Cowichan Valley swing blues duo Blue Moon Marquee, consisting of vocalist and guitarist A.W. Cardinal and vocalist, bassist, and drummer Jasmine Colette, is over the moon with their first ever Juno win.
The awards were held in Halifax on March 24, and hosted by Victoria-born pop sensation Nelly Furtado.
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“This honour is wind in our sails to keep going, stay writing, and to keep creating,” said Colette who plays bass, drums, and sings in the band. “We posted a reaction video on our Instagram, it is pretty evident how we felt. We were not expecting to win — it was surprising and thrilling. A wild ride indeed. There were so many sensational artists and the energy was electric.”
Blue Moon Marquee won the category of Blues Album of the Year for their album Scream, Holler, and Howl which they recorded at Afterlife Studios in Vancouver. A short documentary about the band’s experience recording at Afterlife can be found on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4x04t_BWnE
“Our favorite part of recording this album was having the whole band play together live, and laughing and teasing like a family,” said Colette. “Also having Duke Robillard along for the ride was a real honour. We hope that both our devoted fans and new listeners will pay for it, and then take it away to enjoy, dance to, and yodel with.”
While it was the band’s first time in Nova Scotia, it was not Colette’s first time on the East Coast. She said that she had played Newfoundland while on tour with Canadian musician and three-time Juno winner Bill Bourne.
“Mi’kmaq territory is rugged and enchanting with strong hearted and fun locals who love to dance,” said Colette. “We enjoyed the all around vibe very much and yes indeed, the lobster.”
The dynamic talented duo said that seeing Canadian rap icon Maestro Fresh Wes ‘letting his backbone slide’ and ‘conducting thangs’ was definitely a highlight for them. Wes, who gained worldwide fame in the ’90s, was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at this year’s event.
Fresh off their Juno win, the talented twosome isn’t slowing down and is off to New Orleans after their return from the East Coast with a boatload of projects, shows and tours on the horizon. They will be touring all over North America this year. Listed dates as well as upcoming ones can be found on their website at bluemoonmarquee.com. Colette said they have one showing coming up at Crofton’s Osborne Bay Pub on May 2, and are absolutely thrilled to be opening for the legendary multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Booker T at the Victoria Jazz Festival on June 19.
“We are true fans of his and wildly thrilled about this opportunity,” said Colette. “In a couple weeks we have a new video we are releasing for our song ‘Come on Down’ that we worked really hard on. We are also heading back to New Orleans in a couple days to record with friends of ours who live there. In addition to this we recently recorded a country blues style album here in the Cowichan Valley that we will be putting out, and we are headed out to Alberta to record a collaborative project with Northern Cree in May.”