Jason Stockfish | [email protected]
The Jasper Folk & Blues Society hosted a Battle Royale for a packed house at the Jasper Royal Canadian Legion Branch 31 "The Stand Easy" on Jan. 21.
The winner of the battle of the bands would be awarded a spot on the stage at the upcoming Jasper in January Street Party on Jan. 28, as well as being added to the lineup at this year鈥檚 Jasper Folk Music Festival.
The invitation was put out to local musicians and four acts took to the stage doing their best to impress the judges and win the coveted spots.
The judges for the evening were Matricia Bauer of Warrior Women fame and Tony Mastriani of local outfit The Project.
The first performer of the evening was solo act Caleb Deneau, who hit the stage with guitar in hand and jammed a few crowd-pleasing tunes with a powerful raw talent.
Up next was the duo of Wild Harpist, which consisted of Morgan Mckinney on the harp and Mitchell Doucette on percussion. The two played originals and a couple of covers, including a subdued and unique version of Guns n鈥� Roses鈥� 鈥淪weet Child of Mine,鈥� much to the delight of the crowd.
The third act was the multi-talented singer songwriter, Michaele Rhodes, who some may have also seen earlier in the week during Jasper Theatre Production鈥檚 鈥淭heatre Tour鈥� where he put on a side-splitting play at Sunhouse Cafe with Connor Cunningham.
Rhodes鈥� powerful and melodic voice, along with his proficiency on the keyboard, had the crowd on their feet throughout the set and heaping much love and praise when it was over.
The final performance of the contest was by the duo of Lily Monaghan on vocals and Tiegen Costa on guitar. The two put on a great show that made the judges鈥� decision quite difficult.
In the end, Michaele Rhodes won the honours of performing on Saturday night at the Street Party and again at the 2023 Jasper Folk Music Festival in September.
