Hosted at Freddy’s Brewpub
Starting September 21 to October 26
Every Saturday night at 8 pm

Please call #250-765-8956 to reserve your seating
Registration for performers starts at 7:30pm each evening.
Maximim performers per night: 15.
Performances may include solo/duo/trio; no drums or amps will be provided.
Please prepare 1-3 songs for your performance. Performance length will be dependent on number of acts.

1st place prizes: 
$700 Cash
$1000 record a single at Music City Studio
$3000 Music Video by 1980four Productions
Performances at Kelowna Community Theatre (Nov 7th) and Festivals Kelowna (2014 Season)

2nd place prizes:
$500 Cash
$2000 record and film 4 songs live at Music City Studio (video by 1980four Productions
Performances at Kelowna Community Theatre (Nov 7th) and Festivals Kelowna (2014 Season)

3rd place prizes:
$300 cash
$200 GC to Music CIty Studio
Performances at Kelowna Community Theatre (Nov 7th)

Each week for 5 weeks the judges will select the top two acts to go through to the finals.
On the 6th week we will select our top three acts.
The top three acts will be awarded their prizes at KCT on Nov 7th.
For more details go to: www.mccurdybowl.com and visit freddy’s brew pub

Thank you to our media sponsors: Sun Fm, Castanet, Shaw TV.
Thank you to all of our prize sponsors: Festivals Kelowna, Music City Studio, 1980four productions, Creative Okanagan

Talented Kelowna is a Creative Okanagan brand.

FIRST INSTALLMENT OF A THREE PART DIGITAL SERIES. CULMINATE IN FULL-LENGTH VINYL RELEASE IN 2014. FEATURES MEMBERS OF JULY TALK, BENEATH AUGUSTA, DEARLY BELOVED

LISTEN/DOWNLOAD THE B-SIDE “EXILE (ACOUSTIC)” HERE.

WATCH PROMO VIDEO FOR EXILE PART 1 HERE.

Sept. 25: Kelowna, BC @ Fernando’s Pub

Eamon McGrath has realized that nothing better marks the end of an era than a change of approach. So why not release a record in three different digital installments over the course of the next nine months, culminating in a full-album vinyl release, entitled Exile, at the end to celebrate

The first installment, Exile Part 1, will be released on October 15th.

“Serializing an album lets you extend a touring schedule over the course of how ever long you want to put it out,” says McGrath. “You can play the songs over the course of the year and have it still feel fresh and exciting. The album never feels like it stagnates on the stage. And when you have an artist like myself that is addicted to living on the road, staggering releases like this will only serve to remedy that desire.”

On his last three albums, McGrath played nearly every instrument himself – an individual experience that plugged you right into the mind of the songwriter and launched you back into the outside world. Now, after almost 250 shows in support of those albums and with the black cloud of adulthood calmly looming in the not-too-far-off distance, McGrath has had to carve a new path to keep everything feeling new and unexplored: what then, could be more up to chance and circumstance than tracking a record completely live-off-the-floor, albeit with some very firm ground rules?

First of all: no click tracks. Second: live off the floor, all the players have to be in the same room. Third: use as little editing as possible.

Exile Part 1 features the REM-style indie rock of lead single “Enduring Love” which was written in the front seat of a car during a rainy 2012 Western Canadian tour. “Bitter Ends”, a nod to the mid-80s Minneapolis rock of The Replacements and Husker Dü, effectively channels McGrath’s punk roots. On the tender soul ballad “Uninvited Guest”, McGrath’s voice has never sounded so mature.

Peter Dreimanis and Danny Miles (July Talk) play lead guitar and drums respectively, while Clay Jones (Styrofoam Ones, Beneath Augusta) holds down the low end. Rob Higgins (Change of Heart, Dearly Beloved) is at the controls from his own Phoebe St. studio in downtown Toronto while McGrath displays his trademark howl and ballistic youthful energy at the front of it all.

“Live-off-the-floor”: a term that describes the harnessing of unpredictability, and the embracing of flaws. Recording more than just music, you’re also documenting an atmosphere, a mood, and an experience. There’s nothing much more rock and roll than five friends playing loud, playing fast, and playing like their lives depend on it. And for the amount of rock and roll that’s gone into the life of Eamon McGrath in the past four years – tours of which have taken him on countless voyages across Canada, the UK and Europe – it’s the only possible way to document the music that’s to come.

On Oct. 15, Exile Part 1 will be available via all digital retailers, select independent music stores and at shows.

EXCLAIM! PRESENTS EAMON MCGRATH ACROSS CANADA

Sept. 23: Vancouver, BC @ Electric Owl

(w. The Features)

Sept. 25: Kelowna, BC @ Fernando’s Pub

Sept. 26: Calgary, AB @ The Palomino

Sept. 28: Edmonton, AB @ Avenue Theatre

(Exile Part 1 CD release w. Stepmothers)

Sept. 30: Saskatoon, SK @ Vangelis

Oct. 1: Regina, SK @ O’Hanlons

Oct. 4: Rock Island, IL @ Daytrotter Sessions

* More dates to be announced

ARTIST WEBSITE: www.eamonmcgrath.ca

Wednesday, September 4th. Doors @ 8. Show @ 9.

Cover: $5.

Artists:
JP Maurice – www.wearemaurice.com
Kyle Tubbs – www.soundcloud.com/kyle-tubbs
Dan Oig – www.danoigmusic.com

The Grapes of Wrath are celebrating a brand new album and a hometown show, this Wednesday in Kelowna (30 years since their first show here).  Kevin and Chris answer a few questions I had for them:

1. Congratulations on 30 years making music together. Does the reasons why you started to make music together still resonate for you today?

Kevin: Absolutely. We grew up together and learned to play as a unit, and that feeling never goes away. It’s like an old pair of leather shoes that have stretched to fit your feet just so: you may have nicer footwear but every time you put on those old favorites you go realize nothing else feels as comfortable.

Chris: It is the reason. It’s why we are playing together again. We’ve arrived back at the end of a full circle experience and are approaching things like we did when we started as kids.

2. You’ve played some special shows in the last 15 years since I’ve lived in Kelowna. The Field Trip tour in 2001, the Summerhill Winery pyramid in 2010, and the BreakOut West festival with We Are the City joining you on stage in 2010. Where does this Wednesdays show at Waterfront Park rank for you?

Kevin: Wednesday will be a milestone (30 miles in fact!) we could never have imagined reaching and it certainly puts things into a kind of perspective. Getting to mark this with a free outdoor show on a beach in our hometown couldn’t be more “Kelowna”.

Chris: I think it’s the show that we probably thought would never happen. We are excited.

3. Can we expect to see some archival material from the band? Any of those early Kelowna gigs caught on video?

Kevin: We have a lot of archival footage that hopefully one day will be released in some form.

4. What are you fondest memories of touring Canada in the mid-80’s?

Kevin: Hitting a town for the first time and winning an audience over who had never seen you, or, in some cases, walking into a club in a town you’ve never been to and it’s packed with people who’ve heard of you and feeling that sense of anticipation in the air.

Chris: Feeling the building of the band’s profile the more we toured. It was nice to see people excited and supporting us and actually ‘getting’ what we were doing musically.

5. For your new album, “High Road”, how has the dynamic in the studio between the three of you changed over the years?

Kevin: It felt closer to the sessions for our first EP than anything that came after: we were all present in the same place the whole time, supporting each other through the whole process with a feeling of something to prove and yet nothing to lose. My favorite album to make!

Chris: We were probably a lot less anxious making this record than some of the others. We didn’t have the feeling of pressure like a couple of the previous recordings. None of us wanted to waste time, so we worked at a steady pace and brought that energy to the process.

What’s On Kelowna

by CHRIS STANFORD

Good ideas travel well, and in the case of the inaugural District of West Kelowna’s Global Music Fest, not that far.
Building on the success of the popular Music in the Park series, and taking a cue from the Global Music Fest held in Kelowna for the past four years as part of Global Citizen Week, this new event promises to be a diverse showcase of music and culture with a message of tolerance and acceptance.
“After I did Music in the Park and last year it went really well,
I was like, how can we expand?” said local musician and event producer, Ryan Donn, of Creative Okanagan. He pitched the District of West Kelowna the idea of the community holding its own one-day multicultural celebration. They bought in and became a co-title sponsor along with Reuter Real Estate.
The event will feature a musical lineup highlighted by local Celtic rockers Kinship and eclectic headliners, Vancouver’s Maria in the Shower, along with several cultural dance troupes, an anti-racism production from the Intercultural Society of the Central Okanagan (ISCO), and a First Nations fashion show from First Lady, making for a truly diverse evening of entertainment.
And the best part – it’s all free.
“Based on what we have, all the people that came on board gave the funding to make it free,” said Donn.
With many variables to contend with in setting up an inaugural event, according to Donn, key to getting the framework for the festival in place was participation of the Westbank First Nation. So, they were one of the first groups he approached. They jumped at the idea, and became a sponsor as well, pointing him towards resources in their community who would be involved.
Indeed, assistance from sponsors such as the Central Okanagan Foundation, ISCO, BC Hydro, the Westside Weekly, Shaw TV, Sun FM and Castanet means there’s no cost to come and check out what is going on.
Starting at 5 p.m. on Saturday and running until 10 p.m. at Memorial Park, located next to the Johnson Bentley Memorial Aquatic Centre, the grounds will be host to the main stage where the music and dancing will be showcased.
But there will also be plenty more to see and do. With a kid- and family-friendly theme, there will be everything from an obstacle course and the Big White bouncy castle to interactive displays from First Nations, Westbank and Kelowna Museums, and the Centre Culturel Francophone de L’Okanagan.
Add to that language arts presentations from ISCO, and tasty ethnic food from the Kekuli Cafe (bannock and more), Everest Indian and Nepalese Restaurant and Dragon’s Lair Specialty Teas.
In the spirit of breaking down intercultural boundaries, there’s also going to be a drum circle led by Quinton Scoot, and even something called Try a Turban, co-hosted by the Okanagan Sikh Temple and Kelowna Community Resources, where people can try on the South Asian-origin headwear on to see what it’s like.
“You’re taking one of the most visible elements of that culture and you’re offering it as an activity,” said Donn.
“It’s a way to embrace their culture … we’ve got the material for 175 people to try a turban on.”
Having been the driving force behind the three-day Global Music Fest in Kelowna, which happens in winter and is, for the entertainment at least, a ticketed event, Donn said there are similarities to the West Kelowna version.
But there are also differences.
Of course, besides the fact it’s being held outdoors and is free, the West Kelowna Global Music Fest is also perhaps geared a little more towards families.
But the music will still be the highlight.
Local faves Kinship, led by the high-energy Hughes brothers,
offers its own brand of Celtic-inspired tunes.
And headliners Maria in the Shower will follow with an eclectic blend of musical influences ranging from cabaret, folk and jazz to rockabilly, Latin, and everything in between, making them quite appropriate for this multicultural event.
With such a diverse day planned, Donn and the District of West Kelowna are no doubt hoping for good weather, but as important is the chance to learn a bit more about the various cultures that make up the social fabric of the Central Okanagan.
“We’re a multicultural event,” said Donn. “And I’ve never had a more collaborative event.
“Truly, we’ve taken the melting pot of Canada and put it into Memorial Park.”

QUICKFACTS
What: The inaugural District of West Kelowna Global Music Fest
Where: Memorial Park, located adjacent to the Johnson Bentley Memorial Aquatic Centre in downtown Westbank
When: Saturday, Aug. 24, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Kids zone runs from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Admission: Free