The Winnipeg Folk Festival is announcing today the roster of young musicians from across Canada selected to participate in the Stingray Young Performers Program. During the festival on Friday, July 6, Shady Grove stage will be taken over by 43 emerging artists who were hand-picked by a jury of industry professionals. This special program nurtures young talent and gives these performers the opportunity to share their songs in front of a Winnipeg Folk Fest audience, eager to hear them before they hit the airwaves.
The young performers will spend Thursday, July 5 learning from industry professionals from the 2018 festival lineup. The mentors spend this time sharing knowledge of the industry, technical skills and giving songwriting tips. This year’s mentors are Andrew James O’Brien & Catherine Allan of Fortunate Ones, Andrew Penner & Miranda Mulholland of Harrow Fair, Jadea Kelly, Jeremy Fisher and Lynn Miles & Lynne Hanson of The Lynnes.
This program has made a great impact on the careers of many young artists. Since 2000, the program has seen several artists go on to have successful music careers and some who have come back to play as a part of the Winnipeg Folk Fest main lineup; artists such as Brandy Zdan, Cara Luft, Crooked Brothers, Daniel Champagne, Del Barber, Richard Inman, Sweet Alibi, and from the lineup this year, Kacy & Clayton, Micah Erenberg and Roger Roger.
Stingray Music has been a proud presenting partner of the program since 2010.