It was just four months ago that we were taking in the sights and sounds of Fredericton’s annual Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival, but news is already rolling out as to who will be gracing the bill for the 2017 show. Today the festival made its first announcement on two of its major headliners.
Fredericton’s Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival announced today that Colin James and Steve Earle & the Dukes will be two of the headliners for its 2017 edition.
“These two legendary artists are in the middle of an exceptional period of creativity and prominence in their respective genres and so it feels like the perfect time to present them to our audiences,” said Brent Staeben, Harvest’s Music programmer. “While they share an authenticity and a deep reverence for their musical lineage, they each appeal to a very diverse audience that has followed the twists and turns of their many re-births over their long careers. They are the perfect pair for this early announcement and to lay the foundation for the 2017 edition of Harvest”.
Colin James is a guitar legend with twenty-five years of performing under his belt. Once mentored by Stevie Ray Vaughn he’s now making legends of his own with the release of his latest chart-topping album ‘Blue Highways’. James should be a familiar name to Fredericton concert-goers after an amazing sold-out performance at Harvest Jazz & Blues two years ago.
Steve Earle, ‘New Country’ pioneer and multiple Grammy Award Winner, is former protege of Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark. His songwriting skills has been celebrated and recorded by some of the biggest names out there: Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, Travis Tritt, The Pretenders, Joan Baez and countless others. This year will be Steve Earle and the Dukes first Harvest Jazz & Blues appearance.
The Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival holds the claim as Atlantic Canada’s largest annual music festival. Annually it draws up to 85,000 fans to the streets of Fredericton each September. The final announcement with the full list of performers will be available on May 11th at 11:00am (AST), with tickets and passes going on sale at the same time.