Sweet 16 for Canal Bank Shuffle
Grammy winners, Juno winners and Blues Hall of Famers will converge on Thorold for four days this week.
The Canal Bank Shuffle, one of the region’s largest music festivals, will turn the town into blues central for the 16th year. Nearly 30 acts will perform in seven venues, Oct. 12 to 15.
Seasoned Shuffle buffs know the drill — a bounty of blues, within walking distance of each other. And while promoter Bob Liddycoat has had some stacked lineups before, this year’s pedigree tops them all.
“I think it’s the best one ever,” he says. “I mean, we’ve had some really great acts in the past, but overall, this is really good.”
Among the performers will be Paul Nelson, who won a Grammy producing and performing on the late Johnny Winter’s final album, 2014’s Step Back, and Blues Hall of Fame inductee Joe Louis Walker with his full band.
Returning to the festival will be LMT Connection, Jeremiah Johnson and recent Niagara Music Award winner for blues artist, Spencer Mackenzie.
As always, performers will play a variety of venues in Thorold’s downtown core. A four-day pass ($25) grants access to any show at
any location.
Liddycoat says the festival has easily tripled in size since it began in 2002. It also has the full support of the town after some “differences” in the beginning.
“The last few years have been really good,” he says. “It took us a while to get (there). I mean, we didn’t really worry about it — the venues were good, the bands were great — but the city wasn’t really into it.
“The last few years they have been.”
The festival has given Niagara a blues reputation which attracts top talent from the big cities, he adds. Liddycoat recalls some performers playing the festival in Thorold, then playing for three times the festival price in Toronto the next night.
A festival pass which includes 29 other acts, no less.
“We’re really pretty proud of the reputation Niagara’s got,” he says. “We know a lot of Toronto bands coming here on weekends and they just can’t get over how thriving it