CHECK OUT AFRICAN BEATS IN THE HEAT WITH NLFB

Each year Northern Lights Festival Boréal (NLFB) challenges its audience to expand their musical horizons, introducing attendees to music from all sorts of different cultures, disciplines and wonderfully weird sounds. Heading into 2018 it’s clear to see this year will be no exception. NLFB Executive/Artistic Director Max Merrifield is taking us on a journey into his own music collection and the African music that has captured his imagination. “For the past few years, I have been fascinated with various styles of music from the African continent, I wanted to share that sincere love with the festival audience,” says Max, of the festivals developing lineup. Festival performers Cécile Doo-Kingué,  Laetitia Zonzambé, and Afrikana Soul Sister will be engaging festival goers with different flavours of African music, giving them a great leaping point to start doing their own exploration. We can’t wait to spend a day at the park soaking it all in!

Clear your schedule July 5th – 8th and take in as much music as you can over the festival weekend! Grab your tickets while you can at www.nlfb.ca, A & J Home Hardware (Bouchard St.), Old Rock Coffee (Minto St.), Jett Landry Music (Lasalle Blvd.), The NLFB office (19 Grey St.), and The Farm (Main St. North Bay). Keep your eyes peeled for more lineup announcements to come including the two final headlining acts!

 

Cécile Doo-Kingué

After her electrifying performance at Northern Lights 2013, Cécile Doo-Kingué is back for another festival appearance. A first generation Cameroonian, born and raised in New York City, Doo-Kingué is now settled in Montreal. She is considered one of Canada’s leading blues artists and most versatile guitarists blending blues, afro-roots and soul. Watching her impeccable fretwork paired with socio-political lyrics is sure to be a cathartic experience—or perhaps something even more powerful.

 

Laetitia Zonzambé

Undeniably a leader of African music in Canada. Moving from the Central African Republic to Montreal in 2009, Zonzambé’s music connects traditional accents from the Bantu region of Africa to modern influences of soul, funk, pop and R&B. Whether she sings in Central African languages, French or English, Zonzambé will take the NLFB audience on a musical journey of propulsive rhythms, emotional ballads, and transcending melodies.

 

Afrikana Soul Sister

Afrikana Soul Sister is expected to be the dance party of the summer with their earth-shaking, electro-afro-house beats. This genre-bending quartet brings together the sharp electronic production of Jean-François Lemieux with undeniable voice of Malian singer Djely Tapa, heiress to a long tradition of music excellence in Mali. Add some African percussion specialists and the result is an intoxicating Montreal-style dance party, with Authentic African roots. Afrikana Soul Sister will fill you with joy, and an overwhelming desire to dance your face off.