music
Meet Dennis, the Roots and Blues Festival’s most mischievous volunteer
SALMON ARM - As you step through the gates of the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival, volunteer Dennis Roberts will be the guy telling you there’s gum stuck to your pants, or that you fit the description of a police suspect, just for the heck of it. And while his motive is mischievous, the...
Take a seat at the painted piano downtown Vernon
VERNON - The people of Vernon are making beautiful music together, thanks to a colourful, communal piano on Main Street. The old upright piano appeared about three weeks ago on the sidewalk outside a 30 Avenue business, Good Gracious. The store’s former owner Dave Russell, who is now retired, came up with the idea after...
Center of Gravity set to take over downtown Kelowna this weekend
KELOWNA – Canada’s hottest beach party, an annual music and sports festival that continues to grow every year, is back in City Park again this weekend. Monster Energy’s Center of Gravity is a 100 per cent local event started by Kelowna native Scott Emslie eight years ago. Since that time it has grown to attract...
No fireworks in Vernon for Canada Day, but here’s what is happening
VERNON - With many people disappointed there won’t be any fireworks accompanying Canada Day in Vernon, a local organizer says there’s still lots to enjoy, and take pride in, this year. Residents learned in May there wouldn’t be a fireworks display on Canada Day — a shock to many who assumed the longstanding tradition would,...
Local bands seek musical peak in B.C. contest
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Two bands from the Thompson-Okanagan are in the running for the musical opportunity of a lifetime. This year’s chosen dozen for the Peak Performance Project include Vernon-based artist Windmills, and Kamloops-based Van Damsel, the only musicians from the B.C. Interior. The rest of the Top 12 are dominated by artists in the Lower Mainland...
Crazy, memorable 20-year ride for Lorenzo’s cafe owner coming to a close
ENDERBY - You’d have to be at least a little crazy to run Lorenzo’s Cafe, an iconic music venue nestled down a windy, back road in the rural North Okanagan, and owner Lorne Costley comes by it honestly. He got the nickname Lorenzo in Mexico back in the 1980s, and it refers to someone who...
Live music competition to rock Kelowna
KELOWNA – A local music competition hopes to highlight just how hard the Okanagan can rock. Okanagan Rocks is an all-categories music competition that is open to solo acts, duos and bands. Six acts will play their original music for the audience and judges, with the winning act getting recording time at Big Audio Productions....
Centre of Gravity music lineup announced
KELOWNA – The music lineup for the largest sports and music festival in the Okanagan has just been announced and features some of the biggest names in music. Hit makers like Diplo, Knife Party and Flo Rida will be joined by Erica Dee, Tre Funk, Emotionz, The Funk Hunters, Delhi 2 Dublin, Kytami, SkiiTour and...
Singing the stories of the Southern Interior
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Our region has long been a destination spot in Canada, and back before the Internet made it easy to share stories and pictures of your travels, music was used to share the beauty of our land. Tourism companies put out records with a single on the region, or even a specific city, while...
Boonstock lines up board of directors
PENTICTON — A community-based board of directors was announced this weekend for the Boonstock Entertainment and Arts Society, a group created to support and promote local arts, music and culture in the Okanagan Valley. “This board is independent with its own mandate but will work in tandem with the Boonstock Productions executive team to ensure...
Boonstock organizers say event planning on track
PENTICTON - With only two months left until Boonstock Music Festival, event coordinators say planning and construction are still on track. The festival’s main coordinator, Barb Haynes, gave an up-to-date presentation of the plans to stakeholders Wednesday. Haynes said she understands some people expected the planning to move faster than it is, but as an...
Boonstock releases four-day concert schedule
PENTICTON - The four-day performance schedule for Boonstock has been released, letting concertgoers know which stage their favourite bands will be performing on. Here is a breakdown of the schedule, if you haven’t seen it on Boonstock’s website already: Kicking things off on Thursday, July 31 at the Kalamalka Stage, will be performances by Candyland,...
IN PHOTOS: Boonstock
PENTICTON - The first full day of Boonstock is over and it doesn't seem like the dust has gotten to too many concert-goers. WIth bandanas over their faces, people continued to dance, jam and party as bands and DJs tore up the stages last night. The campsite is full of people, some who've set up...
BOONSTOCK: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis take it home
PENTICTON - International music sensations Macklemore and Ryan Lewis closed out the show Sunday night at Boonstock, the music festival that's been rocking Penticton all weekend long. There were more attendees Sunday night than anytime over the weekend—an additional parking lot was opened up and RCMP worked as security for the long lines of people...
Tent Graveyard: The aftermath of Boonstock
PENTICTON - The Boonstock grounds that held over 8,000 people this weekend is now littered with tents, lawn chairs, beer cans and confetti, leaving crews with a lot of work on their hands. The festival received mainly positive reviews about performances and artists that took the stage this weekend — even headliner Macklemore asked to be...