Spend a Night Celebrating Emerging Musicians

Meet Four Up-And-Coming Alberta Artists and a Local Juno-Nominee at Horizon Stage on April 9 

The first of its kind at Horizon Stage, the Emerging Artist Showcase featuring Nuela Charles on Tuesday, April 9, will allow you to sample the work of four up-and-coming artists alongside a well-established headliner. Audience members will enjoy short performances by indie-folk singer/songwriter Keltie, local alternative rock trio Hack, and Edmonton-based indie-bluesy-rock band Hewson Grey. Intermission will feature live music in the lobby by Metis fiddler Brianna Lizotte and complimentary desserts. After intermission, Edmonton-based contemporary singer songwriter Nuela Charles and her band will play a 45 minute set featuring music from her Juno-nominated albums.

Keltie is a singer/songwriter from Sherwood Park. Her style is unique and can best be described as alternative with crossovers into folk, roots, & rock. She engages audiences with her authenticity and extraordinary sound. She has won an Edmonton Music Award and was a CBC Searchlight finalist in 2017.

Hack is a small alternative rock band originally out of the Westlock area. They have performed at the Hollywood Jamboree in Jarvie and at Stage North in Slave Lake. For this Emerging Artists Showcase they will share a few upbeat acoustic originals and a couple covers. The members of Hack are Koltan Potts (guitar and lead vocals), Matthew Seskus (guitar), and Curtis Paine (drums).

Hewson Grey has a super-cool vibe that is a complex mesh of indie, alternative, bluesy rock, and ambient psych. Rocking the charts and gaining airplay across Western Canada, highlights from their  last year include performances at K-Days, the Starlite Room, and the Forge on Whyte, headlining Friday night of East Coulee Springfest (2018), and various other festival appearances around Alberta.

Brianna Lizotte is most recognized for her old time fiddling and from performing with the award-winning Red Deer Royals Marching Show Band. Having only taken up the fiddle seven years ago this young Albertan has performed in Western Canada and Europe and received the Rising Star Award from The Alberta Men and Women of Country Music. Brianna is an artist, teacher, and community leader, and is deeply proud of her Metis heritage.

Nuela Charles is an alternative/soul artist from Edmonton who is known for her expressive vocals and captivating stage presence. Nominated for two Juno Awards (2018 & 2019) Nuela has brought her distinct voice to various stages across North America, headlined at the Edmonton Jazz Festival, and opened for Ziggy Marley. The lead single, “Crumbling Down”, from her 2016 album, The Grand Hustle, was on the CBC Radio 2 Top 20 charts for seven weeks. Newer singles, from her 2018 album, Distant Danger, including “Forecast” and “Do It Right”, have recently been receiving a lot of air play on CBC Radio One.

Find some musical gems. Spend the night exploring new music and artists at the Emerging Artist’s Showcase at Horizon Stage on Tuesday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are an affordable $15 for all ages and may be purchased at the City Hall Ticket Centre (315 Jespersen Ave), by phone at 780-962-8995 or 1-888-655-9090, and online through Ticketpro.ca.

Enjoy A Night Filled With Classic Motown Favourites

Krystle Dos Santos will make the Audience Groove at Her Motown Revue Concert at Horizon Stage on March 30

Known for her smoky voice and infectious warmth, Krystle Dos Santos’ concerts are intimate and otherworldly. Taking new music and, mixing it with the old, she creates something undefined and magnificent. An accomplished singer-songwriter and performer, Krystle brings her eclectic style, powerful vocal prowess, and magnetic charm to every performance. In Motown Revue, she pairs original soul music with beloved Motown classics made famous by Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, and the Supremes. Krystle and her band will have the audience grooving in their seats at Horizon Stage on Saturday, March 30 at 7:30 p.m.

A graduate of the Canadian College of Performing Arts, Krystle Dos Santos released her self-titled debut, award-winning album in 2008. She was instantly recognized as a force by the Western Canadian Music Awards, winning the Urban Recording of the Year. That same album charted for six weeks on CJSR FM88’s Urban chart and was top ten on 92.5 The X in BC. One of the singles from the album even appeared in an Episode of ABC’s Samantha Who?

Krystle completed her second album in 2011. Femme Fatale, as it was aptly titled, again revealed Dos Santos’ versatility and her ability to capture the audience with an eclectic mix of dance and funk, but always with the soulful jazz vocals for which she was becoming renowned.

With key performances at the Edmonton International Jazz Festival, Whistler International Film Festival, and the Honey Jam Showcase in Toronto, Krystle has had many opportunities to put her live shows on full display. She has performed on stage with Stevie Wonder, in the musical Dreamgirls, and in her own original productions. These days Krystle can be seen performing regularly on stages in Vancouver with The Lovemakers, in Edmonton with the The Black Mambas, and all across Canada. She last performed in Spruce Grove as part of the City’s 2017 Canada Day Celebration in Jubilee Park.

Groove to your favourite Motown songs from the 60s and 70s with Krystle Dos Santos, at Horizon Stage on Saturday, March 30 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $35 for Adults and $30 for Students and Seniors and may be purchased at the City Hall Ticket Centre (315 Jespersen Ave), by phone at 780-962-8995 or 1-888-655-9090, and online through Tickepro.ca.

Feel the Beat and Get Loopy with RupLoops at Horizon Stage

Interactive Live Looping and Vocal Percussion Artist Takes Families on a Global Journey of Sound And Teaches Kids To Make Their Own Music at Horizon Stage on March 23

RupLoops: The Human Radio is an interactive, live looping performance that uses vocal percussion, rhythmic rhymes, and an arsenal of eclectic instruments from around the globe. Vancouver-based interdisciplinary artist and facilitator Rup Sidhu utilizes his diverse skills as a musician to create a pulsating, entertaining, and engaging musical experience that is fun for all ages. A gifted performer, Rup has a deep passion for intercultural work and sounds. His show, The Human Radio, will take you on a journey of sound; exploring anatomy, geography, and culture. Through body percussion and beatboxing, Rup demonstrates and teaches how the human form is a musical instrument. Mixing hip-hop, blues, and bhangra, this hour long concert tunes into themes of home, identity, culture, justice, dignity, and celebration. Bring your whole family to RupLoops: The Human Radio at Horizon Stage on Saturday, March 23 at 2 p.m. 

Inspired by folk and classical forms of music from around the world, Rup’s musical expressions range from groove oriented hip hop beats, to contemporary fusions of classical ragas, scores for the National Film Board of Canada and remixes of vintage Bollywood tunes, to experimental compositions for dance and theatre productions. Rup has produced fourteen albums with emerging artists and shared stages with Fred Penner, Raffi, Chugge Khan, Rajasthan Josh, Tanya Tagaq, Michael Franti, Shane Koyzan and Delhi2Dublin, to name a few. Performance highlights include the Jaipur Literature Festival (India), Vancouver Folk Music Festival, Vancouver International Children’s Festival, Aga Khan Museum, World Body Percussion Festival, Globalqurque (USA), Indian Summer Festival, Mehndi, Masala, Musti, Stern Grove Festival (USA), Shambhala Music Festival, Vancouver International Storytelling Festival, Vancouver International Jazz Festival, New Forms Festival, Oregon Country Fair (USA), Fete de la Musique (Germany), and Fusion Festival (Germany). His solo live looping show, RupLoops, has toured to over 300 locations across Canada.

Tickets for Horizon Stage’s Family Matinee, RupLoops: The Human Radio, are $12 for all ages and may be purchased at the City Hall Ticket Centre (315 Jespersen Ave), by phone at 780-962-8995 or 1-888-655-9090, and online through Ticketpro.ca. Free pre-show activities will be running in the lobby from 1 - 1:45 p.m.

Also on March 23, before The Human Radio, Rup is facilitating his Raise Your V.O.I.C.E. (Vocalize Our Inner Creative Expressions) Workshop at Horizon Stage from 11:30 a.m.  – 1 p.m. Youth aged 7 - 15 are invited to explore vocal percussion, the art of live looping, and song writing to co-create original music that utilizes each of their voices. Live looping is the live recording, layering, and playback of music created in real time using loop station technology. Rup will also teach the basics of beatboxing and Indian vocal percussion to give them an understanding of what he likes to call the “tongue drum!” Students will create improvised and spontaneous compositions, listening to each other and utilizing everyone’s skills. Then they will write original lyrics about what they care most about in the world; ending the workshop with a brand new song that’s ready to be performed or recorded. Work will be done in both small and large groups. If the children play an instrument, they are encouraged to bring it with them. The cost for RupLoops’ Raise Your V.O.I.C.E. Workshop is $15 per child - registration may be done online or by calling 780-962-8995.  

As an educator, Rup Sidhu has facilitated and taught musical programs in universities, public schools, youth prisons, and communities throughout Canada, USA, UK, and India. He currently leads programs for a variety of not-for profit organizations including the Access to Media Education Society, the Power of Hope, Reel Youth, and the Sarah McLachlan School of Music. He also co-founded Metaphor, a program dedicated to bringing hip hop workshops and performances into schools, detention centers, and rural communities.