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The time is drawing near for friends and family to journey to Guelph lake for the annual celebration of summer, community and music that is the Hillside Festival.  This year, Hillside runs from July 22 – 24 and is featuring more than 80 performances on 5 stages over 3 days.

In typical Hillside fashion the weekend passes went fast and are completely sold out everywhere.  Didn’t get your weekend pass? Have no fear, you can still make it to the island this summer.  Day passes are available and can be purchased online at Ticketpro.ca or at one of our official outlets; but snap them up fast or you may find yourself out of luck. Children 12 and under are free and senior discount are available (*HST & SC extra).

Friday Night is a special low price at only $40 which is a steal of a deal considering the amazing line up of performers: 

The Dears, Karkwa, The Midway State, One Hundred Dollars, Lion Detective Club, KO, Chali 2na, Lights, Kidstreet and Harlan Pepper.  Performing just for kids will be Mary Lambet and The Skalywags.

Saturday Day passes are selling out fast with the reasonable price of only $70.  This jam packed, fun filled day will include performances on the Main Stage, the Island Stage and the Lake Stage by: 

Emmanuel Jal, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Kim Churchill, Charlotte Cornfield, Hanna Georgas, Dan Mangan, Memphis, The Sheepdogs, Snailhouse, The Stanfields, These United States, Rundown Royalty, Hollerado, Hooded Fang, Mother Mother, Sweet Thing, Dala, Lost In The Trees, Tacoma Hellfarm Tragedy, Etran Finatawa, Graveyard Train, Doug Paisley, Callers, Little Scream. 

Saturday will also be the first day for the very unique solar powered Sun Stage which features spoken word and dramatic performances by:

Tom Budday, The Cliffs, David Delisca, the GCVI Improv Team, Jemini, The Recipe and White Noise.  

The Rainbow Stage will be chalk full of kids performers that’s sure to please all the junior Hillsiders in attendance:

The Skalywags, Laurie Clark, Peter Puffin's Whale Tales, The Robert Davis Kids Music & Comedy Show and Socks & Sandals. 

For the final Day of Hillside, you can nab a Sunday Day pass for the same reasonable price as the previous day, only $70.   Rounding out the incredible weekend of music on the Main Stage, the Island Stage and the Lake Stage will be:

SLOAN, Adverteyes, Kevin Drew & The Beauties, Modern Field Recordings, Shannon Kingsbury, Captured Anthems, Shad, Braids, Common Grackle, Gobble Gobble, Grimes, Paper Lions, Pat Jordache, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Serena Ryder & The Beauties, Les Tireux d'Roches, Chris Velan, Ganga Giri, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Little Miss Higgins, Lowlands, Old Man Luedecke, Jude Vadala and The Woodshed Orchestra.

The Sunday Sun Stage will once again be featuring talented and artistic poetry slams, jams and spoken words by:

The Recipe, Burlinton Slam Project, The Fugitives, Prufrock, Schram, Semantix Team 2011 and Kevin Sutton. 

The wee ones will be wooed on the Sunday Rainbow stage by an array of wonderful children’s performances by:

FRED PENNER, Peter Puffin's Whale Tale, The Robert Davis Kids Music & Comedy Show, Socks & Sandals and The Monkey Bunch.

History:  The Hillside Festival is a 28-year-old, volunteer-powered grassroots festival that celebrates and inspires creativity through clever music programming in a warm and peace-promoting atmosphere.   Environmental stewardship, altruism and equality are upheld as core values that bolster and help sustain the festival.  Every year for the past six years, the festival has sold out its weekend passes on the first sale date.  The musical programming is well regarded for its visionary quality, since the artistic director tends to book bands, such as Arcade Fire, well before they become big names.  

Contact:

For more information, please contact Marie Zimmerman or Sam Baijal at <executivedirector@hillsidefestival.ca>, 519.763.6396 (Hillside Office).  519-546-8360(cell). 

Website:  www.hillsidefestival.ca

Guelph Lake - 6:00 PM

Move aside boys, the women are taking Hillside by storm.  The line-up of incredible female talent at this year’s Hillside Festival seems endless; their list of accomplishments and awards goes on and on.  Who are these powerful women and what are they bringing to Hillside this year?

Friday night will showcase the talented Toronto progressive country band One Hundred Dollars, led by lead singer and lyricist Simone Schmidt.  In the three years since their first full-length album, Forest of Tears, One Hundred Dollars has earned their acclaim in the Canadian music scene with their touching live performances and ability to fit any bill from indie to folk to punk.  On their new LP, Songs of Man, Schmidt draws on her experiences as a speech facilitator as inspiration for the stories she tells through song.  With their solid re-imagining of what contemporary country music can be, One Hundred Dollars will be sure to please.

Vancouver’s own Hanna Georgas will be gracing the stage on Saturday with her distinctive voice, heartfelt lyrics and playful melodies.  She originally launched her career in 2008 by winning Music BC’s Songbird Songwriting contest.  Since that time, she has exploded onto the Canadian Music scene and shared the stage with the likes of City and Colour, Robyn, Joel Plaskett, An Horse and Mother Mother.  In 2010, she was long listed for the Polaris Music Prize and just this year won the XM Verge Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year as well as the Indie award for Favourite Solo Artist of the Year at Canadian Music Week.  Joining the Saturday line up of women’s solo acts will be the easy going musical stylings of Charlotte Cornfield, who has been named, “the next it-girl of folk-rock” by the Montreal Mirror.  Cornfield is a Toronto born girl who relocated to Montreal to study jazz drumming.  She recently recorded her highly anticipated full length album Two Horses which is due out this year.  Group performances on Saturday will include the 2010 Folk Music Award winners for Vocal Group of the Year, Dala and the female fronted band Callers, hailing from Brooklyn, New York.

Rounding out the Hillside weekend on Sunday, numerous female solo acts are in store.  Guelph’s own Jude Vadala, who has been a member of the Guelph music scene for 30 years, will be performing her own unique brand of roots music.  Vadala is a former member of The Bird Sisters and it was with this group that she honed her skills as a songwriter and recording artist.  As a solo artist, she’s produced 5 albums, the most recent being Do You Ever, released in November 2010.  This busy artist is a current member of the Wintersong Trio and has worked on over fifty projects in collaboration with numerous musicians; all in all an impressive resume for an artist who decided to start singing when the car radio broke.  Sunday at Hillside will also include solo artist Serena Ryder who will be accompanied a staple of the Toronto music scene, The Beauties.  Originally from Millbrook Ontario and later settling in Peterborough, Ryder received her first guitar from her father at the tender age of 13 and by age 15 accomplished her first indie recording.  The album If Memory Serves has been certified gold and won the 2008 Juno for Best New Artist.  Most recently, Ryder has recorded her full length debut on Atlantic Records, it is o.k.  Local Artist Shannon Kingsbury will be joining the Sunday line-up as well as one of the more unique performances by solo artist Grimes, whose brand of R&B, industrial, goth hip-hop is sure to get your body moving.

Hillside Festival - 6:00 PM

The Hillside Festival is always home to an eclectic array of musicians from all walks of life.  This year the international artists hail from as far away as the continents of Australia and Africa, to as close to home as our North American neighbours to the south, the U.S.

Three different acts from the land down under will be gracing the Hillside stages.  All the way from the East Coast of Australia, performing on Saturday night is Kim Churchill.  With his clean, intricate guitar picking and powerful yet soulful vocals, one would never guess he’s only 20 years old.  Churchill is living proof that when it comes to talent, age makes no difference.  It’s his hard work and dedication to the craft that makes him one of the most popular up-and-coming acts today.  Saturday will also be the time to catch Australia’s Graveyard Train, who are the pioneers of the new genre, ‘horror country’.  To create this style of music, unorthodox instruments such as percussive hammer and chains are paired with old timey instruments like the banjo, washboard, steel guitar and harmonica.  This six part baritone man choir is an act not to be missed.  On Sunday, Ganga Giri will be getting the tribal technological dance party started by using the instrument most synonymous with Australia, the didjeridu, and pairing it with fat tribal beats, funky dub bass and world percussions sounds.

Some of the most fascinating artist bio’s this year are those of the performers from Africa.  Etran Finatawa will be visiting Hillside from Niger, a desert region that is home to the nomadic herdsmen tribes, the Tuareg and Wodaabe.   Etran Finatawa is composed members from both these tribes and is the first band to unite these two nomadic cultures in a symbol of peace and reconciliation.  The fusion of the musical styles from these two groups has created a new genre, ‘nomad blues’.  Their sound combines Wodaabe chants accompanied by traditional calabasse (gourd) drums, a variety of stringed instruments and tende drums ululations. The Saturday performance by Etran Finatawa will be a truly spiritual experience.  Nigeria is the southern neighbour of Niger and home to the band Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, who will be performing Sunday on the Main Stage.  Egypt 80 was first fronted by Seun’s father, but with the release of their album From Africa with Fury: Rise, Seun has found his own idiosyncratic voice fuelled by scorching rhythms and kinetic funk energy.  To the east of Niger and Nigeria lies Sudan, where artist Emmanuel Jal was born into the life of a child soldier in the southern region.  Overcoming enormous disadvantages, Jal has gone on to become one of the world’s top hip hop artists, spreading his political message of peace and reconciliation born out of his personal experiences.  Jal is also a spokesperson for Amnesty International and Oxfam and is the creator of the charitable foundation, Gua Africa.  It will be an honour to see this incredible artist and human being perform on Saturday.

From west coast to east coast, several American artists will be crossing the longest boarder in the world to congregate at Guelph Lake and dazzle the audience with their musical stylings.  Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, from San Diego will take the stage on Saturday.  Denson is a former member of Lenny Kravitz’ band and has recorded five jazz albums.  In 1993 he formed The Greyboy Allstars along with DJ Greyboy and released Freestylin’. Denson’s current formula, with a stronger emphasis on vocals while adding funk, R&B and hip-hop elements is not to be missed.  Also playing on Saturday are two American folk bands.   These United States, hailing from Brooklyn, Lexington and Washington DC as well as Lost in Trees from Chapel Hill.

All the international acts performing at the Hillside Festival this year will bring their own unique cultural experiences with them to the stage helping, once again, create the magic that is Hillside.

Hillside - 6:00 PM

The Hillside Music Festival is only a few days away and the anticipation is building.    Here are just a few highlights of the musical acts this year:

For the alternative rock fans, the possibilities for catching a great performance seem endless.  Vancouver’s Dan Mangan is playing on Saturday.  He’s spent the last six years toting his guitar and merch-sack around North America, Europe and Australia as a solo act.  This indie artist’s efforts have paid off with such accomplishments as winning the $25,000 XM Satellite award for Artist of the Year and having his single, Robots named by CBC as the Best Song and Best Vocals in 2009.  Mangan’s sophomore album Nice, Nice, Very Nice sat at #1 on the iTunes Canada Singer/Songwriter chart for nearly 6 months straight.  With his gentle humour and knack for making the quaint seem universal and the universal seem quaint, Dan Mangan is an act not to be missed.  Headlining the Main Stage on Sunday of Hillside this year will be a Canadian favourite, Sloan.  This year Sloan is celebrating their twenty-year tenure and has released a new album Double Cross this past May.  This four-piece alternative rock band has earned their spot as the headliner by producing 10 LPs, 2 EPs, a live album, a best of collection, no less than 30 singles and receiving 25 award nominations winning 6 times.  It’s no wonder they are considered one of Canada’s most successful bands ever.

This year the Hillside Festival hip-hop scene has an all-star line-up.  Chali 2na, originally from Chicago and now settled in Los Angeles is a hip-hop legend.  He was an MC for Jurassic 5 where he established himself as one of the most distinctive, charismatic personalities in music.  In 2009 Chali 2na released his first solo album Fish Outta Water.  The album is a story from start to finish of his life, loves, triumphs and letdowns.  His trademark articulate spitfire rhymes will undoubtedly dazzle the audience Friday night on the Main Stage.  Canadian hip-hop royalty, Shad, will be performing on Sunday night.  From humble beginnings in London Ontario, this young artist has risen to the top by releasing 3 albums, winning a Juno for Best Rap Recording of the Year and earning a 2010 Polaris Music Prize nomination. 

Hillside will pop with Lights on Friday night.  Lights is no stranger to Hillside as this will be her second time playing her unique brand of intergalactic-electro pop for the festival.  Lights has been playing music all her life, in fact she invested in an 8-track mixer when she was only 13; but it was in 2008 with the release of her Juno winning EP that her career really started to fly.  The single February Air reached number 3 on the Much Music Countdown, Drive my Soul climbed to number 1 on the countdown and spent over 3 months in the Top 20 on Hot AC radio.  On Saturday night, the Vancouver based avant-pop group Mother Mother will taking over.  Mother Mother started out as an acoustic trio in 2005 but now includes guitar, bass, keys, synths horns drums and electronics.  So far they have release 3 albums, the first of which got them listed as one of the top 5 bands to watch by the Vancouver Province.  Their latest album, EUREKA has an eccentric hook-laden pop meets rock sound, an upbeat collection with dark lyrical undertones.

For all you country, bluegrass, roots and folk folks, there is much to choose from.   Little Miss Higgins will be taking the stage on Sunday to perform her brand of old time country blues that is sprinkled with jazz and has a hint of folk.  This Alberta born artist has made 4 releases, the latest is Across the Plains in which she is accompanied by horns, guitar, mandolin, banjo, upright bass and chunky perscussion.  The Rural Alberta Advantage (RAA) will also be taking the stage on Sunday.  This band had its humble beginnings in 2002 when singer/songwriter Nils Edenloff met drummer Paul Banwatt at a weekly open mic night.  Although other musicians have joined and left the project over the years, it was in 2006 with the completion of their self-titled EP that multi instrumentalist, Amy Cole, solidified her place in the trio contributing keys, percussion and back-up vocals.  RAA’s full-length album Hometowns was created in 2008 and in 2010 won the Galaxie Rising Star award for Recording of the Year at the Indies. 

There you have but a small taste of what is to come for Hillside Festival 2011.  For more information on all the artists performing this year, please check out http://www.hillsidefestival.ca/.