Buenrostro was formed in 2010 in San Pedro Atocpan, on Mexico City’s southern edge. These six musicians take traditional Mexican music as the axis of creation, and flow from there between genres and time periods. You may hear a ranchera song with rock riffs, a Cardenche song with blues tinges, progressive rock mixed with son calentano from the Tierra Caliente region, or a punk merengue. These styles form the soundtrack to a show full of theatricality. Buenrostro beautifully addresses humanity’s impact on the planet with upcycled garments and stage scenery made of recycled bottles and clothing, integrating characters inspired by world cultural traditions.
Leeroy Stagger
It’s said the cells in your body replace themselves every decade or so. After 11 albums, two EPs and 17 years as a singer-songwriter, Victoria-based Leeroy Stagger has been wondering if maybe the soul works the same way. Ten years sober, with two kids, he’s far removed from the hard-living twenty-something who started on this musical path. Now, Leeroy’s roots rock bears the mark of a seasoned songwriter with punk rock origins and Americana influences, whose latest album Strange Path covers topics from environmentalism to alcoholism, from break-ups to race wars.
Curley Taylor & Zydeco Trouble
Louisiana native Curley Taylor has been around music all of his life. Born into a musical family, drums were Curley’s first instrument. Curley began his professional career at age 16 by playing drums in his father’s band, Jude Taylor and the Burning Flames, a band deep in Louisiana Blues, Soul and Zydeco.
Barney Bentall
Barney and his band, The Legendary Hearts, recorded and toured extensively in Canada through the late ‘80s and ‘90s. They sold over a half a million records, won a Juno, and were a staple on Canadian radio. In 2000, Barney traded in his rock and roll life for that of a cattle rancher in the Cariboo region of central British Columbia, deciding to step away from the music business treadmill, put some blisters on his fingers, and tour less frequently.
Qairo
Qairo is a fiery and dynamic ensemble that combines the emotional charged vocals and pulsing rhythms of flamenco with the infectious melodies and ear-popping tonalities of the Mediterranean diaspora. From Spain to Turkey (with stops along the way), Qairo is music for dancing — no matter where you’re from. It’s Turkish micro-tones played on a saxophone, original flamenco verses “sung” by a clarinet, Balkan rhythms punctuated by Andalucian guitar, and flamenco footwork pounded out like improvised jazz. Qairo is guitar, oud, clarinet, saxophone, drums, electric bass, cante (flamenco song) and baile (flamenco dance) acting like they belong on stage together — and pulling it off.
