Tag: harmonica

Kunle Basks His Audience in Beautiful Gentleness and Optimism

Kunle Basks His Audience in Beautiful Gentleness and Optimism

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KunleNigerian-born singer songwriter, Kunle, launched his musical career in Ghana, spent time on the open seas as a marine engineer, and made his way to Toronto where he is currently based.

His music employs guitar tapping, harmonica, talking drum, and rich vocals to animate traditional and contemporary songs that guide audiences into a musical place where there are no boundaries, and where traditions from Celtic to blues to rock to African folk meld together.

Whether singing in Yoruba, English, Pidgin or German, his sensitivity and kindness come out through his songs and generous performances, leaving his audience basking in beautiful gentleness and optimism.

Neo Folk Indie String Band – The BelleRegards

Neo Folk Indie String Band – The BelleRegards

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belleRegardsWith a pinch of bluegrass, a dash of rockabilly, and a dollop of neo folk, this 4-piece string band cooks up high-energy live shows, foot-stomping rhythms, trad breaks, and good humour.

Influenced by artists ranging from Johnny Cash and Hank Williams, to Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, The Clash and Fleetwood Mac, The BelleRegards serve-up something for every musical taste, with a heaping helping of indie edge on the side.

Led by a duo of singer-songwriter vocalists, the band’s sound is spiced-up by guitars, mandolin, harmonica, slapped and bowed upright bass, and old-timey fiddle.

They’re good, new-fashioned, foot-stompin’ fun, and we know you’ll find their sound simply ‘delicious’.

The Harpoonist and The Axe Murderer Bringing Electrifying Blues to Mariposa

The Harpoonist and The Axe Murderer Bringing Electrifying Blues to Mariposa

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harpoonistAxeMurdererThe name may conjure graphic imagery but this dynamic duo is all about kicking out some pretty raw and primal blues.

Armed with a sack of harmonicas, a mess of foot percussion and a road‐worn Telecaster, The Harpoonist and The Axe Murderer pays homage to a decades-deep style of blues, electrifying it with a bolt of new life.

They’re smothered in greasy, gritty soul, and punched up with a little funk.

The music is not polite. In fact, it slaps you on the face and refuses to apologize. But it also cuts through the clutter, anxieties, tensions and phobias of life.

It’s true and real, and that’s how the blues are meant to be played.

Check out our The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer story board on Pinterest. While you’re there, click on Follow Board to get updates.

Blues Ace Sugar Brown Coming to Mariposa

Blues Ace Sugar Brown Coming to Mariposa

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sugarBrownWhile rubbing elbows and playing with the best blues musicians on the American scene for many years, you learn a lot of tricks. Then, if you get far away from that Chicago scene and spend a lot of time revamping your craft, you can come back North America with a distinctive sound, just like Sugar Brown.

This multi-instrumentalist, blues musician and singer learned his chops playing harmonica as a member of a West Side Chicago blues band that backed the famed singer, Tail Dragger. He earned a reputation as a versatile musician and singer, playing with greats such as Willie ‘Big Eyes’ Smith, Dave Myers, Willie Kent, Johnny B. Moore, and Barrelhouse Chuck. After Tail Dragger was sent to prison for fatally shooting Boston Blackie, Sugar Brown made his way to Japan, where he performed for several years in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sendai, and Aomori, and began playing guitar in earnest.

Fate would later bring him to Toronto, and providence has brought him to our Mariposa stage.