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Right click and “save as” for low-resolution versions best for online usage. Click below to access the promotional folder with high-resolution photos, stage plots, bio, one-sheets and more. Need more? Contact Ken@ThinkTankMusicNetwork.com
BOOKING INFORMATION
CANADA
Paquin Artists Agency
Aaron Schubert
+1.778.235.8185
INTERNATIONAL
Caline Artists International
Margot Holmes
+1.250.729.5951 or 1.800.539.8558
MANAGEMENT
ThinkTank Music Network
Ken Simms
+1.604.940.4888
PUBLICITY
Canada
Eric Alper, That Eric Alper
+1 (647) 971-3742
US & International
Mark Pucci, Mark Pucci Media
DISTRIBUTION
IDLA | Stony Plain Records
BIOGRAPHY
They are poised for worldwide recognition in a brilliant and unique genre-bending ride through American blues and folk, Gypsy jazz, Native American themes, jump blues, swing and more.
- Duke Robillard (Roomful of Blues, Fabulous Thunderbirds), Award-winning guitar player and producer
Blue Moon Marquee writes and performs original compositions influenced by anything that swings, jumps or grooves. A.W. Cardinal (vocals/guitar), Jasmine Colette (vocals/bass/drums) and Darcy Phillips (piano/organ) 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. Phillips' (Jann Arden) prowess on keys adds an extra element to their unique sound.
The result of 9 years of rigorous International touring, 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.
Their most recent album, Scream, Holler & Howl, co-produced with Duke Robillard (Fabulous Thunderbirds, Roomful of Blues), was honoured with the Blues Foundation’s Emerging Artist of the Year nomination and swept the Maple Blues Awards (Canada’s highest honour in Blues) with four coveted wins. The album has also topped the charts in the US and Canada achieving #1 on the !Earshot National Folk/Roots/Blues chart, #6 on the International NACC Radio Chart and #8 on the coveted Living Blues Radio Chart. Read full bio here.
AWARDS & ACCOLADES
2023 Western Canadian Music Awards - Indigenous Artist of the Year
2023 Sumer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards
Radio Single of the Year (Nomination)
Live Performance of the Year (Winner)
Roots Album of the Year (Winner)
2023 Blues Foundation's Emerging Artist of the Year Nomination, Blues Music Awards
2023 Maple Blues Awards
Songwriter of the Year
Entertainer of the Year
Acoustic Act of the Year
Album/Producer of the Year
2023 International Songwriting Competition Finalist
Blues Song: Hound Dog On a Chain
2021 Canadian Folk Music Awards Indigenous Songwriter of the Year Nomination
2021 Western Canadian Music Awards Blues Artist of the Year Nomination
2020 + 2017 Western Canadian Music Awards Indigenous Artist of the Year Nomination
SHOW REVIEWS
The night began with a rousing set from Alberta gypsy-noir duo Blue Moon Marquee. The pair cooked up a swamp-blues bouillabaisse, one that counted Tom Waits and late-era Bob Dylan among its key ingredients. And it did so with a flair for the atmospheric.
- Victoria Times Colonist
Their musicality is outstanding, their presentation is spellbinding, and their original songs are unforgettable. To me, they represent the real core of the folk blues tradition. They would not seem out of place if they were on stage beside Lonnie Johnson or the young Memphis Minnie.
- David Vest (award-winning legendary Blues pianist)
Gypsy Blues plucks the danger from a Tom Waits melody, dances it a little further over the line with dark magic, teases the rhythms & raises a toast to back alley Jazz
- Canadian Music
Album Reviews
There will be many different album releases in 2022; different, yes, but none better.
Put on your dancing shoes people, the Blue Moon Marquee is back with another riveting album that will make you jump and shout, or, as the title accurately implies. Scream, Holler & Howl.
Scream, Holler & Howl is a joyous musical pleasure co-produced by their stylistic cohorts and musical soulmates Duke Robillard and Erik Nielsen. In our time of cold, modern digital recording practices and computerized music productions, this refreshing album has an old-fashioned, natural retro feel-hot music made by real humans with truehearted, impassionate feeling, recorded live to tape.
Frank Matheis, Living Blues Magazine, (Issue #281-Vol.53 #6)
Paris Move delivers first review of Scream, Holler & Howl
“Without claiming to be a revivalist, our tandem nevertheless proudly anchors its inspiration among the 20s and 40s of the last century.”
Patrick Dallongeville, Paris-Move, Blues Magazine, Illico & BluesBoarder
While much of the disc rides a fluid jazzy vibe…the lyrics often hit pretty hard.
Blue Moon Marquee is the duo of A.W. Cardinal on vocals and guitars and Jasmine Colette on upright bass and vocals. They are supplemented here by keys, horns, drums and guitars, all of which add well balanced seasoning to the tasty stew of blues, folk, gypsy jazz and swing found on the thirteen cuts included on this, the duo’s 5th disc. Think Tom Waits and Maria Muldaur fronting Leon Redbone guesting with a New Orleans street band and you’ll be in the right neighborhood for the sound and vibe of this disc.
Mark Smith, Jazz & Blues Report
no pretending going on here…Pure badassery that delivers
Is it the duo? Is it Duke Robillard in the producer’s chari? Is it the stars in the right place at the right time? This Canadian duo has got smoky, dirty blues that doesn’t start until way after dark down like they’re to the manor born. Using DIY freedom to passionately take you where they want to go, there’s no pretending going on here. Pure badassery that delivers.
Chris Spector, Midwest Record, Chicago, Il
It’s part haunting, part joyous, and sneakily infectious.
As this writer concluded on this previous effort in another outlet, the following statement holds. Blue Moon Marquee has 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. And, we’ll add that it’s just a tad better this time with Robillard’s guidance and guitar.