Donnacona Blues Festival 2019 Guide

Short descriptions of all shows happening at Donnacona Blues Festival, from Wednesday August 7 until Sunday, Aug 11, inclusive. Donnacona is a town located about 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Quebec City in Portneuf County, Quebec, Canada. While there is not an abundance of hotel and/or motel rooms available, there is a campground right beside the main stage, mostly used by trailer and campers, and a few tents. The main stage is located at the end of a large field in a park and is covered by an enormous tent in case of bad weather. There are food and drink vendors on site as well as toilets and other facilities. The 2019 edition of the festival will be the 14th.

Very popular in their native Quebec, this tribute band to Stevie Ray Vaughan has played many of Quebec and Ontario’s well known music events, including the Quebec City Summer Festival, the Lac-Leamy Casino (Gatineau), the World Beer Festival in Saguenay, the Edmundston (New Brunswick) Jazz and Blues Festival, the Limestone City Blues Festival in Kingston (Ontario), and the Lévis Jazz Festival. Sure to be a great evening to open this festival.

Whether he’s performing solo or fronting his group, MonkeyJunk, or as he has been doing lately, duets with Harry Manx, Steve Marriner is a powerhouse. He’s a multi-instrumentalist who gained notoriety as a harmonica player and singer. His music blends roots, soul and blues to deliver songs with great depth, grounded in authenticity. Marriner has graced top festival and club stages throughout Canada, the U.S, Europe and Australia to great critical and fan acclaim. Winner of Maple Blues Harmonica Player of the Year six times, Maple Blues Male Vocalist of the Year, and two Juno awards with Monkeyjunk so far, his is a show you want to see.

JP Soars was nominated for “Blues Rock Artist of the Year” at the 40th annual Blues Music Awards in 2019, alongside blues music heavyweights Billy Gibbons, Eric Gales, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and Tinsley Ellis. Winner of 1st place in the Blues Foundation’s 2009 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN with his band the Red Hots (and the prestigious Albert King Award as best guitarist), he was at one time early in his career a heavy metal guitarist, and toured with metal bands, before turning to the blues. As well as having his own band, JP also is a member, with his Red Hots drummer Chris Peet, Damon Fowler and Victor Wainwright, of the band Southern Hospitality.

The Hammond organ is an all-too-often overlooked instrument in the blues, relegated to the guitar and the harp’s shadows. Lachy Doley is rectifying that injustice. He first caught the world’s attention when his “Stop Listening to the Blues” video went viral on Facebook. It now has more than 4.3 million views. The celebrated blues-soul-rock organ player has been called the Jimi Hendrix of Hammond. Like the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Lachy Doley Group is a power trio, augmented by drummer Andrew Lamarche and bassist Joel Burton.

This quartet from Quebec City was formed a dozen years ago. These musicians excel in blues/rock, funk, and classic rock. Michel Morency (bass and vocals), Pierre Tessier (sax and vocals), Pierre Lessard (guitar and vocals) and Gilles Potvin (drums) have performed in the Quebec City area with great success.

For almost 20 years, guitarist-harmonicist Little Leslie has been playing the great classics of Blues in an atmosphere reminiscent of the juke joints of the 1950s. From Little Walter to Kim Wilson through to John Lee Hooker, Ray Charles and Louis Armstrong, he delivers a repertoire strongly rooted in tradition, while leaving room for improvisation and novelty. A rare but familiar sound that perfectly matches the rhythms of the Mississippi Delta, the power of the Chicago Blues and the jazz and swing sounds of New Orleans.

Ottawa area native, now living in Austin, Texas, Sue Foley won the Maple Blues Guitar Player award this year, and fully deserved it. A dynamic stage presence, superb guitarist, and great vocalist, Sue can convey the emotion in her music as well as, if not better than, anybody else. Amongst her awards and nominations, in 2001, Sue won a JUNO Award for her CD, “Love Coming Down”, and was nominated again in 2019 for Best Blues album for her latest release, “Ice Queen”. She has also earned 17 Maple Blues Awards and three Trophées de Blues de France. As well, she has garnered several nominations at the International Blues Music Awards in Memphis, Tennessee.

Earlier this year, Nick Moss, a 30-year veteran of Chicago’s take-no-prisoners rough and tumble West and South Side blues clubs, won the Blues Music Award (BMA) for Traditional Blues Male Artist of The Year. Dennis Gruenling, one of the hottest players on the scene today, took the BMA for Best Instrumentalist - Harmonica. Together since 2016, they have one album out, The High Cost of Low Living, and have a second one coming out on August 9, Lucky Guy. The Nick Moss Band featuring Dennis Gruenling has been playing for wildly enthusiastic fans and winning over critics and radio programmers worldwide. Debuting at #3 on the Billboard Blues Chart, the album topped many 2018 “Best Of” lists. UK tastemaker magazine Mojo said, “Guitarist and singer Nick Moss shows the world his fearsome guitar chops and his complete familiarity with the great tradition of Chicago blues music. Partnered with harmonica-player Dennis Gruenling, Moss creates a two-headed monster that takes the band thundering through crisp originals.”

It all starts with the Blues, add some Rockabilly attitude, and Riot and the Blues Devils will grab your attention in all of their recordings and live performances. They like to call it their special blend of Blues-a-billy! Riot and the Blues Devils is a three piece combo of experienced musicians : Riot on lead vocals and guitars, Big Papa Mike on bass and vocals, and Mark DiClaudio on drums and vocals. Another popular Quebec based band.

Grounded in the blues, Fuel Junkie is also strongly influenced by funk and soul music. The combination of a classic trio with three saxophones gives the band its unique identity that stands out on the blues scene. Creative interaction between the band members during solo sections make way for unexpected and standout moments at every concert. The group is known by its fans for the constant flow of energy and authenticity during every performance. Passionate about the blues at a very young age, Mark LeClerc founded the group with close friends met during his music studies at Cégep St-Laurent and Université de Montréal. Singer and composer of the band, he came up with the idea of a saxophone section brought to the spotlight by modern arrangements. This band plays mostly originals, with only an occasional well-done cover thrown into the mix.

The internationally renowned Slam Allen is a messenger of love. This dynamic entertainer uses the genres of Blues, Soul, R&B, and a touch of Rock and Roll to deliver powerful soul stirring performances! Slam captures you with a voice that echoes Otis Redding, a guitar that immerses you in B.B. King, and stage energy reminiscent of James Brown, all the while captivating you with his own original music! Today, with 6 albums to his credit, Slam Allen crisscrosses the globe playing festivals from Argentina to New York, from Italy to Florida, from Switzerland to Chicago, and beyond.

Bywater Call, formerly Bywater Blues, is a seven-piece band led by the raw, powerful vocals of Meghan Parnell and the soulful slide guitar of Dave Barnes that harnesses the sounds of southern soul, blues and gospel. The band won the 2017 Merriam Music Emerging Artist Award, the 2017 TD Oakville Songs of Summer Festival Emerging Artist and the 2018 Toronto Blues Society Talent Search. Lead singer Meghan Parnell recently recorded a cover of Faye Adams’ Shake A Hand with Bill King and his band. The recording has been picked up by over 140 international blues and jazz radio stations and by CBC syndication for morning shows across the country.

As a founding member of the critically acclaimed progressive roots outfit Moreland and Arbuckle, vocalist/harmonica player Dustin Arbuckle has been working hard on the road for over a decade. After 15 years, 7 albums, and hundreds of shows across 23 countries, Moreland & Arbuckle have chosen to amicably go their separate ways. Arbuckle is eager to take to stages with The Damnations. “This is a time to shake things up a bit and see what comes out,” he says. “The direction the music will go in isn’t set in stone and that’s a cool place to be at the moment.” He adds that he hopes to record with a version of the group in the near future. “I think this will open new possibilities for songwriting too,” he says. “It feels like anything could happen.” During his visit to Donnacona, we will have the pleasure of seeing in his company on the stage none other than Mike Morgan, one of the most famous blues/rock guitarist’s in the United States.

Bryan Lee and The Six Strings Therapy Band - 17:00 - Scène Principal

During the 1990’s, Bryan and the Jump Street Five Band initiated a long recording deal with Justin Time Records from Montreal, Quebec, Canada.The collaboration and Lee’s individual sets would take him to recording 13 albums over two decades. After the closing of The Old Absinthe House and the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans, Bryan formed a new band and hit the road. Starting over with Brent Johnson on guitar and John Perkins on drums, Bryan Lee and The Blues Power Band started touring all over the world. In 2010; Bryan was nominated for a Grammy Award for his work on “Live! In Chicago” with Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Friends and won a BMA for Best Rock Blues Album for the same album.

Winner of Best Guitarist at the 2017 European Blues Awards, Erja is from Finland. Since first entering a recording studio some 15 years ago, singer/guitarist Erja Lyytinen has become a bona fide star in her homeland and a fixture on the international music scene. In that time, “the Finnish slide goddess” (The Blues Magazine) has recorded in places as diverse as Helsinki, London and Memphis, earning numerous accolades along the way. Rooted in both traditional and modern blues, she successfully blends styles like jazz, pop, soul and rock into a sound all her own.

Second place finishers in the Band category at the 2016 International Blues Challenge, Montreal based PDB has just released a new album, “Bounce”, which they are now on a world tour to promote. Always a great live show, guitarist/vocalist Paul DesLauriers has won Maple Blues Guitarist of the Year, the band has won the Maple Blues Entertainer of the Year twice, and Electric Act of the Year once, and drummer Sam Harrisson has won the Maple Blues Drummer of the Year. The wonderful Nanette Workman will join the band for the night that you don’t want to miss!

Dustin Arbuckle will be performing the after-fest closing party at Pub Doolys.