be in the end.

Collaboration is a big thing at Harvest Sun, so is there anyone on this year’s list that you hope can jump in on your set?
Every year Al Simmons seems to collaborate with everybody. I love his work, and last time I was doing a tweener, and he jumped up and played some harmonica. It was fantastic. This is the first time I'm going to be playing the main stage, so I'm excited. This time I'm going to have Joanna Miller. She’s been my drummer forever and Rafael Reyes, who plays with Mariachi Ghost. He’ll probably play a mixture of steel guitar and guitar.

Because you dip into so many parts of the arts and culture scene, from your perspective, why do you think Harvest Sun is so important, especially in Manitoba?
I think the difference between it and other festivals is that it’s 100% local or Manitoban, where with other festivals, if you're local, you play once, and then you don’t play there for years. I like the repeat business for everybody. I love seeing Al every year, and Ego Spank, and Rick Neufeld. It gets to be a sort of reunion every year, so it becomes kind of like a family.

Catch James Culleton at The Harvest Sun Music Festival in Kelwood, MB - August 16 - 18th. There’s only a few days left to snag your tickets!

Tune into the Harvest Sun Instagram on August 15th, as he takes over our feed and reports live from Kelwood as he preps for the fest and creates the annual mural!

Check out all of James’ work, from drawings to music at his official website.

Interview by Janet Adamana
Janet Adamana is the Founder/Editor-In-Chief of Sound, Phrase & Fury Magazine - a Winnipeg-based digital publication dedicated to promoting independent artists and industry professionals from all over the world. More than just about inciting hype, she interviews/writes to capture an artists’ essence and their greatest passions to ignite meaningful connections between fans and really great bands.

]]><![CDATA[Artist Spotlight: Al Simmons]]>Sat, 10 Aug 2019 19:00:16 GMThttps://www.harvestsunmusicfest.com/on-the-blog/artist-spotlight-al-simmons3698016

Fan-favourite, Al Simmons, is always guaranteed to give audiences endless entertainment and belly-deep laughs! Well-known for his wacky, ingenious creations, and hilarious tunes, The Harvest Sun performance veteran has also become known as the most coveted impulse collaborator at the festival.

Al spoke with us about the unique gadgets he’ll be bringing, his favourite things about Harvest Sun, and who he’d love to do a surprise HS collaboration with.

You always are, by far, the fan favourite at every Harvest Sun and everywhere you perform! What do you think it is about your act that speaks to everyone, both young and old?
It couldn’t possibly be my bad puns. It must be my charming personality.

We’ve been asking this year’s performers, who they would LOVE to have jump in on their set and do a spontaneous Harvest Sun collaboration with. Almost every single person named you! No pressure now, but who on this year’s roster would you want to have join your show?
I’m hoping to have some of the members of Ego Spank join me for a song or two. We did a show together at the West End Cultural Centre last December, and it was great fun. I do plan on leaping onto the stage with many other performers during the festival.

What new inventions will you bring to Harvest Sun this time?
I don’t like to reveal in advance what I’m going to do, but YES, I’ve got a couple of surprises for sure.

You were sharing your gadgetry-skills with the youngins recently! Tell me about your Sounds Crazy workshop?
I did a workshop up in Northern BC last week where 30 of us built musical instruments out of stuff that most people throw away. I’ll be bringing a bunch of those instruments with me. Oops… I just revealed one of my surprises!

For anyone still on the fence about heading to Harvest Sun (not sure why they would be), what would you say is the best thing and the number one reason to go to the fest?
Harvest Sun has got to be the best family festival of the summer. The music, crafts, and entertainment are always top-notch, but my favourite part is visiting all the friendly folks who attend the event. I’m having the busiest summer of my entire career, and I can hardly wait to come “home” to Kelwood and the Harvest Sun Festival.

Be sure to catch Al Simmons at The Harvest Sun Music Festival in Kelwood, MB - August 16 - 18th. With one week left to go, tickets are still on sale now but they’re going fast! Grab your tickets by MIDNIGHT on August 10th and be entered to win our GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY including gift certificates from local businesses around Clear Lake!

Follow Al Simmons on Facebook, and Instagram.

]]><![CDATA[Artist Spotlight: Parklandia]]>Fri, 09 Aug 2019 01:44:06 GMThttps://www.harvestsunmusicfest.com/on-the-blog/artist-spotlight-parklandia

Our local music scene got a real treat the day Parklandia formed. The Manitoba supergroup is the latest roots music collective made up of Kayla Luky, Marc Clement, Melisa Stefaniw and Ian MacIntosh.

We spoke with Kayla, Marc, and Melisa about what inspired them to play music, working together and the importance of celebrating the local community and homegrown talent.

How did you each get involved in music?
Marc: My mom was one of 16 children living in the country around the Ste. Amilie / Laurier area. Growing up, every family gathering I went to included a "hootenanny" portion filled with guitars, harmonies and mostly country music. These were the seeds that grew into an interest in guitar and singing in my early twenties. Family hoe downs graduated to campfires with friends and eventually performing cover songs in public. It wasn't until later in life that I got into songwriting and exploring my own style of music.
Kayla: Growing up, my mom was always listening to the radio, which was a definite influence. Living in the middle of nowhere allowed my imagination to soar, so I was always creative (which included writing). When I was 12 or so I decided to pick up my mom's old guitar and teach myself how to play. Songwriting came very naturally after that.
Melisa: I started playing the piano when I was 4. I was a terrible student and never learned to site read, so I spent many days with my eyes closed humming melodies until I realized I loved to write lyrics. I was obsessed with Kurt Cobain, and after he died, my parents bought me my first guitar. Songwriting took off from there.

You've kind of created a Manitoba supergroup here! What sparked the idea to create this new band?
Marc: That's nice of you to say! I wouldn't describe ourselves as a new band, but rather more of a collective to bring each of our own songs to folks in a fresh way. We all became really great friends over the last decade or so when Ian started accompanying Melisa. I joined them to form a trio a few years later. I also got to play some shows with Kayla when we teamed up for a mini-tour a couple of years back. We were asked to play as a group for a guitar pull at Poor Michael's Emporium in Onanole in the summer of 2017. It was great fun. I started calling ourselves Parklandia and pitched the idea to Nadia for us to play Harvest Sun under the new banner. The stars have aligned for this year, and I hope we continue to put on more shows together in the future.
Kayla: This was all Marc's idea! I'm just along for the ride. ;)

Melisa: This was all Kayla and Marc's idea. I'm just hauling gear.

How have you managed to meld all your different backgrounds and musical tastes?
Marc: This is an interesting question, especially since we are really playing our own songs. Although our styles are fairly distinct from each other, and we are each a decade apart in age, we are all each other's biggest fans. Playing and singing our songs together is natural and a genuinely good time.

Kayla: For me, it always comes down to the songs. A good song is a good song, so it makes it easy to perform the solid bunch of tunes we have to offer.
Melisa: Respect and a lot of laughter.

What can they expect from Parklandia when they see you at Harvest Sun?
Marc: The folks should expect a great mix of our ballads and rockers, arranged with sweet harmonies and the tasty tones. All of our music combines for a nice combination of roots, country and "Canadiana."
Kayla: The audience will get a good cross-section of songs from each of us - to make you laugh and cry and dance with super hot guitar player Ian MacIntosh laying down the licks.

Why do you think a festival like Harvest Sun is essential especially for Manitoban musicians?
Marc: I love the festival and its loyalty to Manitoba artists. We have all appreciated the opportunity to share our music at this venue for the past few years. There is a rich music scene in Manitoba, and we need festivals like Harvest Sun to showcase it in the beautiful way that it does. Long may you run!

Kayla: Harvest Sun Festival is the real "joie de vivre" in every sense. It's a warm and welcoming opportunity to celebrate community and each other in picturesque Kelwood. Everyone involved and those attending are jolly, and as a performer, I appreciate the support given to Manitoba's own "homegrown.
Melisa: I'd echo Kayla on this one. Kelwood is a sleepy but magical little town. Every time I'm at Harvest Sun, I end up spending many special moments imagining myself growing old there. The festival vibe is always laid back and supportive.

Catch Parklandia when they hit the stage at The Harvest Sun Music Festival in Kelwood, MB - August 16 - 18th. Tickets are still on sale now but they’re going fast!

Tune into the Harvest Sun Instagram on August 11th, when the group takes over our feed and gifts us the glimpse into the world of Parklandia.

Get a taste of what you’ll hear from Kayla Luky and Marc Clement.

]]><![CDATA[Artist Spotlight: Matt Foster]]>Wed, 07 Aug 2019 00:56:34 GMThttps://www.harvestsunmusicfest.com/on-the-blog/artist-spotlight-matt-foster

Raw emotion and the endless opportunities to connect with others are Matt Foster’s favourite aspects of music. At a young age, the singer/songwriter was drawn to the art form simply to explore one of the oldest forms of human communication.

After years of touring the world through different musical projects, Foster has branched into a solo career, where he can further create those meaningful moments with his audience and experiment with his latest songs. Matt spoke with us about the adventure that is collaboration, letting go as a musician and what he appreciated most about music.

How did you get involved in music in the first place?
I almost don’t know how. There’s no real music in my family, but my older brother had maybe taken some guitar lessons so there was a guitar around and I just felt like I wanted to. Maybe sports wasn’t working or something.

Oh yeah, like you just needed a hobby.
Yeah, and my parents are just like any parents trying to put their kids into whatever. I don’t know why I fell in love with it, but it ended up being a way to connect with friends. It was really about people. I learned the guitar in a sort of lonely guitar lesson kind of way. I don’t think I ever really loved it or not, but I knew enough by the time I was 12 or so to be able to make some noise in the basement with my friends. I’ve just been doing it ever since. It’s the connection to others that I think draws me to music.

So when you were learning, did you get formal lessons, or did you teach yourself?
I took weekly guitar lessons for a long time, and I think I learned a lot without actually knowing that I had learned a lot. I was terrible at practicing, but I was interested, so I absorbed it. I didn’t get any good until I started playing with friends in bands. I think the ability to play music sat dormant in me for a long time.

I’ve always been attracted to people with terrible voices, and that sort of bang-and-smash kind of attitude towards music.

Like grungey, I-just-need-to-get-this-out-of-me type.
Yeah, where the emotion and just the drive to do it is just as musical as maybe someone who can sing all the right notes and hit those beautiful melodies.
I hosted an open mic the other day, and I just love seeing people needing to get it out of them. I can relate. I try to be a better guitar player, and I try to become a better singer, but it’s always just about expression and communication and having a feeling and wanting it to explode out of you.

You’ve been playing with The Crooked Brothers, and now you’re going more into the solo realm. Is there anything about going solo that has changed you as a musician?
Every time I’ve put on a concert in the past two years, I’ve been trying to play with a completely different band, which is scary and so challenging. You don’t have the safety net of knowing what it’s going to be like. That’s been exciting. It has taught me a lot about letting go of preconceived ideas of what the concert’s going to be like and trying to embrace the moment.
It’s like trying to put on the same play every night but with a different cast.

Oh yeah. However, I feel like in theatre that would be a complete disaster where music is a bit more freeing.
Yeah, like there’s room. I like to think of the songs I write as little rooms I’ve discovered. I clear away the clutter, and maybe it’s dark in there, but I can feel the walls and discover the space for myself. Then you invite different people into it, and they find their own way of lighting the place up and decorating the room. Then we all create that space together and revisit it with different people over and over again.

That’s a nice way to explain the heart of collaboration, which can be pretty challenging for a lot of people. It’s nice to hear that it’s helping you expand as a person and a musician. On that note, spontaneous collaboration is a big thing at Harvest Sun. Is there anyone on the roster this year that you’re hoping to do something with?
I’m very open to throwing my songs into the dangerous waters of collaboration, but as far as specific people...Do you know who I love so much? Mise En Scene. Those folks are incredible. They have such good energy. I saw them at Festival this year, and I poked at them to see like, ‘would you ever?’ And we laughed about it.

I like music because the energy of it just brings people together, and you do meet people you would never meet otherwise. I’ve traveled all around the world and have met so many beautiful people because of that vibration of strings. It’s such a magical thing to me. I feel open to it, but I don’t want to call anybody out or put anyone on the spot and say let’s collaborate!

Do you have any upcoming projects you want to talk about?
I’m gearing up for a new album, with all this writing that I’ve been doing, and putting things in a little incubator after trying on a thousand different hats. When you record it, all of a sudden it does sort of get crystallized into one final form. After all of this free movement between different actors and players and sounds, I may be paralyzed a little bit by not being able to choose one [version], because I’ve loved the process so much.

What I would say though is I have been playing guitar with Leonard Sumner. I’m not going to pitch my music; I’m going to pitch his [laughs]. He’s a beautiful man, and a beautiful artist, with very important messages and music.

You’ve been playing the festival circuit just in the history of you being a musician, and you’ve been to Harvest Sun, so why do you think it’s so important to have something like this especially in Manitoba?
I think festivals everywhere are just my happy place. They have such a community vibe, and they’re something to look forward to in a place like this where we have such long winters, and very isolating climates and jobs. We are more connected because of the internet, but I also feel like there’s a lot of disconnect and so gatherings, celebrations, eating together and playing music together, and just being able to drop everything for a few days is one of the most important things in our lives and our culture. To celebrate one another and celebrate things that make life beautiful, we can all do that for each other. I think Harvest Sun is a shining example of that.

Catch Matt Foster when he hits the stage at The Harvest Sun Music Festival in Kelwood, MB - August 16 - 18th. Tickets are still on sale now! Grab your tickets by midnight on August 10th and be entered to win our Clear Lake & Harvest Sun GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY!

Tune into the Harvest Sun Instagram on August 8th, as Matt takes over our feed and takes you through some behind-the-scenes action.

]]><![CDATA[Artist Spotlight: Better Than]]>Wed, 07 Aug 2019 00:44:20 GMThttps://www.harvestsunmusicfest.com/on-the-blog/artist-spotlight-better-than

Better Than drummer, Rick Waterman, got his start in music by surprise. After spontaneously receiving a drum set from his parents when he was a kid, he quickly picked up the skills to play and garnered a new fascination with rock ‘n roll.

Fast-forward to 2019, and the band, which also started somewhat randomly, has been gracing crowds with a blend of the best elements in rock ’n roll. We spoke with Rick about his start in music and developing the band’s eventual sound.

When did you first get involved in music?
My parents surprised me with a drum set. There was a band in town, and their drummer had bought a new set and wanted to get rid of his old one. My parents picked it up for pretty cheap and brought it home. They thought I might like to play it. They were right (laughs).

Were you sticking to a specific genre or anything when you were learning?
I listened to what was in my parents’ music collection, so I ended up listening to a lot of different kinds of music. It was a lot of early rock. Then I discovered the radio, and they played good music, so I liked listening to it. When I was a teenager, I started listening to whatever my friends were listening to at the time.

How did the band eventually get together?
It was in a hockey dressing room. We were all sitting around talking, and I said, ‘I just bought a drum set.’ I hadn’t played in a long time, and I wanted to start playing again. One guy, our rhythm guitar player said, ‘I just bought a guitar. I want to learn how to play it. We should get together and jam.’ Then another guy said, ‘well, I can play the bass guitar.’ Then another guy said, ‘I can sing!’ And that was it.

Did you all also have similar musical tastes?
Yeah, for sure. Back when I was young, I was listening to all kinds of music and learning to appreciate a lot of genres, but these guys were pretty set in their ways. They’re a bunch of young guys. They were teenagers in the 90s so they grew up listening to grunge and that’s what they liked.

For those who will be seeing you perform for the first time, what can they expect from your Harvest Sun set?
Well, we’re definitely a rock band, so they will hear rock and roll. They’ll hear a lot of different types and decades of rock and roll: from the 70s, 80s, 90s to current stuff. We play a wide range of stuff, and we all bring something different to the table.

Why do you think a festival like Harvest Sun is essential, especially for Manitoban musicians?
I think it’s just really great to have local, live music. You hear so much of it in electronic forms, but there’s something about getting up on stage that feels free. It just gives me a great feeling to be able to play something and challenge myself that way, learn new things, and be able to share that on stage.

Catch Better Than when they hit the stage at The Harvest Sun Music Festival in Kelwood, MB - August 16 - 18th. Early Bird Tickets are on sale now! 

]]><![CDATA[Artist Spotlight: Rick Neufeld]]>Fri, 02 Aug 2019 00:27:50 GMThttps://www.harvestsunmusicfest.com/on-the-blog/artist-spotlight-rick-neufeld

Rick Neufeld’s story is what movies are made of; fueled by big dreams, world travels, and chance encounters that eventually build up to his remarkable career in the music industry. The singer/songwriter, most famous for writing The Bells hit, “Moody Manitoba Morning,” spoke with us about his start in music, his life-changing trip to Europe, and finding new found fulfillment driving tour buses for some of the world’s biggest acts.

How did you get involved with music in the first place?
Growing up Mennonite and on a farm, it was probably not too likely that I would get into music, but I guess it was just a part of my rebellion. I thought I was going to be an architect, but when I went to school at the University of Manitoba, I saw Simon and Garfunkel there. I got to meet Paul Simon at Memorial Park in the 60s, back when Memorial Park was a hippie hang out. Paul was just sitting there, so I spoke to him and played him some of my songs, and he encouraged me to chase that dream, so I quit university the next Monday and considered myself someone who was going to be making music for a living.

So then you stuck with that and started out playing guitar?
Yeah, that’s all I ever played. I don’t think I ever really got good at it, but from early on, I knew that I wanted to collaborate. I would play at coffee houses and stuff while I was saving up to travel to Europe. After a year of that, I went to Europe. A lot of things happened in sequence while I was there. I had never left Manitoba, and all of a sudden, I was over there with another fellow. We traveled around, and I bought a guitar in Madrid with whatever was left of my money, and that’s when I really started to play every day.

Aside from getting that guitar was there anything else about that trip that motivated you to keep playing?
When Leonard Cohen came out with his album, I related to it because he wasn’t a great singer or guitar player, but he had the most amazing way with words. I wasn’t at any level of being able to do that yet, but I learned every song on that record.

When we were in Rome I was playing that guitar on some Spanish steps, and somebody came up and started singing one of Leonard Cohen’s songs, and it ended up being him! He had been spending a lot of time in Greece and would come to Rome sometimes, and that’s the first time I met him, and that inspired me like crazy.

Further on in that Europe trip, I met a guy who had a car, and we decided to travel with him. He was going to law school in London and was studying music law. His dad was a publisher from Saskatchewan and wrote jingles. When he finally got back to Canada, we went to his place in Montreal. He was very successful as a jingle writer, and I played him some of my songs, and he liked them. He said, ‘we’re going to make a record someday, but right now I’m producing somebody called The Bells. Write me a song, and I’ll get it on their album.’ When I got back to Manitoba I wrote ‘Moody Manitoba Morning,’ and they recorded it. That’s sort of how I broke through.

After a while, I started having anxiety about performing, and I was starting to get really interested in buses. I had been driving the bus for my band then, and Bruce Cockburn decided he wanted to use my bus. He got tired of flying, so I started driving him around and decided the tours were much more fulfilling than me having to go on stage on these little gigs I was doing. I kept writing songs but for the next 35 years and drove buses and worked with just about everybody.

I don’t think I can describe that story any less than epic! You’re just living your life and playing music here and there and meet all of these legendary musicians that helped your career like Leonard Cohen.
Yeah I was playing one of his songs when he happened to be there, and then I saw him again in Montreal, and when he was doing one of his tours. I had enough seniority so I could bid on [driving for] it, and there he was sitting by a dumpster in London, Ontario. He looked up and saw me and remembered me immediately from both of our encounters with each other.

You mentioned you were starting to get anxious about playing on stage.
Yeah, some people have a lot of trouble believing it because once I get up there, I don’t show it, but I had so much anxiety in preparation for concerts that it almost didn’t seem worth it. I mean I had some anxiety in the performance of driving famous people around too, but again once it got going, I always knew what I was doing.

You’re a seasoned performer at Harvest Sun, so how would you describe it for anyone who hasn’t been to it yet?
I’d say pretty much anyone who’s ever gone there, returns the next year and year after that. That’s how it’s grown. They tell somebody, and they tell somebody else so every year it gets a little bit bigger, but it’s not too big, and it’s still quite intimate. As for the music, Nadia, for the most part, promotes local music. It’s not designed to be a huge festival. She’s never booked a Blue Rodeo or anybody that would draw people who may not go to the festival because of the spirit of the festival. It’s really Manitoba music and crafts and farmers. It’s just a quiet, little intimate festival where everybody’s smiling.

Catch Rick Neufeld when he performs with Noof & Zueff at The Harvest Sun Music Festival in Kelwood, MB - August 16 - 18th. Early Bird Tickets are on sale now!

Tune into the Harvest Sun Instagram on August 3rd, as Rick takes over our feed and take you through some behind-the-scenes action.

]]><![CDATA[Artist Spotlight: Mise En Scene]]>Wed, 24 Jul 2019 01:33:48 GMThttps://www.harvestsunmusicfest.com/on-the-blog/july-23rd-2019

From playing big-name festivals throughout North America to performing with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra at Winnipeg’s always grand Canada Day at the Forks, alt-pop group, Mise En Scene has been making some significant strides in music both locally and nationally.
Currently, in the midst of recording their latest full-length record, Stefanie Blondal Johnson and Jodi Dunlop spoke with us about their start in music, and giving Harvest Sun audiences an exclusive sneak peek of their brand new tunes.

How did you both get involved in music and how did Mise En Scene begin?
Stef: Jodi and I were both in Fine Arts School when we started hanging out and painting together. I got into music kind of late in my life. I’m self-taught, and taught myself to sing, how to play guitar and write songs. Jodi played in jazz band in high school and played in a punk rock band growing up. When we were both in art school and started painting together, and we started writing songs together. Then we got out of art school and pursued music.

Did you both come from musical families?
Stef: My family has always appreciated music, and I grew up knowing a lot about the history of rock and roll. I’ve always been a major lover of music, but we didn’t have a family band or anything. I started going towards it because it made me feel good. It made me feel great. It felt like being on this cool creative adventure.

Jodi: For me, growing up in Gimli, during the winter there wasn’t a lot for kids to do there, so I got into music and started a band with my best friends to fill the void during winter. Music was always a huge focus in my life to basically try to get through the winters in Gimli.

Tell me about how you developed your alt-pop-rock sound? You mentioned Jodi, you have some history in high school band, and Stef grew up with rock and roll, so how did you come together with all your musical tastes?
Jodi: I don’t think we ever made a conscious decision of what we were going to sound like. Stef has always written poetry and was always into singer/songwriters but also Led Zeppelin. I liked punk and jazz, and so all of our tastes were all over the place. I think that’s what has helped us stay unique is that we’ve never said, ‘we’re going to be pop, or we’re going to be something,’ we just are what we are, and all of our influences have blended together to help us make what we make.
Stef: That’s totally it. We were never going for a specific sound. We just started playing together, and it’s just what happens when we get together. Our influences are very different but also very similar because we have a very inherent understanding of rhythm and music, and when we’re creating something, it's very easy. We’ve tried working with other people, and it’s not always that easy [laughs]. We’re lucky that it’s been that easy.

Do you think that ease comes from just knowing each other for a long time and knowing each other first on a friend level?
Jodi: I don’t know because we actually became friends as adults and have always played music together. We formed our friendship on music.
Stef: Yeah, music, and art. It wasn’t too long after [we met] where we just start playing music together, and all of a sudden we're like, ‘oh! I like that. I like what we’re doing.’ It was different from what Jodi was doing with her other band at the time. It was different from what I was doing with my music at the time. We just kept making little art and music dates. I think we became such good friends because we speak the same creative language. It’s really easy for us to understand each other in other aspects of life because we understand each other creatively.

You’ve been pretty busy after releasing your last album, Still Life on Fire. Can we talk about some of your career highlights since then?
Stef: One of our biggest dreams that ever came true was playing with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra for Canada Day at the Forks. That was something that was on Jodi and my bucket lists for such a long time. It was just amazing to hear our original work put to the symphony in front of thousands and thousands of people. It was probably the most surreal moment.

So where do you go from there? That’s such a huge thing.
Stef: Oh yeah! It’s a huge thing as far as some of our local Manitoba goals, but we’ve also gone to SXSW in Austin, Texas and that’s a very prestigious tastemaking festival. We ended up playing for the editor of Rolling Stone magazine, which is really cool, but it keeps just getting better and better. We’ve been so lucky with our experiences. We have a lot of great people who believe in us, and our team is really great.
We’re right in the middle of recording. We’re trying to keep it chill, in terms of our performances. Harvest Sun is the only festival we’re doing this summer because we are so busy recording and getting all of our content ready. What’s really exciting is the crowd at Harvest Sun is going to get some new material. We’re going to be playing some of our bangers from before, but we’re going to be playing some new stuff, and we’re really excited to be presenting it to you guys.

Something that’s a known tradition at Harvest Sun is impromptu on stage, collaborations. Is there anyone playing this year that you’d want to do something with?
Jodi: The Veneer girls are going to be there, and we’re friends with them, so that might be cool. Stef and I don’t get to collaborate a lot, but we wouldn’t complain if one of them came on; also Matt Foster is going to be there. And also, Eric Rogers from Slow Spirit if he brought his sax.

Stef: Oh my god! Bring me a saxophone any day of the week. I want more saxophone in my life, so that would be cool.

Catch Mise En Scene at The Harvest Sun Music Festival in Kelwood, MB - August 16 - 18th. Early Bird Tickets are on sale now!

Follow Mise En Scene on Facebook and Instagram. Tune into the Harvest Sun Instagram on July 26th, as the ladies take over our feed and take you through some behind-the-scenes action.

]]><![CDATA[Artist Spotlight: Ego Spank]]>Wed, 10 Jul 2019 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.harvestsunmusicfest.com/on-the-blog/artist-spotlight-ego-spank

Melding a laid-back, go-with-groove vibe and their collective love for jazz and funk, Ego Spank wows their audiences with danceable tunes and a performance full of laughs.

The guys in the band have played together for over 20 years, and throughout have built a solid brotherhood both on-stage and off.

We spoke with Murray Pulver and Gilles Fournier about the group’s history, their expertise in musical improvisation and all the fun they have on stage.

Can you go into how you got into music and how the band eventually came to be?
MP: My parents had a band, and they would practice in the basement, and so music was always in the house. One day their guitar player couldn’t make a gig, and my parents didn’t know what to do. He said to them, ‘oh, get Murray to do it, he probably knows all the songs already anyways,’ from there it just morphed. By listening and getting interested in music, I started playing with my parents’ band. Then I went to college for music and then took a million different gigs and ended up getting to do some pretty decent and higher profile gigs; got to tour the world with the Crash Test Dummies, and then later on with Doc Walker. Through all of that I’d always play with the guys in Ego Spank. It’s a bit of a brotherhood. Through all my musical journeys, from the time I was 21 years old, I’ve played with some form of this band.

GF: I grew up in a relatively musical family. My mom played piano and the organ, and both my parents were very involved in choirs. We participated in a lot of choirs when we were very young. I started getting involved in playing bass when I was about 12 years old, playing electric bass and playing rock and roll.

Did you guys grow up together, and that’s how the band started jamming and stuff?
MP: No just in our twenties we started. We’re all older. For the last 20-something years we’ve played together.

Oh wow, that’s a long time. Most bands don’t make it past ten years.
MP: Yeah, it’s probably because we don’t take ourselves very seriously.

Oh yeah, I guess in your other bands, because they were higher profile it was more like, ‘this is a job, we have to present ourselves a certain way.’
MP: Well yeah, [Ego Spank] always felt like a great musical escape. We all love playing with each other and hanging out together, and it’s just been purely of the joy of being together and making music. Whatever comes out, comes out. It’s different every night.
For me, Ego Spank is about that spontaneous creativity. It’s pretty exciting for me to play music with these guys because it’s about communicating in a different way which you don’t get to do when you’re in a little more of a strict musical environment.

You play a bit of a jazzy-funk hybrid. Did you all come from that sort of musical background?
MP: I think we all love that kind of music and didn’t get a whole lot of other opportunities to do it in other situations. When we get together, it just seems like, it’s never really a forced thing. Whenever we would start jamming an idea, it would just take that sort of direction. And improvisation is just apart of everybody’s vocabulary. It’s a great vehicle to have. It’s almost like organized chaos.

GF: We all dig playing this funky R&B stuff as individuals, and even as the group, that’s the direction we all kind of unconsciously and consciously wanted to go. We also like to add on a lot of twists and turns to all of the tunes whenever we do covers.

You’ve been a band for a while now, what are some of your favourite career highlights so far?
MP: Believe it or not, the highlights with this band, rather than milestones is when we’re playing a certain festival or something that we’ve wanted to do, it’s always been about living for a certain moment where there’s a musical high (laughs). As dreamy as that sounds, my favourite times have been playing the Bella Vista Pizzeria; it’s this little restaurant, and there were maybe 15 people there. We play for ourselves quite often, which sounds weird because we are out to be entertainers, but when you reach certain musical heights in a performance, it doesn’t matter, there could be two people there or 2000, it’s a pretty exciting moment and not something that happens for all of us all the time.

A lot of surprise collaborations and appearances happen at Harvest Sun, so who would be the most excited to have jump on your set that weekend?
MP: We played a show with Al Simmons, as one of our ‘Ego Spank presents’ shows and talk about never being the same twice. That guy lights up the stage and lights up the audience like no other. I look forward to any time I get to share the stage with Al because he’s just so unpredictable and exciting. I think he would be the ultimate collaborator.

For people who will be seeing you perform for the first time, what can they expect from your Harvest Sun set?
MP: They can pretty much expect a good time. They can expect to dance. We’re also known for comedic excellence (laughs), or so we like to think — hopefully, just a great musical night. I believe we are a band where people can dance to and lose their inhibitions for a little while.

You’ve played Harvest Sun before, and knowing what you know from that experience, why do you think Harvest Sun is essential to Manitoba, especially in rural areas?
MP: I’m from Portage La Prairie originally, and so that’s an area of Manitoba I know the least about. The people are fantastic. It seems like a big, vibrant music community and it’s unique. It seems somewhat isolated, but the people are just so fantastic, and they really know how to put on such a fantastic festival. They cultivate creativity and freedom. It just seems like such a heart-warming festival.
GF: I think any festival in a Provincial sense, is essential, and especially one that has depth to it and promotes good quality music and has a good humanistic message of just trying to have fun and enriching the soul. [Harvest Sun] is good because it’s not too big, it’s not too small. I’ve always had a great experience. I got to meet everybody and the staff who run it. They’re all good people. You’re just welcomed when you’re there.

Catch at Ego Spank at The Harvest Sun Music Festival in Kelwood, MB - August 16 -18th.

Follow Ego Spank through their website.

Be sure to check out @harvestsunmusicfest on Instagram on June 14th, as the band takes over our account for the day!

]]><![CDATA[Artist Spotlight: Double The Trouble]]>Tue, 09 Jul 2019 00:58:57 GMThttps://www.harvestsunmusicfest.com/on-the-blog/artist-spotlight-double-the-trouble1715548

Twin fiddlers Double The Trouble, made their Harvest Sun debut last year and awed audiences into requesting an encore. The group captivated the crowd playing a plethora of classic fiddle tunes and their unique twist on new hits, solidifying their spot as one of last year’s fan-favourites.

The group has spent the first half of the year traveling around the country continuing to wow audiences. We spoke with Luc, Aidan, and Rob Wrigley, about their busy year, the joys of writing music and what they look forward to the most at Harvest Sun.

Can you talk a bit about how you have been evolving in your style of fiddling?
Rob: We have been writing a bit more original music. Our latest song is a collaboration the three of us put together, called “Mémoire.” I wrote the music, and the boys wrote the lyrics in French. We’ve been continuing to learn new songs we enjoy. The boys are always picking up new tunes. I came home the other day, and they had both worked out different parts of the Game Of Thrones theme song, which is pretty cool. It’s a popular new song we’ve been playing. We’re also thinking about doing another album, so we’re just continuing to write some new music for that.

What’s been your favourite parts of learning older songs and putting your spin on it as well as now writing original music?
Luc: It’s the customization. When it’s our own, we can always change something that we don’t like or if there’s something we just want to change we can because it’s our song. For covers, we can do something different, add some fiddles to the songs, and different customization choices.
Rob: I think what’s neat about making your own music is there’s really no rules. We can always adjust things if things aren’t fitting right. As the boys get older, we’ve had to lower the key of some of our original songs because they’ve been having some trouble singing the higher keys. And it’s fun to experiment and explore, especially when it’s your own music.

You guys have been pretty busy this year doing some shows across Canada. What have you been up to since last Harvest Sun?
Aidan: We got the chance to go to British Columbia and Vancouver Island to play Nanaimo, so that was pretty fun. It was for the Maple Sugar Festival du Sucre d'Erable, and then we got to play a bunch of other events that were going on on the island.

Rob: We’re heading up to Rankin Inlet in September, so that’ll be a big adventure in Nunavut to perform for the community and we’re just looking forward to a fun summer playing Harvest Sun. We’re also doing the Ukrainian Festival in Dauphin.

You played Harvest Sun for the first time last year. What are some of your favourite highlights?
Rob: It was a really great experience because we were scheduled to do a tweener set, but it was a longer tweener. Just before the set, I was looking at the stage I realized that there weren't going to be enough inputs for what we need to do. I ended up talking to the sound guys, and they were able to arrange it so we could go up on the main stage. That was pretty exciting. It really amped up our performance and was very memorable for us. The audience really seemed to enjoy it.
Aidan: We got some very positive feedback, we’re hoping we get that again this year.

Oh, I definitely think you will. I remember last year the audience asked you to play longer.
Rob: Yeah! I think we ended up getting an encore and got to play a few extra tunes. It was a really special show for us and a highlight and definitely one of the best moments of last summer for sure.

At the festival, it’s a very common thing for other artists to jump in on each other’s sets and do surprise collaborations. Who on this year’s roster, would you be so happy to do one of those improvised sets with?
Rob: I think the list looks really good and it’ll be a great festival for everybody. It would be great to get up and do a collaboration with anybody.
There’s another fiddler on the roster as well, Patti Kusturok, so that might be a good one!
Rob: That would be a great idea. She’s known the boys since they were little. They used to do the fiddling and jigging contests at Festival Du Voyageur when the boys were about four years old. They were in the jigging contest, and Patti was fiddling for them.

What would you say are the best things about the Harvest Sun Music Fest?
Aidan: I think the best part for me, is when you start playing, and you just see people’s faces light up; when they hear you play a song they recognize and they just really enjoy you playing for them.

Rob: The festival just gives off a really special feeling. Everything is just so close together, and you feel a real connection with the audience. It’s fun to just walk around, and everyone is very receptive afterward, so that’s pretty cool.

Catch at Double The Trouble The Harvest Sun Music Festival in Kelwood, MB - August 16 -18th.
Follow Double The Trouble on Facebook, on their website, and Instagram.
Be sure to check out @harvestsunmusicfest on Instagram on July 10th, as the group takes over our account for the day!

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