Dilly Dally, TUNS, Julie Doiron and The Wooden Stars, and Little Scream are the initial acts announced for SappyFest XI: Republic Of SappyFest, taking place in Sackville, NB from July 29 - July 31, 2016.
A limited number of early bird tickets for the festival are on sale now for $90 (fees & taxes included) and are available HERE.
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DILLY DALLY (Toronto, ON)
"What makes a band like Toronto’s Dilly Dally so endearing is that they speak directly to the disdain of every working band. They aren’t showy but rather loud and a little messy, and they don’t give a shit about wrapping it up with a bow...In a time when the pool is flooded and everyone’s clambering but no one has the answer, these guys are frustrated but motivated, restless but still full of wonder. They’ve cultivated a fiercely noisy but completely intriguing sound, and sometimes that’s all it really takes." - Noisey
TUNS (Halifax, NS/Toronto, ON)
"Rumblings about Halifax supergroup TUNS first began last September, and six months and a couple of shows later, here's what we know: 1. The band includes Sloan's Chris Murphy on drums, Super Friendz/Flashing Lights' Matt Murphy on guitar and theInbreds' Mike O'Neill on bass. All three sing. 2. They're named after the Technical University of Nova Scotia (now Dal Tech). 3. First single "Throw It All Away" is a jangly, guitar-driven ditty with boyish three-part harmonies. 4. Expect a release in 2016." - NOW
JULIE DOIRON (Sackville, NB)
"Back in the pre-millennial fog of 1999, Julie Doiron made one of her first, decisive steps away from being 'the former bassist for Eric’s Trip' and towards establishing herself as a heart-on-sleeve solo troubadour celebrated on her own merits. She did it with a little help from some unlikely friends, too: inscrutable Ottawa art-popsters the Wooden Stars. A blazingly talented indie quintet perpetually doomed to the 'too good to catch on' files, the Stars’ and their shape-shifting, mathematical headiness seemed an odd match for Doiron’s plainspoken, lo-fi folk confessionals. But the combination worked, yielding an understated, tinglingly emotive CanCon classic in a one-off collaborative effort simply titled Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars." - Toronto Star
LITTLE SCREAM (Montreal, QC)
"...in 2011, Laurel Sprengelmeyer released The Golden Record, her debut album as Little Scream. Her corroded guitar playing forged earthy, beautifully arranged epics that warranted comparisons to Neko Case, but they never seemed to earn the props they deserved. Her comeback takes a different tack entirely. 'Love as a Weapon' evokes what might transpire if St. Vincent covered the Bee Gees: bright, tight synthetic funk where Sprengelmeyer's unrelenting falsetto holds court over strutting bass Moog and zippy guitar." - Pitchfork
SappyFest artist residency program & Wish You Were Here tour:
In addition to these initial artists, SappyFest also announces the introduction of a new artist residency program and tour today. In the spirit of collaboration that first motivated the humble beginnings and development of SappyFest, Inc., this new residency sees ten artists from Sappy's past spanning multiple disciplines - written word, video, visual arts, puppetry, music, and new media - working together in the studio space above local pub and arts complex, Thunder & Lightning Ltd. in Sackville, NB from May 6 - 14, 2016.
At the end of the week, the collective works will be presented as a large exhibit at Thunder & Lightning. Coupled with a rock show, the exhibition will kick off the Wish You Were Here tour taking portions of the multi-disciplinary variety show on the road throughout the Maritimes.
Together, the residency and the tour aim to encapsulate all that has made Sappy, well, Sappy. Collaborations, good times, bad ideas.
The artists in residency are: Shotgun Jimmie, Ian Roy, Michael Feuerstack, Paul Henderson, Amy Siegel, Graeme Patterson, Mitchell Wiebe, Amanda Fauteux, Jon Claytor, and Steven Lambke.
The artists on tour are: Shotgun Jimmie, Ian Roy, G.L.A.M. BATS, Amy Siegel, andSteven Lambke.
Wish You Were Here tour dates are as follows:
May 14 - Sackville, NB @ Thunder & Lightning Ltd.
May 17 - Charlottetown, PE @ Baba's Lounge
May 19 - Fredericton, NB @ Wilser's Room
May 20 - Halifax, NS @ Gus' Pub
May 21 - Sydney, NS @ St. Patrick's Church