Iconic Canadian performers Bruce Cockburn, Martha Wainwright and Sloan will each make their Harvest debut during the festival’s 27th edition, this September 12-17th in Fredericton, NB. These performers join already announced headliners including fellow Canadian Colin James and American artists Steve Earle & the Dukes, The Revivalists, Lettuce and The Marcus King Band. Tickets to all shows go on sale May 11th at 11:00AM (AST).
“Cockburn, Wainright and Sloan are some of the most recognizable names in the storied history of Canadian music and we are finally getting the chance to present these iconic performers during the Festival” said Brent Staeben, Programming Director. “These are bucket-list performers for us and for many Festival patrons, and now there’s yet another reason to wish away our time, pining for mid September to come.”
One of Canada’s finest artists, Bruce Cockburn has enjoyed an illustrious career shaped by politics, spirituality, and musical diversity. His remarkable journey has seen him embrace folk, jazz, rock, and worldbeat styles, and writing memorable songs about his ever-expanding world of wonders. That scratching and pulling has earned Cockburn high praise as an exceptional songwriter and a revered guitarist. His songs of romance, protest, and spiritual discovery are among the best to have emerged from Canada over the last 40 years. And he remains deeply respected for his activism on issues from native rights and land mines to the environment and Third World debt, working for organizations such as Oxfam, Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, and Friends of the Earth. For his many achievements, the Ottawa-born artist has been honoured with 12 Juno Awards, an induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award, and has been made an Officer of the Order of Canada. Cockburn will be supported by Canadian roots rocker Terra Lightfoot from Waterdown, Ontario.
With an undeniable voice and an arsenal of powerful songs, Martha Wainwright is a beguiling performer and a refreshingly different force in music. Martha began building a buzz with her well-noted EPs, prior to her 2005 critically and commercially successful self-titled, debut LP. Now, four years later, ‘Goodnight City’ is poised to be her best record, returning to the rawness of her first release and including songs written by notable artists such as Beth Orton, Glen Hansard, her brother Rufus Wainwright, Michael Ondaatje, and Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs. Waintwright is the daughter of folk legends Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle. Martha tours her music around the world to sold out audiences on several continents.
Sloan is comprised of four distinct songwriting voices, guitarists Patrick Pentland and Jay Ferguson, bassist Chris Murphy and drummer Andrew Scott. The cohesive collective are self proclaimed Toronto scenesters who will always call Halifax home. Their back catalogue uniquely appeals to Much Music and rock-radio regulars, while the group maintains strong ties to their indie roots via their own label murderecords. They’re Money-City Maniacs who have a soft spot for sweet sugar tunes, and instead of coasting on their cred, continue to challenge themselves with each record.
The Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival is Atlantic Canada’s largest annual music festival, drawing up to 85,000 fans to the streets of Fredericton each September. Bruce Cockburn, Martha Wainwright, Sloan, Terra Lightfoot and more will perform at the 27th annual edition of the festival this September 12-17.
