Peter Shokeir | [email protected]
The Jasper Folk Music Festival has been revealing the 2022 line-up throughout June with tickets going on sale earlier this month.
The Friday night headliner will be the Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer, and the Saturday night headliner will be Reuben and the Dark with the Bullhorn Singers.
鈥淚 feel like we have a little bit of everything,鈥� said Cristin Murphy, executive director of the Jasper Heritage Folk and Blues Society.
With the festival being cancelled for the last two years due to COVID, many of this year鈥檚 artists had previously been booked for 2020.
鈥淭he headliners are all fresh this year,鈥� Murphy added.
鈥淭he original artists that we had booked had conflicts so it didn鈥檛 work out, but in the end, we鈥檙e very excited with the quality of music that we鈥檙e able to provide.鈥�
The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer, who have played Jasper before, are a Vancouver-based blues duo consisting of Shawn Hall and Matthew Rogers.
They are known for combining rock-and-roll swagger and decades-deep blues style.
鈥淭hey have toured with many big acts all over the world and have played many festivals,鈥� Murphy said.
鈥淛ust like all musicians, they鈥檙e very excited to get back to touring and playing festivals, so we鈥檙e really excited to have them. I think they鈥檒l be a great addition to our line-up for this year.鈥�
As for Saturday鈥檚 headliners, Reuben and the Dark is a spirited folk-rock outfit led by songwriter and vocalist Reuben Bullock.
鈥淩euben and the Dark had been around for many years, and we鈥檝e actually looked at them before but have never been able to make it happen,鈥� she said.
The outfit will be collaborating with Kainai-Bloodtribe鈥檚 Bullhorn Singers to offer a unique experience.
Among the local artists lending their talent to the festival is Warrior Women, consisting of a mother-daughter duo Matricia Bauer and Mackenzie Brown.
鈥淲arrior Women have always been an integral part of our festival,鈥� Murphy said.
鈥淭hey open the entire festival with their drumming and singing, and often they would do a closing on Sunday, but this year, because we won鈥檛 have a Sunday, the plan is they鈥檒l also open on Saturday morning, so that鈥檒l be a little bit different than what we鈥檝e done, but they鈥檙e always a really valuable part of what we offer.鈥�
Well Spaced Trees is another local band that will be participating, with Murphy describing them as having 鈥渁n amazing sound.鈥�
Folk/soul artist Sonia Deleo also used to live in Jasper and is now based out of Calgary.
Other artists that have been confirmed include the Hillties, Apollo Suns, Yan-Nick Michaud, Amelie Patterson, David Essig and more.
The festival will take place on the new Jim Vena stage donated by CN Rail鈥攆or the first time ever鈥攊n Commemoration Park on Sept. 9-10.
Tickets and more details are available at
