Ottawa’s biggest music festival has released this year’s lineup with notable local artists set to take the stage come July.
Eleven Ottawa-based musicians will perform at Bluesfest this summer — each bringing their own unique forms of music to Lebreton Flats.
Here’s a comprehensive list of all the Ottawa acts to watch for at this year’s Bluesfest.
Satellite Birdhouse
Stacy DuBois and Troy Huizinga make up Satellite Birdhouse – a folk rock duo hitting the Bluesfest stage on July 9. DuBois said their music celebrates the people in their lives.
“It’s an honour to be accepted onto the Bluesfest stage,” Huizinga said in an email. “It means the local industry has taken notice of the good work we do.”
Huizinga, an audio technician at the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre, performed at the festival back in 2017 with the band High Waters. This year will mark DuBois’s first time at the event.
“I’ve always wanted to go, so I’m super excited,” Dubois said.
“You know when you leave a show with a renewed spring in your step and feel ready to take on the world? That’s how I want people to feel,” DuBois added.
“There’s so much out there in the media and on the internet that’s designed to drag you down. Satellite Birdhouse is all about lifting you back up.”
DJ Karyen
Karen Nimblett – known as DJ Karyen – is returning to the Bluesfest stage for another year on July 12, 15 and 16.
Nimblett said she leans into her Caribbean roots.
“I kind of do a bit of everything,” she said. “The fact that I get the opportunity to dip into all those different genres makes it a lot more fun because there’s different crowds and types of energy.”
Nimblett said watching other women in the industry drew her to a career in music.
“Being out in the clubs and seeing other DJs — that passion and fire for wanting to do it just never left me,” she said.
“It’s super fun but it’s also challenging at the same time,” she added. “I think it’s just knowing what to expect now.”
F!TH
Five-piece punk rock band F!TH is making their Bluesfest debut this summer on July 10.
“It’s really humbling, and it makes you feel like the hard work has really paid off,” said Zane Bean, guitarist and band manager.
Vinny Belle, the band’s lead vocalist, got into music during college. But Bean was born into music and was inspired at a young age by his dad’s band.
“It seemed like the coolest thing, so I just stuck with it,” he said.
This year will be their first time on the Bluesfest stage, but the bandmates said they’re frequent attendees of the festival and are excited to go behind the scenes.
“We’ve never tapped into the festival market before,” Bean said. “I hope we just get a bunch of new eyes. That’s our main goal.”
“This could be a big start.”
Alicia Kayley
Carleton University alumna Alicia Kayley started her musical journey singing in a choir at the age of five. Now a pop R&B singer-songwriter, she’s getting ready to bring her version of Indig-Pop to the Bluesfest stage on July 10.
Kayley works to incorporate her Indigenous roots into her mainstream music.
“It’s been a big part of who I am and what my life has always been about,” she said. “I was surrounded by music throughout the Pow-Wow grounds, throughout all the beautiful Indigenous community that’s here in Ottawa.
“It’s something I was raised with.”
She hopes to shake up perceptions about what Indigenous artists can look like and do, plus empower Indigenous youth.
“Being able to show that there are ways to be hard, respected, and supported as an Indigenous person, and as an Indigenous artist, is so important,” she said.
Kayley said she has always loved attending Bluesfest every year. She finds inspiration in being able to watch an artist and follow their journey, even if they’re not well known.
“This is going to be one of those shows that changes my life.”
Nayana Bhatnagar
For country music artist and Carleton almuna Nayana Bhatnagar, performing at Bluesfest has been a “long time coming” — she has been dreaming of performing at the festival since she was 12 years old.
This year, she’s taking the stage on July 17.
“I’ve been waiting for the day to get on that stage every single year,” she said.
From a young age, icons like Hannah Montana and Taylor Swift fueled her musical ambitions.
She recalls being a 12-year-old girl watching crowds fawn over The Band Perry and Lady Antebellum, imagining what it would feel like to look out at masses of people as a performer.
Now based in Nashville, Nayana makes music that blends older country music with new pop country fusions. She hopes people who have been coming to her shows for years will see how she’s grown.
“Getting to say I’ve accomplished something that has been on my vision board every single year is going to be a very rewarding feeling,” she said.
DJ MACE
DJ MACE creates his own edits and remixes with a focus on hip-hop, R&B and soulful house music. He appreciates that Bluesfest offers a wide creative berth.
“I get to be me. They’re not telling me what to play. A lot of people, because I’m Caribbean, think I only play folk and reggae, but I’m going to be coming there with everything I like,” he said.
DJ MACE is looking forward to seeing a crowd of all backgrounds on July 9, 10 and 11.
“When you go to BluestFest and you see the diversity vibing to the same stuff you love, it makes you appreciate music that much more,” he said.
DJ MACE said he was honoured to get the call to play three days at Bluesfest and that it’s a “big deal” that completes his career.
Mecca of Stank
Mark Leo, Lynda Giffen, Marcus Ward, Harrison Singer, Trevor Lubin, Andrew Ferderber and Duncan Fyffe make up Mecca of Stank. The band will bring a combination of soul jazz fusion, old school hip hop and reggae to the Bluesfest stage on July 15.
Founding member, lead vocalist and bass player Leo has been working towards playing Bluesfest for five years.
He formed the band in 2019 after meeting the first few members at local open mic nights.
“Bluesfest was always kind of the goal. It was as high of a target I could see for us,” he said.
Leo added he is looking forward to what he can bring as an untethered front person at Bluesfest, hoping to make the show entertaining and visually compelling.
Bluesfest runs from July 9 to 19 at LeBreton Flats, meaning there’s plenty of time to get familiar with these artists’ catalogues before they take the stage.
Leif Vollebekk, hip-hop artist Banggz, DJ TYR ONE and multi-genre Christian group Bridge Music are also musicians with Ottawa ties that will perform at Bluesfest.
The acts could not be reached for interviews.
Featured image by Greg Kolz.
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