Athabasca’s annual musical festival will feature alternative, blues and country in 2015.
The Magnificent River Rats Festival finalized its headline acts for the two-day festival at its meeting last Thursday.
Dear Rouge – a band led by husband and wife duo Drew and Danielle McTaggart – is scheduled to headline the kick off to the festival on June 30.
The Vancouver-based band, whose name is derived from Danielle’s hometown of Red Deer, play a unique alternative dance-rock style of music demonstrated by the song ‘I Heard I Had’ released last year and will be the lead song on their debut album Black to Gold due to be released later this year.
The big acts taking to the stage on Canada Day, July 1, will be Saskatchewan-born blues guitar musician Jack Semple and Canadian country artist Gil Grand.
Semple is best known as the lead guitarist of the popular rhythm and blues band The Lincolns in the late 1980s in addition to appearing as the title role in the 1994 television movie Guitarman.
Semple has also released 10 solo albums, won a Juno in 1991 and garnered national attention by winning the MuchMusic competition Guitar Wars.
Meanwhile Grand, who grew up in Sudbury, Ontario and hasn’t released an album in six years, is ironically best known his first ever release “Famous First Words” back in 1998.
Grand has continued to work on his music, which have previously earned him several Canadian Country Music Awards.
“We are very pleased to announce the initial acts as our headliners at the beginning of February,” said River Rats President Ida Edwards.
“We have more acts coming, and will be releasing their names as their contracts are signed.”
In addition, Edwards announced the ticket prices for the festival.
A two-day pass purchased in advance will cost is $30, while tickets bought at the gate will cost $20 for each day.
Children under the age of six will get in free.
The Magnificent River Rats Festival committee is also looking for more volunteers for a variety of jobs during the two day event.
“We would love to have more festival volunteers. They can come in and help out,” Edwards said.
This year’s committee describes itself and young and hip.
For more information, you can visit the Magnificent River Rats Festival website at www.riverratsfestival.com.
