Having played Northern Lights Festival Boréal, Maty Ralph and the rest of Pistol George Warren can attest to the opportunities it brings.
“It helped us with networking big time,” he said.
Now, more local musicians will have that opportunity, thanks to the festival's Meltdown competition.
On April 6, a number of solo artists and groups played Theatre Cambrian, vying for a paid spot at the festival. In the end, local singer-songwriter Sam Cassio and the up-and-coming band Coast Redwood scored the chance to play the fest July 5 to 7.
Ralph was joined on the judging panel by Clayton Drake and Kim Schmidt, who both won the competition in recent years, and long-time festival performer Fred Squire.
“I got to see some bands I didn't
know existed,” Ralph said. Many of them came with pleasant
surprises.
“On my list, originality is pretty big,” he said.
Max Merrifield, executive director of the NLFB, said the day of music included “a lot of cool surprises.”
“We had all kinds of acts,” he said.
Once the competition portion of the evening wrapped up, guests were treated to performances by Hugh Jazz and Paul Dunn.
Tickets to the main event, which features headlines Buck 65, The Good Brothers and Serena Ryder, are now on sale. For more information, visit nlfbsudbury.com.
