Blue Moon Marquee in our Spotlight Interview (Blues)
Welcome to Indigenous in Music with Larry K, this week we welcome from Cowichan Valley, BC, the creators of Blue Moon Marquee A.W. Cardinal and Jasmine Colette. They currently hold the title for “Blues Album of the Year” at this years 2024 JUNO Awards. Their current album “Scream, Holler & Howl is doing well and climbing the charts.
Enjoy music from Blue Moon Marquee, Mitch Walking Elk, Twice As Good, Blackbird, Caley Watts, Twin Flames, Caleigh Cardinal, Chantil Dukart, Indian City, Robbie Robertson, XIT, Centavrvs, Khu.eex, Qacung, Banda Do Sul, Systema Solar, Shauit, Hayley Wallis, HK Higher Knowledge, Alexis Lynn, Stolen Identity, Annie Humphrey, Arvel Bird, Laura Niquay, Robert Freightrain and much much more.
Look around our site to find out all about us and our programs and visit our SAY Magazine Library with all our featured guests.
OUR INTERVIEW IS 30 MINUTES INTO THE PROGRAM
BLUE MOON MARQUEE IN OUR SAY MAGAZINE FEATURE
BLUE MOON MARQUEE ALBUM – SHAKE, HOLLER & HOWL
BLUE MOON MARQUEE – THUNDERBIRD
CONTACT INFORMATION
WEBSITE: bluemoonmarquee.com
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/bluemoonmarquee
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/bluemoonmarquee
BANDCAMP: bluemoonmarquee.bandcamp.com
SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/bluemoonmarquee
YOUTUBE: you.com/@bluemoonmarquee
BOOKING: [email protected]
BLUE MOON MARQUEE BIOGRAPHY
Blue Moon Marquee writes and performs original compositions influenced by anything that swings, jumps or grooves. A.W. Cardinal (vocals/guitar) and Jasmine Colette a.k.a. Badlands Jass (vocals/bass/drums) have played for a vast gamut of crowds at jazz clubs, Lindy Hop dance halls, folk venues, blues haunts, hospitals, prisons, markets, motorcycle joints, dive bars and prestigious festival stages.
Colette not only commands the upright bass but also brings the rhythm with her feet on a custom foot drum kit, all while singing in her signature honey-dipped tone. Cardinal’s distinctive and soulful vocals barrel out like a raging bull while his guitar crackles with the swinging energy of jazz-tinged blues.
The result of 9 years of rigorous touring, crisscrossing Europe and North America, is a distinct energy and style from this acclaimed duo. Carving a path through blues, jazz, jump jive, folk, country, swing, and Indigenous soul with an authentic spirit, their sound does not idle easily in one certain category. It stomps and struts through the wilds, conjuring a blend where Howlin’ Wolf tangos with Django, Earnest Tubb shoots firecrackers with Cab Calloway, and Memphis Minnie throws dice with Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.
Their gift is bringing all these elements together without anything sounding out of step. They collect the roots and smoothly braid them with lyrics that often touch on the underbelly of society, woven with elements of Indigenous storytelling and poetic cadence.
Blue Moon Marquee has its own completely original style. Modern Blues doesn’t really get any better than this. This is a tremendous sound by a hugely talented duo” says American Roots UK.
With their highly anticipated 5th album Scream, Holler & Howl (SHH), Blue Moon Marquee have captured their most sophisticated collection of songs yet. Co-produced by Duke Robillard and recorded live to tape, SHH blazes forward with a full band featuring some of Canada’s finest veteran players. While they have primarily performed as a duo since 2013, over the last couple of years they have been performing often as a trio or quartet featuring Darcy Phillips (Jann Arden) on piano and Jerry Cook (Colin James) on tenor and baritone saxophone.
The album was honoured with the Blues Foundation’s Blues Music Award nomination for Emerging Artist of the Year(2023). The release also swept the Maple Blues Awards (Canada’s highest honour in Blues) with four wins including, Album of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Acoustic Act of the Year and Entertainer of the Year. The album has topped the charts in the US and Canada achieving #1 on the !Earshot National Folk/Roots/Blues chart and #3 on their National Top 10 Chart for all genres, #1 on Canada’s Top 50 Chart by Roots Music Report, #6 on the International NACC Radio Chart and #8 on the coveted Living Blues Radio Chart. There was even a 4 week run at #1 on the Indigenous Music Countdown. In a rare feat, the album reached #9 on the !Earshot National Jazz Chart while charting in Blues. Most recently they were honoured as at the Summer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards with Live Musical Performance of the Year and Roots Album of the Year.
With 2019’s Bare Knuckles and Brawn (BNAB), released on Spanish label FOLC Records, they were nominated as Blues Artist of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards and Indigenous Songwriter of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards.
With a “totally unique approach…such a powerful original mix of swing styles with jazz and blues, west coast swing and New Orleans feel” (Sound Guardian) the record topped both the Earshot National Folk/Roots/Blues Charts simultaneously with the National Jazz charts, a rare feat. Starring standout vocals and catchy hooks that speak to music lovers, BNAB instantly charmed first-time listeners and thrilled long-time fans.
Stylistically, the album is a swaying lantern, highlighting their unique diversity. From the potent Indigenous-storytelling calypso swagger of “Big Black Mamba” to the sultry laid back blue jazz of “Hard Times Hit Parade” to the hard-swinging Spanish-tinged “Smoke Rings for My Rider”.
News about the band was spreading from heavy touring and old-fashioned word-of-mouth. As word spread, so did interest from talent buyers, allowing Blue Moon Marquee opportunities to open for a range of artists like Lisa Fischer and Mary Chapin Carpenter.
Appreciated for their lyrical candour, outstanding musicianship and vivacious live performances, Blue Moon Marquee was the most requested band in the country for the Canadian International Jazz Festival Circuit following their 2017 release Gypsy Blues.
This full-length album of original material also garnered the Indigenous Artist of the Year nomination from the Western Canadian Music Awards as well as a Best New Artist nomination at the Maple Blues Awards.
Gypsy Blues was an ode to their deep influences of jazz manouche and vintage blues, infused with verse having a penchant for poet characters and a heavy dose of atmospheric textures, “Blue Moon Marquee harnessed the best of vintage music that’s practically a century old and brought it into modern times. It’s part haunting, part joyous, and sneakily infectious” says Jim Hynes of Elmore Magazine.
Born of the wild rose country in Alberta, Canada, both Cardinal and Colette played in punk, metal and rock and roll bands. Leaving home at a young age, they both spent years traveling on their own, working a variety of jobs and touring with different acts. At one point Colette was hitchhiking throughout North America performing vaudeville with her appalling act of hula hooping, skateboarding and playing trombone simultaneously while Cardinal was living in New York City working as a bike mechanic and performing at open mics every night.
It was in 2012 that they came together in Vancouver, B.C. to record Cardinal’s original material for his album Stainless Steel Heart which he had written while living in Montreal. A mutual old friend was engineering the project and they connected deeply on their taste and obsession over music.
The vast repertoire of this band is a reflection of bounteous years on the road, experiencing life through a wide diversity of lenses. The result is their trademark blend that pulls the different parts of their musical worlds together, taking the tones of early blues, the expressions of jazz, the heart of country, the spirit of folk, the swagger of soul and the rhythm of roll. The way Colette’s velvet tones lift Cardinal’s mystique is something that enthralls audiences from backroom bars to festival stages.
Unbound by genre or era, Blue Moon Marquee has an edge that demands you take notice. With an authentic mixture of tempo, melody and imagery, they are timeless artists perfect for this time.
