Boogie-woogie blues pianist last-minute addition to roster
The $400,000 canopy covering the Heritage Amphitheatre in Hawrelak Park gets its first big moment in the spotlight at Interstellar this weekend.
Festival producer Shauna de Cartier says it’ll be ready to go for Friday’s festival kickoff.
A new canopy had to be manufactured after high winds ripped the one being installed in January. Henri Herbert, a boogiewoogie blues piano player from England, is a lastminute add to the festival’s three-day roster. De Cartier says she came across his YouTube videos, then Skyped him to persuade him to make the trek across the Atlantic.
Herbert, who was a member of the Jim Jones Revue, will perform at 5:10 p.m. on a jam-packed Sunday afternoon. Roots trio Blackie & The Rodeo Kings are taking the Friday spot (7:10 p.m.) vacated by Justin Townes Earle after he cancelled his entire tour. Six food trucks are marking their first visits to the Rodeo — Little Village Cafe, Local Omnivore, Long Lost Foods, Orbit, Royal Treats, and Sailin’ On. They’ll join repeat “acts” Smokehouse, Filistix, Drift and Fantasia. As is tradition at Interstellar, each performer is paired with a bottle of wine, as recommended by the Journal’s wine columnist Gurvinder Bhatia.
This year’s suggestions include Chile’s “ripe, lively and delicious” Maycas del Limari Pinot Noir Reserva Especial to match the “undeniable danceable energy and exuberance of” The Strumbellas, and Australia’s “uncommon but remarkable” Tar & Roses Shiraz for Gord Downie, the Sadies, And The Conquering Sun.
Only one performer won’t get his own wine pairing — Alberta cowboy Corb Lund. “That’s because we’re going to pair him with a beer,” said de Cartier. Even better! The beer? Big Rock’s Purple Gas, flavoured with Saskatoon berries and named after cheap gas used by farmers. The perfect pairing for Lund, who grew up on a ranch near Taber.
Check out youtube.com/ edmontonjournal for a video of some of last year’s performers sampling their wines, including Kurt Vile, Sarah Harmer and Danny Michel.