Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
During the week of July 19th to 21st Folk on the
Rocks will be hosting their annual summer music festival. This year’s theme: Endless Summer. For 29 years Folk on the Rocks has been bringing music to the shores of Long Lake. The festival is one of the NWT’s premier musical events and is known as a culturally diverse event which includes a 50-50 split between northern and southern performers.
The festival has also supported northern performers and has been a great opportunity for these northern performers to play alongside and collaborate with established southern performers. This exposure is incredibly valuable for the northern performers and helps them enhance their current skills. Folk on the Rocks should be very proud of their contribution to the northern music scene. They’ve made a real difference to the lives of many northern performers. This year the line-up is spectacular, both from a northern and southern point of view. Some of the northern artists participating in Folk on the Rocks this year include: the Behchoko Youth Drummers; Dana Sipos, who recently released her debut album; Digawolf, who has recently been recording his third album in follow up to his wildly popular Forest Fire album; Giant Con, a new band on the Yellowknife scene with a fan base growing daily; Godson, the NWT’s premier rapper; and the master of bass and chapman stick, and a storyteller of the highest quality, Mr. Pat Braden. These northern artists will have an opportunity to collaborate with a number of highly accomplished performers from outside of the Northwest Territories. These include, but are not limited to: the multi-talented Royal Wood; Kobo Town, who are a traditional calypso band; Swank, a punk and rock and roll band; country artist Dennis Allen; Dragon Fli Empire; Forest City Lovers; Kaiva; Old Man Luedecke, who I actually think is quite awesome; Red Power Squad; T. Nile, and, lastly, the multi-Juno award winner Sam Roberts. It’s going to be a great show and I encourage everybody in Yellowknife to attend over the weekend, come out and enjoy the performances. You won’t be disappointed.