World Music & Arts Festival

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.

The North Shore Celtic Ensemble has a dual mandate: to inspire youth to do more and go further with music, and to use music to build and strengthen community connections. What started in 1998 with a Celtic focus is now a spirited, no-boundaries exploration of various styles that inspire the group’s players. The result is a full-spectrum music experience that defies labels and spans conventional genres. Original compositions draw on Celtic, classical, jazz and folk influences, and are blended with creative arrangements of more traditional Celtic tunes. The North Shore Celtic Ensemble have released seven CDs, and has toured across North America, Europe, and China, performed regularly for local concerts and festivals, and has supported a number of charitable programs through their Community Concert Series. More than just a performing group, the North Shore Celtic Ensemble is a meeting place for youth to explore and share music, and is led by fiddler Gabriel Dubreuil (Early Spirit, Collage Trad).

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.