Roots Round Up
Vancouver’s original folk funk roots rock reggae ska dance party!
Alpha Yaya Diallo
Alpha Yaya Diallo, guitarist, singer, songwriter is a three-time Juno Award winner. A true multi-cultural artist, he performs in French, English and his native Guinean languages of Fulani, Malinke, and Sosoxi. Diallo’s dexterous acoustic and electric guitar-playing, with its fluid melodic lines and compelling grooves, places him in the front ranks of African musicians. His band, Bafing, features high energy African rhythms, visually captivating dancers, and a hypnotic percussion section. By successfully uniting the traditional and the contemporary, Diallo has carved a niche for himself beside such West African luminaries as Salif Keita, Baaba Maal, Youssou N’Dour, and Ismael Lo.
B.A. Johnston
B.A. Johnston is a highly spirited musician hailing from Hamilton, Ontario. His songs are unabashedly honest, uniquely quirky and cover controversial topics such as: deep frying, pirates, poutine, video games and love.
He has released five albums and has spent the last eighteen years touring the country in his mother’s Toyota Previa minivan, providing Canadians with a truly wild performance. He has shared the stage with acts like The Rheostatics, The Constantines, Cuff the Duke, The Silverhearts, The Guthries, and Joel Plaskett.
He has played such high-profile schmooze fests like Halifax Pop Explosion, SappyFest (Sackville), Close to the Coast (Charlottetown), and Ranch fest (Vancouver).
He hopes one day to be rich and famous, buy a deep fryer for his bedroom, and finally dance with a girl when Stairway to Heaven is the last song of the night.
Adham Shaikh
A brilliant balance between organic sounds fused with soaring texturally produced beats, Adham is a master at his craft of sonic creations. Internationally renowned, Juno nominated, and Kootenay-based, Adham has been producing music for more than 18 years with a keen ear towards music of the world, weaving the sounds and instrumentation of India, Bali, Australia, Africa, Jamaica, the Middle East, Slovakia, Scandinavia, Turkey and North America, into all aspects of his production.
When playing live, Adham brings the sensibility of the global village to the stage as both a solo performer and alongside a collective of world musicians. Fusing together soundscapes of the ancient and the immediate with the tribal dub groove, his renowned sets bridge the gap between the organic and the electronic, making his music accessible to all ages.
The Joe Abbott Band
Joe Abbott is a song writer, multi-instrumentalist and singer from Vancouver, BC with a background in jazz, blues, and American roots music.
An exciting and authentic new voice in Canadian folk and country, Joey is the nicest guy you could hope to meet. He is authentic, funny, and an unbelievable songwriter, bar none. He writes with a wit, warmth, and humour uncanny of a fellow his age—although perhaps the years he’s spent on the road with Petunia and the Vipers as well as the late, great bluesman Harpdog Brown have something to do with it. Who is to say? All we know is we love him, and we are sure you will too.
Tremblers Of Sevens
Tremblers of Sevens is two people who sound like ten. They mine everything from traditional blues, devotional gospel, meditative Turkish delights, and klezmer nuptial nights, then plug it in, crank it up loud and hammer the material out over melodic and dynamic drums. The result is heavy, groovy songs that take you somewhere familiar that you’ve never actually been.
Bu Vonblume
Bu VonBlume is funk. Bu VonBlume is disco. Bu VonBlume might see you falling down from laughter….or maybe from exhaustion…Bu VonBlume is the space between the bass lines, the ‘get ups’ between the ‘get downs’, the ‘fun’ in the funk, the Bu in the boogie. Bu VonBlume is what happens when a bunch of Cumberland friends see a need for dance, good dance, strong dance, and flavourful dance. Bu VonBlume is a baby of the 70s, with piercing original horn hooks, downright dangerous bass lines and stage antics that seem strait outta Broadway. Expect audience participation and original songs saturated in groove and bravado where no genre is spared.
MOD
Beginning his musical career in the Georgia Straight, MOD has been strongly motivating the electronic DJ scene in the Northwest for over 15 years. With his diverse variety of music ranging from Latin, Balkan, and Swing House to Reggae Dancehall, Moombahton, Hip Hop, and bass driven TWERK, to good old-fashioned hard-hitting House Music. MOD has boat loads of experience, being a part of the Infamous trio, “TheNakedDJ’s”, playing along side the likes of Chali 2na, Nickodemus, Adham Shaikh, and The Funk Hunters. Classically trained on the piano as a child, in Mike’s spare time he is always playing with synthesizers, beat machines, and keyboards, living in a life of bass and melodies. If you haven’t been caught on a beach, dancing out the summer to one of his “Random Acts of Musical Terrorism”, or on a slammin dancefloor late at night, modifying your twerk moves, keep your heads on the horizon!
A Penny A Sketch
A Penny A Sketch is a DIY marionette production involving handmade dolls, live music and comedic subject matter. Consisting of two puppeteers, and one to two musicians, this theatre performance incorporates vaudeville, folk-lore, and social commentary. It’s an old timey art form yet with a modern realness that people can relate to. We like to keep our content current and highly original. It’s our own new twist on something old!
Mean Bikini
Hailed for their fast and enthusiastic live show, Mean Bikini play 50% songs to get you pumped and 50% songs that get you pissed off. With musical influences that range from skate punk to hardcore Mean Bikini makes a point to celebrate the good in the world while tearing down the bad in a way that is pointed and unapologetic, but also inclusive and just plain fun.
Lucy Lamberts Violet Drift
She is a self taught musician who focusses on jazz accordion, singing, and violin, though genre bends to include swing, manouche, eastern european, rebetiko, punkrock and folk music. She came to jazz accordion through several years of playing in the street with different jazz bands as a travelling street performer, busking her way through Europe, East Asia and the United States, before moving to Montreal and performing and recording with various jazz and swing groups, and travelling to New Orleans where she was influenced by jazz and american music
Willow
Coming from the rocky shores of Quadra island, four women joined voices and hearts – and Willow was born. A love for vocal harmonies drives the backbone of our repertoire, complemented by an array of folk instruments. They bring a wide range of genres to their highly engaging performances. From the sounds of Appalachia ringing through to gospel and bluegrass tunes, the Smokey haze of the blues and the harmonic sounds of traditional folk
Kristi Hawkes
Recently reunited with the West coast, from Pender Island hails Kristi Hawkes. She whispers and yells metaphor fueled songs on guitar and banjo. Her haunting vocals will make you feel like velvet that has been roughed up and made smooth again. Melancholy folk through and through.
Tongue and Groove
Quadra Islands own disco, funk, n groove band!
Richard Garvey
Richard Garvey is a guitar-strumming, banjo-plucking, and sing-along-starting performer and community organizer. His award winning songs explore the highs and lows of love, injustice, and the marbled mess of the human condition . Whether he’s playing to a living room or an amphitheatre, Richard brings clever songs and a sly sense of humour to inspire solidarity, hope, and change . When you’re looking for the latest incarnation of world-changing, foot-stomping, and heart-filling folk music, see Richard Garvey.
Good Enough Dave & the Big Naturals
He’s alright..
Big Fancy & The Shiddy Cowboys
Invoking the masters of Old-Time Country, Big Fancy roams the land, a true troubadour moonshiner with a sharp wit and love-lorn voice. With his band, The Shiddy Cowboys, he will deliver his own brand of Sweat-pant wearing Loser Country. Featuring the PG premier of Their new Lap Steel player Liam Tyner, creating that classic Country sound.
Nattie Nick
Nattie Nick is based on Quadra Island and has been DJing for over 20 years throughout the Discovery Islands, often at his favorite haunts, such as the Heriot Bay Inn and The Quadra Legion. Nick began by playing downtempo morning sets for outdoor festivals, and then progressed to big bass dance sets, with ragga, dub and psychedelic influences. This will be Nick’s third time playing Quadrapalooza
OH DEER
Folk/songwriter duo with a medley of guitar, banjo, fiddle. Strong, soulful vocals with soft harmonies, singing songs of heartbreak, moving forward and facing the ever changing.
DJ Lion
DJ Lion aka Levi is a 9-year-old DJ who has been attending music festivals since in the womb. Raised listening to music like the Funk Hunters & Pleasantations to Neon Steve, Levi fell in love with electronic music. He started mixing house music when his moms friend lent him a pioneer controller in November of 2022. Producer Aspen King nannied Levi and his little bro, in that time she shared a bunch of her originals and other various house tracks with him and showed him the ropes. DJ Lion played his first set publicly at his 9th birthday rave in April 2023 where he played alongside Aspen King, DylPrickle, Acid $anta & Jojo. In June 2023 DJ Lion played for Hidden Bass Society in Nanaimo, B.C at the Auditorium Market event. Levi plays Tech House & D&B, yet with daily practice and a wide range of influences he is sure to bring other flavours to the dancefloor!
Miss Magpie Trio
Miss Magpie returns to Quadrapalooza to play sad girl folk songs with her Folk Trio. Expect stringy licks, harmonic blips, and wistful lyrics in songs about seasons, sorrow and other things that start with an S.
Naomi Kavka
A visceral and refined musician, Naomi Kavka’s music is deeply intimate, political, and cathartic. She weaves spirits of noir-country and neo-traditional flourishes with a biting edge.
Sound Seed Yoga
Sarah Sopracolle, Quadra Island local, intuitive sound healer and owner of Sound Seed Yoga, shares sonic sessions inspired by Nada yoga (the yoga of sound) and the world of sound healing.
These mostly passive practices are conducive to deep relaxation and powerful experiences. Sarah uses singing bowls, shamanic drumming, her voice and a multitude of sound medicine instruments to assist in journeying, expanding consciousness and connection to all that is.
Sarah also leads Kirtan and yoga classes. For more info about what Sound Seed Yoga has to offer go to SoundSeedYoga.ca
More artists to be added, please see ticket link for latest.