(June 7th, 2013 – Kelowna, BC) – The parks will again come alive this summer thanks to the long-running Parks Alive! program. With over 50 concert events planned for July and August, starting July 2nd and running until August 31st, there will be something for everyone to enjoy.

 “Our staff have been busy booking over 200 different performers and are so excited for the 2013 season to start,” confirms Renata Mills, Executive Director of Festivals Kelowna. “So far, more than half of the acts booked for our stages this summer have never performed with Parks Alive! before. As a result, our audiences will get a chance to enjoy new and different talent again this year.”

Parks Alive! has been producing and presenting live cultural performances in Kelowna’s parks and public spaces since 1997, and prior to that under “Kelowna Pride” since 1989. The concerts are free to attend and are held in 18 venues all over the community, making them accessible for everyone. In addition, the concerts are created with the philosophy that people of all ages should be able to share common enjoyment in the performances, so every show is family-friendly and appeals to many tastes and interests.

“What’s very cool about this summer, is that we have some very special performances planned for the season with stellar, touring artists sharing the stages alongside local and regional acts. In fact, way more than usual,” explains Mills. “To kick off our first week, we’ll be featuring a 62 piece youth orchestra from Scotland on the Island Stage in Waterfront Park on Wednesday, July 3rd, followed by select artists from the “Keloha Festival” in Kerry Park on July 6th and 7th, as well as a pop artist currently getting strong radio play on 101.5 EZ Rock and 99.9 Sun FM on Saturday, July 7th. On top of that, we’ll be presenting a rising star in the Canadian country music scene in late July, and we’ll be featuring finalists from the MusicBC/K96.3 Artist competition for 5 Wednesdays stating July 10th, finishing with a huge free, community concert event at the end of August.  We have lots more to share, but in the meantime people can start checking out the Parks Alive! schedule on our events calendar at www.festivalskelowna.com/parksalive, or following us at facebook.com/festivalskelowna and on twitter @parksalive.”

Festivals Kelowna is a non-profit society that produces community focused, arts-based festivals and programs including Celebrate Canada Day-Kelowna, Parks Alive!, the Kelowna Buskers Program, the Arts Alive! artisan program, and New York New Year’s.

Top 20 Artists To Be Revealed Along With Performances By The Boom Booms, Dear Rouge &Dominique Fricot.

102.7 The PEAK and Music BC present The PEAK Performance Project 2013 Launch Party, powered by Cariboo Brewing. On Tuesday June 11th at Fortune Sound Club in Vancouver, the bands selected for this year’s Top 20 will be announced, followed with performances by past alumni The Boom Booms, Dear Rouge,and Dominique Fricot. 

The top 20 announcement will also be broadcast live on 102.7 The PEAK in Vancouver and streamed online at thepeak.fm.  The broadcast will commence at 8:00 PMand the live on-air announcements will take place from 8:15 PM to 9:00 PM with 4 groups of 5 artists each to be announced over 45 minutes.

Doors: 8:00pm 
Top 20 Announcement: 8:15pm – 9:00pm 
Music: 9:00pm

Advance tickets are $10.27 (plus service charges) and available at: http://peakperformanceproject.com/tickets/

The PEAK Performance Project

Each year over $775,000 is invested into the BC music community by the project, with $300,000 of that being awarded directly to the artists involved.

The project takes 20 bands through a rigorous artist development program that includes a week-long boot camp, live performance critiques, and challenges aimed at building their careers. It all cumulates at the Finale concert, where the top prizes are awarded:

First place: 102.7 Thousand Dollars

Second Place: $75,000

Third Place: $50,000

Fourth Place: $10,000

Fifth Place $5,000

Base camp awards to all top 20 artists equaling $60,000

 Says Bob D’Eith, Executive Director of Music BC, “102.7 The PEAK has given artists from BC a chance at a life changing opportunity with the PEAK Performance Project. We’re seeing the project not only build and strengthen careers, but a strong and vibrant music community as well.”

102.7 The PEAK is committed to the development of new and emerging BC music artists. The PEAK Performance Project is designed to educate, promote, develop and hopefully launch the careers of some of BC’s up and coming artists. It also hopes to foster the BC music industry and create a sense of community amongst music professionals.

The PEAK is investing five million two hundred and ninety thousand ($5,290,000) over seven years through CTRC approved Canadian Content Development funds. The program is administered by the Music BC Industry Association.

Five Alarm Funk are taking their fourth studio album, Rock the Sky, on the road. Nominated for ‘Best Instrumental Album’ at the 2013 Juno Awards, fans will be able to enjoy the band live on their cross-Canada summer tour, kicking off on June 21 in Kelowna, BC.

The Provincial Archive is stiff under pressure. But after a solid year in the recording studio, the alt folk band is bending to anticipation and has announced summer tour dates. The band couldn’t hold out any longer and will be breaking the radio silence this June with favourites from their catalogue and unheard material from the band’s studio time over the last year.

“We’ve definitely been taking some pressure on touring, and these recordings.” says the band’s frontman, Craig Schram. “But these sessions have been all about spending the time we need. We wanted to push ourselves creatively and technically, and now we’re excited to start sharing on stage”

The band has dedicated nearly all time and effort over the past year to the new album. Live dates have been few and far between as the band completed production, even taking time off from their hometown. 2012 took the band as far as France but the group rarely ventured further than the studio, where the new album was articulated. The band is announcing Western Canadian dates for June and July as they are confirmed.

Catch the band on their way to the coast in June:

June 13th | Kelowna  
at Fernando’s Pub, 9 pm, $10

June 14th | Victoria
With Bonehoof and Prairie Cat at Copper Owl, 9pm, $10

June 15th | Vancouver
at The Railway Club, 9pm, $10

“This might be my favourite band in Canada right now.”
– George Stroumboulopoulos

Vancouver’s The Crackling announce 20 new Canadian tour dates in support of their sophomore album Mary Magdalene which was released on April 23, 2013 via Vancouver label File Under:Music.

Led by Kenton Loewen on vocals and guitar, The Crackling brings together Tyson Naylor on keys, piano and accordion, Jeremy Page on bass, Gordon Grdina on guitars and vocals and John Raham on drums. Experienced road warriors, many members of The Crackling divide their time playing in Dan Mangan’s touring ensemble.

The Vancouver Sun describes Mary Magdalene as “a rain-swept kind of album where Loewen balladeers his way with a bittersweet shuffle (You’re Sure That I’m Wrong, the lovely I Ask You For the Courage), an ominously wonky country/rockabilly country twang (Mary Magdalene) and electrified Neil Young style stomp (Ashen, with Mangan singing backup).”  

Recorded over the bleak winter months, the album delivers a darkened warmth and offers a palette of stories that take the listener into a world of contrasts via exceptional musicianship and artful songwriting. Those contrasts are also illustrated beautifully in the album’s art which features a commissioned painting of Mary Magdalene by Vancouver artist EC Salazar. The Cracking frontman Kenton Loewen explained the artwork to CBCMusic.ca saying “there’s this wonderful theory that Jesus never actually died, that he and Mary sustained life and moved to the south of France and travelled, and you get that sense visually from the cover of the record, the concepts of the Magdalene are usually limited to the disciple/prostitute realm, and I’m enjoying knocking that down and playing around.” 

Tour Dates
May 28 – KELOWNA, BC – Fernando’s
May 29 – EDMONTON, AB – Artery
May 30 – JASPER, AB – The Legion
May 31 – CALGARY, AB – The Palomino
June 1 – SASKATOON, SK – Amigos
June 2 – REGINA, SK – The Exchange
June 4 – TORONTO, ON – Horseshoe Tavern
June 5 – HAMILTON, ON – This Ain’t Hollywood
June 7 – BARRIE, ON – Clarkson Pub
June 9 – LONDON, ON – Aeolian Hall
June 11 – OTTAWA, ON – The Mercury Lounge
June 13 – TORONTO, ON – Supermarket
June 14 – MONTREAL, QC – Quai Des Brumes
June 15 – SUDBURY, ON – The Speakeasy
June 17 – THUNDER BAY, ON – Black Pirates Pub
June 18 – WINNIPEG, MB – The Windsor
June 19 – MOOSE JAW, AB – Java Express
June 22 – VANCOUVER, BC – The Biltmore