Free Festival Shows - Saturday June 5

Triple B Burgers, Madeira Park, 12pm – 5pm
Local musicians Mark Crissinger, Steve Hinton Gary Gilbert and feature performances by David Gates, Willie MacCalder and the Pender Harbour All Star Band – Tim Hearsey, Bill Runge, Geoff Hicks and Peter VanDeursen.

12pm Mark Crissinger and the Bluebudzz
1pm Gary Gilbert and the Painkillers
2pm David Gates
3pm Steve Hinton
4pm Tim Hearsey, Willie MacCalder and the Pender Harbour All-Stars, including Bill Runge, Geoff Hicks, Sully Antonyk, Pat Haavisto and Peter Vandeursen

John Henry’s Store and Marina, Garden Bay, 1pm - 5pm
Solo performances by Joe Stanton, Willie MacCalder, and David Gates


Tickets also available Online Here

We’ll see you on the `first weekend in June’. It’ll be a party!

Just 2 hours from Vancouver’s Horseshoe Bay Ferry terminal, or less if you’re lucky enough to live on the Sunshine Coast, the first weekend in June will be a perfect opportunity to hear some incredible blues musicians in the magical place that is Pender Harbour.

‘Blues For All Ages’ is the Pender Harbour Blues Society’s working mission statement…. so for families and kids, young and old, free performances will feature local and guest talent at community stages on Saturday at John Henry’s, Crossroads Grill and Triple-B’s Burgers. An introduction to this venerable and universal musical genre comes with a warning. Once you’ve heard the Blues talk to you, you’ve got to follow.  More information on the line-ups and locations of these stages will be posted on the website as the festival nears.

To blues fans cont'd

Sunday afternoon will be another `must see’ performance as the patron saint of the blues on the Sunshine Coast, Ron Johnston – owner of the Garden Bay Pub hosts the All Star Jam. If past years of this popular event set the bar high – rest assured it will be topped yet again. Players and guest artists are sure to bring down the house, and get ready for some surprise appearances by past blues festival performers. There’s already a buzz starting among musicians and fans on the entire coast. Get there early as this event will fill up quickly.

And if you’ve just gotta have some more blues, on Sunday night Willie MacCalder will front the house band in a rockin; performance that should cap off the weekend just right. One of the founding members of the Powder Blues Band, Willie’s resume also includes stint’s with many international blues artists, and his fabulous renditions of standards and originals are unsurpassed as he proves that the Blues and piano are just made for each other. So what if you’re late for work on Monday – just consider it blues therapy.

The house band for the shows at the pub will be led by Tim Hearsey, and features Powder Blues alumni Bill Runge on bass and tenor sax and Geoff Hicks on drums. The Sunshine Coast’s own Peter Van Deursen will round out the house band on Hammond Organ and piano.

GEOFF HICKS, born in Winnipeg in 1972, started pounding out rhythms on his dad’s old orange marble Ludwig’s. After moving to Vancouver, Geoff’s talent saw him touring and recording with She Stole My Beer, Linda McRae (Spirit Of The West), and The Paperboys. Since 1995, he has been a freelance drummer, touring and/or recording with Harry Manx, Jim Byrnes, The Sojourners, Barney Bentall - the list goes on. The past four years Geoff has been with the Colin James band, sharing the stage with the likes of Little Richard and Los Lobos.

http://www.geoffhicks.ca

BILL RUNGE is a multi-instrumentalist onsaxophone, flute, clarinet, electric and string bass, piano and guitar. He has recorded with INXS, Powder Blues, Traci Ullman, Long John Baldry, Shari Ulrich, and Amos Garrett to name just a few. Performance credits include Colin James, Natalie Cole, Michael Buble, Taj Mahal, John Lee Hooker, Bo Didley, Robert Cray, Jeff Healey, and dozens more. His film and TV scores ,arrangements and performances include The Chris Isaak Show, Beggar’s and Choosers, Highlander, Life On A Mattress and so many more.

Bill Runge been a successful performer, composer, arranger, and orchestrator for over 30 years. A multi-instrumentalist, he has performed and recorded on saxophones, flutes, clarinets, electric and string bass, piano and other keyboards, guitar, pennywhistle, and accordion.

In 1990 his quintet, “The Creatures of Habit” won the Grand Prix at the CBC-Alcan Jazz Competition in Montreal and he has worked on several Juno Award winning projects such as Jim Byrnes’ CD, “That River”.

As a leader, Bill has produced four recordings: “Creatures of Habit-Live in Montreal”-1990, for Justin Time Records, “B3”-1994, for Roadhouse Records, “Acid Test”-2002, for Maximum Jazz, and “A Tribute To The South American Masters”-2006, also for Maximum Jazz.

Bill’s saxophone style amalgamates the influences of John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Michael Brecker, and Steve Grossman with his own compositional approach… a modern player, firmly rooted in jazz tradition.

Composers influencing his writing style include Astor Piazolla, Chick Corea, Frederick Delius, Arvo Part, Egberto Gismonti, Bela Bartok, and Josef Zawinul.

Bill is an in demand studio musician has recorded with such acts as
K-OS, INXS, Powder Blues, Traci Ullman, The Hard Rubber Orchestra, Swollen Members, Tower of Power horns, Long John Baldry, Shari Ulrich, The Vancouver Ensemble of Jazz Improvisation (VEJI), Amos Garrett,
The Paperboys, Lowell Fulson, Jackyll, and many more.

http://www.billrunge.com

PETER VAN DEURSEN began his musical career as a classical pianist. After studying music at UVic, he joined the Gary Stevens Band in Vancouver, playing the Cave, Oil Can Harry’s, Alfies’s, and Rohan’s Rockpile. In the ‘90’s Peter joined “Malpractice”, a Motown Review band. He has shared the stage with John Lee Hooker, Jerry Jeff Walker, Barbie Benton, Tim Hearsey, Russell Marsland, and many others. Peter is the President of the Blues Society and hosts the Sunday Jam at the Garden Bay Pub on the 4th Sunday of every month.

Also appearing at the festival

DAVID `BOXCAR’ GATES Piedmont Blues stylings are drenched with bottleneck slide and alternate fingerpicking with a ragtime twist, heavily influenced by Blues forefathers Mississippi John Hurt, Big Bill Broonzy, and Mississippi Fred McDowell. Accompanying himself with a homemade harmonica rack made out of bicycle and lampshade parts, he stays close to the `sing in a can’ genre of the Depression era southern blues circuits. David has played with Jim Byrnes, Tim Hearsey and numerous other West Coast Blue Artists.