The Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival announced today the four finalists that will compete to be Harvest’s 2016 Stingray Rising Star. This competition is presented by the Festival and Stingray—Canada’s favourite continuous music network—and offers up-and-coming musicians a chance for local, provincial and national exposure.

This year’s Stingray Rising Star Finalists are CHIPS (Fredericton, NB), Kenny James (Sackville, NB), Math Class (Saint John, NB) and Tortue (Fredericton, NB). Online voting is now open;  http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/3027483/Harvest-Jazz-amp-Blues-Festival

As part of Harvest’s commitment to the development of local talent, the Rising Star Showcase will take place on Friday, September 16th at 2pm in the Stingray Music Barracks Tent. Each of the four finalists will perform and be judged on talent, originality and stage presence by a panel of music industry experts. A pre-event online voting campaign will take place and votes will also be taken from members of the audience that afternoon, so participants are encouraged to bring out family and friends for support. The panel of industry judges will comprise 50% of the final vote tally and the audience and online voting will represent the remaining 50%. In the event of a tie, the choice of the industry judges will prevail.

“Harvest places a great deal of important on the role the festival plays in supporting the growth of the New Brunswick music scene and we’re proud to present the Stingray Rising Stars Showcase once again to our Festival audiences for the 15^th year,” says Brent Staeben, Music Director “Come out on September 16^th and catch these great emerging New Brunswick acts”.

Past winners of the prestigious title include Ross Neilsen, Keith Hallett, Andy Brown and Matt Andersen – whose band Flat Top were Harvest’s very first Rising Stars in 2001.

These four finalists represent the high calibre of New Brunswick’s music industry, spanning a diverse range of genres.

The winner—who will be announced immediately following the competition at 4:15PM on Friday, September 16^th —will receive $2000 donated by Stingray and the Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival. The winning band will also open Friday’s show in the Stingray Barracks Tent with Stephen Lewis & After Funk.

More about each finalist (alphabetically):

CHIPS

Fredericton, NB

Fredericton has become an integral melting pot for east coast music, and CHIPS are no exception to this. CHIPS includes five members who all hail from different corners of New Brunswick, and different sectors of the Fredericton music scene. Kyle Albright, Luke Bailey, Aaron Bravener, Adam Guidry, and Lance McNeill have been all contributing to the local music scene for almost a decade. Reminiscent of HUNGRY HEARTS, BELLE COMEDIANS, OH NO THEODORE, and THE RAY FINKLES are all represented, stretching the influences across numerous genres. CHIPS delivers a fast, melodic, sing-a-long, and dance-driven approach to punk rock. You’re going to feel like moshing, singing, and dancing at the same time.

Kenny James

Sackville, NB

Kenny James brings a twist to rootsy traditional country music and mixes in folk, pop, rockabilly and rock influences from some of the great songwriters from Elliott Smith to Steve Earle to Hank Williams. The music takes unexpected turns, just when you thought you’ve heard it before, it shifts into a new gear. It’s definitely a new take on a retro sound. Catchy hooks, dark and intriguing lyrics, stories about life and death.

Math Class

Saint John, NB

Math Class, Saint John’s newest instrumental DancePunk band began their debut early 2016. Since then they have shared the stage with After Funk, Earthbound Trio, The Brood, and The Barrowdowns to name a few. They have also made their way through a few of New Brunswick’s beloved festivals such as Midsummer Madness, Collaborate & Listen, and FEELS GOOD Folly Fest. They will be doing their first tour fall of 2016.

Tortue

Fredericton, NB

Tortue is a rock band from Fredericton New Brunswick. Their main influences come from the progressive sound of Rush, the desert sludge of Queens of the Stone Age, the energy of emo revival bands Snowing and Algernon Cadwallader, with hints of jazz-fusion and everything in between. Beginning as a project between two friends at a young age, Tortue has produced several EP’s over the years and played many shows and festivals around the greater New Brunswick area. Between multiple line-up changes, current members include Aidan Bullock on guitar and vocals, Matthew Blanchard on drums and Connor MacAulay on bass guitar.

The Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival today announced that it has added blistering Los Angeles buzz band Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real to its 2016 edition. The group will take a break from preparations for their September 17 appearance at Farm Aid, to headline Harvest on Wednesday September 14, replacing Blackberry Smoke, who cancelled their appearance last week as a result of immigration complications due to legal issues.

Nelson began his musical career at a young age, touring with his father, country music icon Willie Nelson. After relocating from Hawaii in 2007 to attend college in Los Angeles, Nelson met drummer Anthony LoGerfo at a Neil Young concert, creating Promise of the Real and forging a rebellious blues sound all their own. The band has been thrust into the North American spotlight across two coveted full length albums, international dates on their own and with BB King and John Fogerty, as well as stops at virtually every late night show on television. This has also led to a remarkable collaboration between Promise of the Real and Neil Young, who recruited them as his full-time backing band, both live and in studio. Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real will make their Fredericton debut supported by Ross Neilsen, before joining Young and the elder Nelson at Farm Aid on September 17.

“Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real’s mix of blues, country, roots and straight-up rock marks the perfect replacement for Blackberry Smoke, and like Drive by Truckers and others, reinforces our desire to present exceptional new talent that our fans have been yearning to see at Harvest,” said Festival Programming Director, Brent Staeben. “Lukas’ remarkable musical pedigree and his current partnership with Neil Young speak for itself, but it’s the energy and passion in the band’s live show that truly grabs you,” he said. “We’re especially proud to be able to secure Lukas for Harvest fans, given his commitments that week to Neil Young and his father Willie.”

Along with the excitement of signing Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Harvest will still honor refunds for individual tickets and the Wednesday/Thursday Nightly Pass. Refunds will be available at point of purchase starting this Tuesday August 2^nd at 9am (AST) through to Monday August 22^nd.

The Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival is Atlantic Canada’s largest annual music festival, drawing up to 85,000 fans to the streets of Fredericton each September. Drive-By Truckers, Robert Cray, Metric, The Sheepdogs and more will headline the 26^th annual Festival this September 13-18.

The Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival today announced that Blackberry Smoke has cancelled its Wednesday September 14 appearance at the Festival, regarding recent challenges with getting band members into Canada due to legal issues. Arrangements are under way to secure a replacement headliner for the show, which will still include New Brunswick’s Ross Neilsen.

“We’re sad for all of us fans of Blackberry Smoke, who were looking forward to another great show from the band,” said Festival Programming Director, Brent Staeben. “We started working immediately to find the best possible replacement to keep the party going on Harvest Wednesday night. We’ve been here before and our patrons know that they can expect an excellent replacement.”

While refunds for individual tickets and the Wednesday/Thursday Nightly Pass will be available at point of purchase starting Tuesday August 2^nd at 9am, the Festival is asking patrons to consider waiting for the announcement of the replacement headliner before deciding to seek a refund.

“We ask for everyone’s patience now, as we work to secure this new headliner,” said Staeben. “We expect to hear an announcement on this in the next week or two at the latest,” he said.

Applications are now closed. This competition is presented by the Festival and Stingray Music—Canada’s favorite continuous music network—and offers up-and-coming musicians a chance for local, provincial and national exposure. New this year, two Fredericton based artists and two non-Fredericton based artists will be selected to compete in the showcase on Friday afternoon, September 16th.

Fredericton-based artists can apply here for a chance to appear at our Emerging Artist Showcase at The Capital Complex on September 2-3. This fantastic new event will highlight a wide array of local talent. Combining public voting and our panel of judges, two Fredericton-based bands will advance to the Rising Star Competition on Friday 16 September, while four additional bands will win slots on Harvest’s Fredericton’s Own Stage. The event will also feature workshop sessions for all entrants, as well as several exciting door prizes.

New Brunswick-based acts from outside Fredericton can apply here to be part of our Stingray Music Rising Star Competition on Friday 16 September. Two finalists will be chosen. To enter, 50% of your band members must be from New Brunswick, or have been living here since January 1, 2016.

The winner of Harvest’s Stingray Music Rising Star Competition on Friday 16 September will receive a prize package including a generous bursary and an opening slot on the Stephen Lewis & After Funk and Roxy & The Underground Soul Sound bill later that night. Both applications are open until July 24, 2016. Please contact Harvest’s Production Coordinator Brendan MaGee at brendan@harvestjazzandblues.com with any questions.

Submissions for busking and street vending at the 2016 Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival are now closed.