World Music & Arts Festival

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.

Take the name Kitty and the Rooster, and combine it with the fact guitarist Noah Walker and drummer Jodie Ponto wear chicken and cat masks in their promo shots, and one might expect a barnyard version of Slipknot. Wrong. Because those things can be sweaty under stage lights, the masks tend to come off quickly as the duo unleashes a retro-spectacular sound that slots in nicely with Southern Culture on the Skids, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, and the Reverend Horton Heat.

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.

Their style is heavily influenced by the Latin music genres of cumbia and, increasingly, salsa. The band’s incorporation of dissonant tones, eerie atmospherics, and haunting guitar leads are stylistic signifiers of their ‘spooky’ undertone that blends into their psychedelic sound. I begin our interview by asking about a recurring ad-lib that shows up in their performances.”

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.