Sudbury's Northern Lights Festival has released its lineup and it includes Buffy Sainte-Marie, A Tribe Called Red, Whitehorse, Yukon Blonde Andy Shauf, Fred Penner.
Since the outdoor music festival was formed in 1972, it has been a staple of Northern Ontario's music and arts scene.
This year the festival takes place July 6-9 at Sudbury's Bell Park.
There are also a pair of North Bay acts, Annie Sumi, and Hidden Roots Collective.
For the first time in over a decade, NLFB is expanding the festival by adding a Thursday night concert.
To celebrate Canada’s 150th, NLFB wanted to celebrate the original founding nations: First Nations, Inuit, and Métis.
Thursday performances will include: the reunion of Northern Ontario rockers No Reservations, the Sudbury debut of Nunavut alt-folk stars The Jerry Cans, and the return of folk icon Buffy Sainte-Marie.
What better feature artist for this celebration than one the most influential Indigenous musicians of our time, Buffy Sainte-Marie. Perhaps you know Sainte-Marie from her 1960s protest anthems (“Universal Soldier”), open-hearted love songs (“Until It’s Time for You to Go”), incendiary powwow rock (“Starwalker”), or the juggernaut pop hit “Up Where We Belong”. You might know her from 2015 Juno and Polaris Prize winning album Power in the Blood. If you don’t know, trust us. Her live performance is a powerful and energetic experience you don't want to miss. The Cree singer-songwriter, activist, educator, visual artist, and winner of countless awards (Oscar, Juno, and Golden Globe, among them) will be gracing the NLFB stage for the first time in over 30 years.
See her song Starwalker below.
Friday night Yukon Blonde headlines. Their sound is a blend of west coast rock n’ roll, mixed with driving indie-rock, and a dash of catchy synth-pop.
A Tribe Called Red straddles a broad range of musical influences based in modern hip-hop, traditional pow wow drums and vocals, blended with edgy electronic music production styles. Currently made up of DJ NDN, Bear Witness and 2oolman, ATCR first got together in 2008, and have become one of the most influential forces in Indigenous music today, essentially pioneering an entirely new genre with this powerful fusion.
The Juno winning duo known as Whitehorse will headline the Sunday main stage, bringing cinematic songwriting, blazing vocals, and impeccable guitar work. Their bluesy project The Northern South Vol. 1 was just nominated for 2017 Juno.
NLFB has already announced other acts, including Bixiga 70, TUNS, Rae Spoon, Louis-Philippe Gingras, Jenny Ritter, Shotgun Jimmie and Annie Sumi.
Prices are $75 going up to $90 on May 1st
