HAGERSVILLE—This Friday and Saturday, Hagersville will be home to two days of amazing live music from a world-class lineup of musicians, from Friday headliner Jess Moskaluke to 90s blues-rock staple Big Sugar, to iconic Canadian artists David Wilcox and Colin James and plenty more.
With a country-themed Friday show and a rock-themed Saturday show, there’s something for music fans of all tastes. The Press caught up with some of the artists coming to town on their careers so far and what fans can expect from their upcoming show this weekend.
Jess Moskaluke
Friday’s headliner, Jess Moskaluke has made quite a name for herself, racking up numerous awards in the Canadian country music scene since kicking off her career with debut album Cover Up Vol. 1 in 2012.
She said that staying true to herself has been key to her success so far, explaining, “Styles and traditions change over the years, and it’s SO unnatural to ask a naturally creative person to stay within confines or barriers of what the genre is ‘supposed to be’. Everyone has such a different opinion of what that is, and you’ll never make anyone happy. So, at the end of the day, all I can do is make music I truly believe in and love to my core. That attracts the right fans.”
Moskaluke used her song Madpot to explain her songwriting process, listing the lyric ‘I could live anywhere but it wouldn’t feel like here’ as one of her favourites: “I wrote that song after countless people assumed I should be living in Nashville and questioned why I chose to stay in Saskatchewan. I think that song answers the question perfectly – it’s about a feeling of being ‘home’. It’s also been one of the songs people have spoken to me about the most, no matter where they come from. It’s been so cool to see people from all over the globe think about their own hometowns when they hear that song. That was exactly the goal.”
Moskaluke treats each show as a unique moment. She added, “Engaging with fans is something that, for me, happens naturally and differently at every single show. It’s not something that I plan – it’s just something that happens depending on moments that are created during the concert. I do love to hear people sing back to me though!”
She hopes fans are ready for a high energy performance, combining her newer songs, old favourites, and “some surprises sprinkled throughout.”
She concluded with some advice for those looking to follow in her footsteps: “Follow your heart. If ‘everyone’ is doing something that doesn’t feel right to you – don’t do it. You make your mark by standing out and being true to you – not by blending in.”
Colin James
Saturday headliner Colin James has been performing for over 30 years, racking up a stable of iconic hits, including Five Long Years, Into the Mystic, and Three Hours Past Midnight.
A student of many musical styles, James is known for his memorable pop hits, his mid-90s foray into swing music with Colin James and the Little Big Band, and his recent blues work.
“I’m kind of hard on myself,” said James, reflecting on his early material. “For me, the stuff I did in my early 20s, although I appreciate the fact that I had hits with it, I was a kid…. I think you learn how to sing better as you go.”
Following the pandemic, James embarked on a multi-city tour in the US with iconic blues musician Buddy Guy. James said, “It was a bit of an eye-opener, but it was really great for my band.”
James’ own foray into the blues is now three albums deep: “I got to play the Tampa Blues Festival last year, the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, I headlined my first blues show in the States. It’s been really good.”
James reminisced on his Little Big Band era, where he made the jump from pop rock to swing music, a risky move in the rock-dominated mid-90s: “A lot of people weren’t ready for that music yet. It ended up doing well in spite of itself without really the help of any trend. I’m proud of that.”
James sees his willingness to switch things up as a key to his longevity: “You gotta keep challenging yourself. I’m still excited to make records. Every new record that comes around is a new opportunity, a new chance to show another side.”
Asked for a starting point in his catalogue for a new listener to jump in, James picked his 2015 album ‘Hearts on Fire’, adding, “I’m really happy with that one as I feel it’s a very cohesive record and it’s very much original. That’s a good place to start, but they all have their thing.”
He’s excited to hit the stage this weekend: “It’s a great billing in Hagersville. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone there,” he concluded. “It should be a hell of a day.”
Big Sugar
For Big Sugar frontman Gordie Johnson, rock stardom was the furthest thing from his mind when he got his start: “I was just a gigging musician in Detroit for a while, then Toronto. I played every style of music anyone would throw at me during my time in Toronto. I got to back up some great musicians in all different genres.”
By the time Big Sugar began writing their own music, that background helped the band have a “pretty eclectic style that didn’t match any of our contemporaries.”
That sound would hit hard, with Big Sugar dominating radio stations throughout the 90s and into the 2000s with hits including Digging a Hole, If I Had My Way, Turn The Lights On, and All Hell For a Basement.
Currently, the band is touring in celebration of the 25th anniversary of their album ‘Heated’, which came out in 1998.
“It’s a milestone that snuck up on me,” said Johnson.
Big Sugar has gone through many iterations, sadly losing iconic bass player Garry Lowe to cancer in 2018. The 2023 version of the band is a power trio consisting of Johnson on guitar, 21-year-old drummer Root Valach, and newly added bassist Anders Drerup.
“It’s a very tight unit,” said Johnson. “The three voices together sound really great; everybody in the band sings exceptionally well.”
Johnson said his songwriting focuses on “real stuff that happened to real people.” Inspired by story-songs from “great songwriters from this folk-country tradition”, he blends his musical knowledge with personal experiences.
One infamous show early in the band’s career, Woodstock ‘99, lives in notoriety thanks to the poor planning of its organizers and the violent, destructive behaviour of fans. Johnson recalled being super psyched driving there and the great start: “We played our show, which was amazing.”
Done their set, the band considered going to see George Clinton play, but Johnson said, “It took us 10 minutes of walking through garbage, vomit, and passed out people and girls crying, before we said ‘oh hell no’…. We got out of there before dark and then heard about all the awful stuff that happened on the news the next day.”
Meanwhile, a 1993 performance in Detroit following their second album, ‘Five Hundred Pounds’, has more positive memories: “A young Jack White (of rock group The White Stripes) apparently came to the show with his brother…. Now Third Man Records, Jack’s record label, is going to put out a special edition of Five Hundred Pounds…. It’s amazing to hear you were a positive influence on someone who’s been super successful.”
On a recommendation for a new fan, he concluded, “I think anywhere you drop the needle on Big Sugar at any stage of our career, it’s intriguing, because we’ve always carried the past with us, but continued to do new stuff with it. If you listen to our most recent record, you would still recognize the sound…. There’s a ton of great stuff to discover.”
David Wilcox
David Wilcox, singer of hits including Riverboat Fantasy, Do The Bearcat, and Layin’ Pipe, got his start as a member of the band Great Speckled Bird in 1970.
“It was amazing,” recalled Wilcox on his early days. “I went from being a kid who was not good in school, skipped a lot of school, and who was no athlete, to being on TV once a week in Ian Tyson’s band. He had a TV show on CTV… It was one of the most exciting things in my life to get that job.”
It wouldn’t be long before Wilcox began his climb to fame, leaving the band in 1973 and eventually fronting his own: “I never thought of myself that way in terms of personality, but evidently, it works, or it’s fooling everybody. I don’t know, but I’m having a lot of fun!”
Wilcox’s first album bearing his own name, Out of the Woods, was released in 1977. Since then, he has released numerous albums and compilations and is known amongst his peers as a masterful guitar player.
Asked how he has managed to keep his career fresh and exciting over four decades, Wilcox shared some advice we could all learn from: “Well, don’t die.”
He elaborated, “I’ve been very lucky. I’ve just had a wonderful career so far and I’m still very much developing it and still learning very much on the guitar. I guess the key is enjoying it, having fun. I love what I do, I love to play and sing for people, and I look forward to doing it in Hagersville.”
He shared a message for Hagersville Rocks attendees: “I’d offer a giant thank you ahead of time. I tend to have a ball, and I hope you do too…. It should be a really good time!”
Daniel Lanois
While Daniel Lanois will be performing at Hagersville Rocks as part of a musical trio, festival goers may not realize that in addtion to being an accomplished performer in his own right, Lanois is one of the most prolific music producers of the past 40 years.
Some of the artists Lanois has produced records for include Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson, Peter Gabriel, Willie Nelson, Sinead O’ Connor, The Killers, Raffi, and perhaps his most iconic collaboration, U2, for whom he has produced the majority of their recorded work.
Lanois said it all started when he bought a tape recorder at a yard sale and brought it home to his mom’s basement in Ancaster, Ontario: “I just kept recording and recording and editing and I got better and better until I was one of the best in the neighbourhood.”
Lanois’ debut album as a recording artist was 1989’s Acadie. Lanois described it as “stories of migration, people moving, tobacco picking, the steel industry, all the stuff around me that I was familiar with, including the Grand River.”
Lanois has deep ties to the area, reminiscing about playing in a “little tavern in Caledonia” when he was a kid, and sharing memories of his friendship with former The Band member Robbie Robertson, a Hagersville native.
“I made Robbie’s first solo album back in ‘86 and we talked about Hagersville and coming up around there,” said Lanois. “He was a trailblazer. I followed in Robbie’s footsteps; I developed an interest in where some of my favourite music came from…. I wanted to be in those environments that inspired me. I wanted to make sure I lived it rather than read about it.”
Lanois said his Canadian identity has given him plenty of inspiration for his music over the years, adding, “We’re good at storytelling here in Canada. We never had much of a blues base or infrastructure up here – that’s more the USA – but I appreciated those old, haunting French or Celtic melodies…. There’s a lot to sing about from the Hagersville perspective for example, the never-ending issue of water rights, native rights, so on.”
In addition to his own albums, Lanois has collaborated on a number of projects, including the soundtrack to Oscar-winning 1997 film Sling Blade.
“I was very good friends with Billy Bob Thornton, who made the film,” reminisced Lanois. “I felt fortunate that it was very much a one-on-one rapport. I wasn’t answering to a studio, I was dealing directly with the filmmaker.”
Modern gamers are sure to be familiar with Lanois’ work on the soundtrack to the mega-popular videogame Red Dead Redemption 2. Lanois’ music can be heard at multiple points throughout the game, with his song That’s The Way It Is hitting more than 20 million streams on Spotify.
Lanois, steel guitar in tow, will be performing with New Jersey-based drummer and gospel singer Jermaine Holmes, and Los Angeles-based bassist Jim Wilson at this Saturday’s concert.
“What’s great about festivals in our current times, is that they’re really amazing places of congregation,” said Lanois. “It’s important for people to feel like part of the community, and the festivals do that and obviously the music is part of that.”
On where new fans might dive into his catalogue, Lanois added, “People who hear some of my early work, or some of the Bob Dylan records I’ve made, or the U2 records, those songs live on and they keep touching hearts. I think those records just keep opening new doors to newcomers.”
Julian Taylor
Toronto-based Julian Taylor is bringing 25 years of experience with him when he hits the stage in Hagersville.
As part of the band Staggered Crossings, Taylor signed his first record contract in 1997 while still in high school, leading to a contract with Warner Music Canada and a debut album releasing in 2000.
Taylor called getting such an early start in the business “quite daunting, but exciting at the same time.”
While eventually the band would call it quits, Taylor would continue on, first forming the Julian Taylor Band, which released three albums between 2014-2019, and now as a solo artist.
He described how his music has changed over the years: “I’ve been writing a similar style of music my entire life. What I’ve done differently now, is I’m better at formulating words and what I want to say and delivering them. Lived experience helps that way.… That vulnerability in sharing those things, putting something into words, that’s what’s drawn people into what I do the most.”
On what fans can expect this weekend, he said, “I’ll be doing a bit of everything. I’ll definitely play some stuff from my records Beyond the Reservoir and The Ridge, and I’ll go back and do some stuff from the Julian Taylor Band catalogue as well.”
As for what’s next, he explained, “I am putting out an anthology in the fall that spans the 25 years of my career to date. I’ve gone back and dug out some old songs and done them. They were never studio-recorded.… I’m pretty excited for that.”
He recommended new fans check out the 2014 Julian Taylor Band album Tech Noir as a good jumping off point for his music.
“I hope everyone comes out to the show, it looks like it’s gonna be a fun one.”
These artists will be joined on stage by many bigtime talents over the festival’s two-day schedule.
Friday’s full lineup consists of rising country stars, including headliner Jess Moskaluke and Vancouver-based Shawn Austin. They are joined on the RF Almas main stage by perennial celtic/country-rock combo Fiddlestix, Toronto-based country rockers One Ugly Cowboy, and the note-perfect Tragically Hip tribute band Practically Hip. Meanwhile, Elyse Saunders, the Cory James Mitchell Band, and New Moon Junction will perform on the Shannon Veri Remax stage during the Friday festivities.
Saturday brings headliner Colin James, Big Sugar, David Wilcox, and Daniel Lanois, in addition to Juno-nominated Toronto singer-songwriter Julian Taylor and Niagara-based 12-piece ‘brass dance crew’ My Son The Hurricane.
Tickets are still available online through hagersvillerocks.com, where you can learn more about the schedule of acts and the artists themselves.
See you out there this weekend – it’s time to rock!
