Waverley Hotel and Pub, Vancouver Island

What started out as adventurous bluegrass quartet has fast become a sharply focused roots music outfit that owes as much to The Band and Blue Rodeo as it does to John Hartford and Bill Monroe.

With a strikingly original repertoire, and a lively on-stage show, the band made a strong name for itself at festivals and clubs across the country. Last year the group earned two nominations at the Canadian Folk Music Awards — for Emerging Artist(s) of the Year and for Vocal Ensemble of the Year — and won the Vox Pop Award for “Americana Album of the Year” at the Independent Music Awards.

Now, with Heartwood, the band’s signature sound remains, but members Matthew Lawson, Archie Pateman, Ben Rogalsky and Lee Watson are moving in a new, exciting direction. Now you’ll also hear touches of soul, classic R & B, a bit of old country and a solid taste of roots rock and roll.

The band’s new record fits perfectly into the roots/rock “Americana” / “Indie Folk” genre, There are 10 original songs by band members Pateman and Watson. — and a song from the reclusive Toronto singer Mary Margaret O’Hara, which the band found on her only album, released in 1988. Heartwood debuted at #1 on Earshot's Folk/Roots/Blues charts for November of 2010.

Like Ben Franklin with his kite, The Breakmen are messing with electricity — and in fact Lee (who is a guitar builder) has made two Telecaster-styled electric guitars for the band -- new directions can be challenging and inspiring at the same time.”

Pateman, who lives in Cumberland, is excited to contribute one half of the proceeds from both shows to YANA, a Comox organization that helps families from the valley who need to seek medical assistance for their children that they can’t get at home. This unique charity has funded thousands of trips for medical treatment in Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto and even the U.S. and England. When Pateman’s youngest son, Clyde, was born the family relocated to Victoria due to his premature arrival. YANA helped his family, and with support of the band, and their loyal fan-base, Pateman is keen to give back.

http://www.thebreakmen.com/>>

Do you happen to have any musical instruments which are currently unused or otherwise collecting dust in your home? Perhaps you used to play a clarinet, flute, saxophone or trombone but are no longer using it or it may not be working properly. Campbell River realtor Byron Maier wants these instruments! As the leader of the Alpha Project, Byron is hoping that these gently used instruments will find their way into the hands of some needy young students at the Alpha Boys School in Kingston, Jamaica.

The Alpha Boys School is famous for having nurtured and produced some of the world's most celebrated musicians - particularly horns musicians. Still active today, the school relies upon charity donations to continue its work which started over a hundred years ago. As the president of the Victoria Ska Festival Society, Byron feels it is time to give back to the school that has been so influential to the development of ska and reggae music. After the instruments are collected, they will be serviced at no charge by Long and McQuade before Byron travels to Jamaica to present them to the school and its students. For complete list of the instruments requested by the Alpha Project please contact Byron at byron@byronmaier.com.

The Alpha Project is the brain child of Byron Maier, the President of the Victoria BC Ska Society. Byron, also known as the Ska Boss wanted to find a way to give back to the roots of where the music comes from and a positive way to reach out to the kids. Our society's mandate is to Entertain, Educate and Unite and this is a excellent way to do this. Byron was thinking about this project for a while, but it really came to light after watching the documentary "Rocksteady" which included the Alpha Boys School. This project is about getting the kids good working instruments that they cannot afford. This music has given so much to the world and it is time we return back in kind, to the roots.

The Truth Soundsystem is known for bringing Victoria the very best in vintage Jamaican and Soul sounds! They are a vinyl only sound system.

http://victoriaskafest.ca/alpha>>

Click here to buy your tickets now!

Chali 2na MC. Musician. Actor. Painter. Renaissance Man.

Chali 2na has done it all. From his days growing up on the hardscrabble streets of Chicago’s south side, to his subsequent explosion onto Los Angeles’ burgeoning hip-hop scene, to his tenure as MC for seminal hip-hop group Jurassic 5, Chali epitomizes the portrait of a 21st century artist.

To be sure, with his unmistakable, beloved baritone, Chali has firmly established himself as one of the most distinctive, charismatic personalities not just in hip-hop, but music in general.

Buoyed by the wide spectrum of socio-cultural and geographical influences that have shaped him—hip-hop’s Renaissance man released his first solo album Fish Outta Water on Decon Records in the spring of 2009.

Indeed, this deeply personal body of work reveals a side of the long time Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli front man that his fans have never seen, a story from start to finish of his life, loves, triumphs and let downs, weaving in a powerful selection of beats from the likes of Scott Storch and Jake 1 and memorable appearances from Damian “Jr. Gong” and Stephen Marley, Anthony Hamilton, Beanie Man and others.

Indeed, Chali’s diverse tastes—from the blues he was raised on to the political gangsta’ rap he loved to the graffiti art he sprayed as a teenager—flow from this album, like the oil colors Chali uses for his paintings.

“KRS was talking about how love was going to engulf his brother. This song talks about how love makes you do the strangest things, how it infects your heart and changes you forever,” he said.

Of course, no body of work involving Chali 2na would be complete without his trademark, articulate, spitfire rhymes, the sort of fearsome battle raps which first caught the ear of so many back when he honed his skills in Los Angeles’ storied underground hip-hop scene of the early nineties.

Indeed, Chali’s debut features a seemingly endless litany of groundbreaking tracks, which touch on topics the veteran musician has never bared to his listeners before. Whether it’s the trauma he experienced from the shooting death of a childhood friend to the twists and turns of his own family lineage, to the resistance to injustice that has always been imbued in Chali’s music, Fish Outta Water, is quite simply, a life’s worth of songs in the making.

There’s still plenty of fire in Chali’s lyrical arsenal. His days of training at the legendary Los Angeles hotspot, the Good Life Café, have taught him well. Only now, he’s fused the bass-heavy bravado with his own life’s story, and in doing so, creates an album of work that’s not only superb, it’s important.

JPrime is a breaks/hiphop/scratch DJ from Vancouver Island, and has been on the turntables for 12 years now. He began with a love for old skool hip hop, funk, and turntablism inspired by such DJ’s as Q-Bert, Babu, Cut Chemist, and DJ Shadow. My sound reflects that today as I lace breakbeats with dashes of scratch flavour and hip hop.

http://chali2na.com>>

The Unknown Soldiers after The Doors most political song. The Unknown Soldiers come amazingly close to replicating The Doors music note for note, but more importantly they capture the raw energy through each band member's interpretation. By combining these elements they deliver a groovy reproduction of a live Doors show, keeping the audience in a head-bobbing, toe- tapping trance.

The Unknown Soldiers blend The Doors live recordings and also their masterful studio efforts, creating a musical alchemy that is second to none for experiencing, and of course, celebrating The Doors musical legacy LIVE.

http://www.theunknownsoldiers.info/>>

Hour Magazine wrote that “Delhi 2 Dublin is the United Nations of rock ‘n’ roll”. They are a Vancouver, Canada based band that plays an energetic mash-up of Bhangra, Celtic, Dub Reggae and Electronica with global rhythms and club beats. Tarun Nayar, Sanjay Seran, Andrew Kim and Ravi Binning along with touring members Jaron Freeman-Fox and Sara Fitzpatrick are diverse in both their backgrounds and musical influences. The band has been together over five years and has released four albums including its latest, Planet: Electrified. The album title is apt because the musicians feel that they plug directly into the world’s music and energy.

A live collaboration put together in 2006 as a one-off performance piece for a club night in Vancouver called “Delhi to Dublin” was so well-received that requests for additional performances led to the official formation of Delhi 2 Dublin. “Not being able to fit into any specific genre allows the band to create whatever we like and not be judged for it. Our audience expects nothing less” says Nayar. The band finds this advantageous for their live show as it enables them to create a flow to their sets much like a DJ would for the dance floor. “Audiences love to see a band transcending stereotypes and letting the music speak for itself”.

The Delhi 2 Dublin crew is constantly touring. The strong word-of-mouth on their live performances has enabled them to build a loyal and continent wide fan base. The band has played several of the top festivals in Canada and the U.S. and, in 2011, expanded its horizons to include performances in Asia and Europe. A new line-up, a new album and new international touring opportunities all signal that originality and evolution are all part of the Delhi 2 Dublin experience. They have become one of Canada’s most buzzed-about bands and 2012 will only see them enhancing that reputation.

http://www.delhi2dublin.com>>