Steamboat Mountain Music Festival is an affordable, family-friendly, outdoor celebration that has become a signature event for Edgewater. The 12^th annual Steamboat is all set for the weekend of July 7-8-9.

On Friday, July 7 the festivities begin with five sequential Porch Parties at various locations around town. Each party will feature a different local performer. The first of the parties will be at the Edgewater Par 3 Golf Course where Marty Beingessner and Larry Pickering will open up the evening.

From there, participants will be directed to the four other locations where Christa McKergow & Kyle Mosure, Erin & Eli, and Patty Dee will play, and the final gathering will be at Frank’s Rink where everyone is invited to bring their instruments and join the Big Jam led by Brad Lawrence.

Saturday, July 8 will be packed with non-stop music from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m., followed by a dance party in the Community Hall.

Columbia Head Waters Dancers will open the festival with hoop dancing. The dancers are a young Indigenous group who beat with the heart of this beautiful land, honouring the traditions of their ceremonial arts: music, movement, story, community, and regalia. And while they do all that, they have fun and learn about themselves.

The Main Stage line-up this year includes some renowned visiting artists, and many local and regional artists as well.

Shaela Miller (pictured above), who comes from Lethbridge, is rooted in the classic country greats of yesteryear as well as the new wave of country music. Tear in your beer ballads, dance hall shuffles and dark alt-country noir craft work are all part of the package. Shaela, who has won numerous awards for her recordings and live shows, was one of the most popular artists at last summer’s Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival.

Greg Koch (above) is a world-wide guitar sensation! He has developed his own unique style of picking and is widely regarded as one of the best technical players in the world – in a clear acknowledgement of his virtuosity, Greg was invited to play at Les Paul’s 100^th Birthday Celebration in 2009. Greg has innovated guitar design and authored numerous guitar instruction books. He is famous as a teacher and amazing as a performer. Greg will be playing the festival’s main stage on Saturday and he’ll be giving one of the Sunday workshops.

Buckley (above) is a Calgary-based singer-songwriter with a beautiful voice and a soulful repertoire of original songs rooted in the best of the folk and country traditions. He has won 2022 Best Male Artist Western Canadian Music Award, and he has racked up several song-writing awards. He has produced five albums: Northern Country Soul, Roll On, and Nowhere Fast with his Tim Buckley Trio; as well as solo efforts Frame By Frame, Miles We Put Behind, and his recent video release Holding My Place.

The Muddy Souls (lead image) are: Peter Romanelli on guitar and vocals, Jacob Camara on banjo and vocals, Jon Brex on upright bass, Gabe Schliffer on fiddle and vocals, and Austen Slone on mandolin and vocals. Together, they add up to a five-piece progressive bluegrass band from Eugene, Oregon. Their original music spans classical bluegrass to beautiful ballads and everything in between. They have released five albums including Medicine, The Eagle, and The Raven.

New Moon is a road-tested band, who have been entertaining Western Canadian audiences for over three decades. Members include Marty Carter on saxophone, flute, keyboards, acoustic guitar, EWI (electronic wind instrument) and harmonica. Brad Carter on drums. Russ Brent on guitar and lap steel. Murf Martin on bass guitar. They have a versatile set list of rock reggae blues and jazz.

Northern Quarter, an award-winning indie pop band from Canmore, features charismatic vocalist Kerry Hunter, guitar wiz Carlos Nadeau, and the creative back up Wendy Crewe on bass, and Dave Crew on drums and synths.

Blitzen Coast is a wildly original local band featuring J. Stovel on guitar and vocals, P. Carrick on Drums, Tim MacIntosh on keys and synths, and Frraser Smith on bass and vocals. Check out their vids Radio Gap, Back Roads, and Miles and Miles on Youtube, and Susie Dufresne on the Steamboat Shake A Tree compilation.

The Usual Suspects are a mysterious bunch who turn up at lots of venues around the valley. They include Scott Ivers on guitar and vocals, Brian Comrie on keys, Steve Benty on drums, and Mike Garner on bass. They say they met up in Sing-Sing while doing time for a botched music store robbery. They sometimes have been known to hang out at The Horsethief Pub in Radium.

Smarty Pants is Kurt Reichel and Bill Cropper from Invermere and Wilmer. They are a true garage band. They actually do meet every Sunday afternoon in Bill’s garage, where they make beautiful and sometimes weird music together. They cover an amazing range of songs that span five decades, and they write their own tunes too. Their original composition Trailer Park is included on the Steamboat Shake A Tree album.

The festival’s Tweener Stage will feature short sets between main stage acts. Local performers, including: Kyle Mosure, Nome, Dean Kendrick, and a few unconfirmed others.

A-Muse Troupe is a cirque-improv collective from Golden dedicated to the positive power of play. They and their amazing puppets engage kids with costume and spectacle. They have frolicked and clowned around Steamboat for ten of the festival’s twelve-year history. They also have a junior troupe called the Cirque Kids! They’ll be pranking and parading around the festival grounds, looking for and creating fun!

On Sunday, July 9, three music workshops will run at Edgewater All Saints Churchyard. Details for these are still in the works, but Muddy Souls and Tim Buckley are signed up as instructors, and guitar lovers will definitely want to be there for the Greg Koch workshop.

Tickets for the 12th Steamboat are available online at Eventbrite and at many local outlets around the Valley: Arrowhead Brewery, Circle Café, Inspire Floral Boutique, Pynelogs Cultural Centre, Far Out Gear in Radium, Edgewater Post Office, Pip’s Country Store, Brisco General Store, and Moon River Gallery in Golden.

Learn more about the festival.

Photos submitted

Steamboat Mountain Music Festival

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