page_title: Canadian blues
section_title: Labels
hierarchical_section_title: Canadian blues / Labels
caption_attribution_description: Harrison Kennedy &amp; Folk's Wagon If you don't love the blues, you have a hole in your soul. We're gonna fill that hole.
context_page_description: Canadian blues is the blues and blues-related music performed by blues bands and performers in Canada. Canadian blues artists include singers, players of the main blues instruments: guitar, harmonica, keyboards, bass and drums, songwriters and music producers. In many cases, blues artists take on multiple roles. For example, the Canadian blues artist Steve Marriner is a singer, harmonica player, guitarist, songwriter and record producer.
  Due to Canada's long shared border with the birthplace of the blues, the United States, there has always been collaboration and contact between Canadian blues artists and their US counterparts. Top Canadian blues artists perform at major US blues bars and festivals and travel to the US to play and record with influential US blues artists. Similarly, US blues bands routinely play in Canadian clubs and blues festivals, and perform and record with Canadian blues artists. For example, Canadian blues guitarist/singer JW-Jones has invited the US bluesman Kim Wilson to Canada to play with JW Jones' band and so that Wilson could record with Jones and act as record producer on one of Jones' mid-2000s albums.
context_section_description: Canadian blues records have been made on a number of labels, including mainstream labels that are mainly associated with pop or jazz music, and smaller independent labels that specialize in acoustic or roots music. One of the oldest Canadian labels which specializes in blues and related musics is Stony Plain Records, a record company based in Edmonton, Alberta which was established in 1976 by Holger Petersen. The label has released over 300 albums of "roots" music styles, such as blues, classic R&B, folk, country, bluegrass, and rock and roll. Jerry Wexler, one of the founders of Atlantic Records, states that "Stony Plain, as an independent company, is an endangered species in a dangerous world – and a source of wonderful music."
  In 1997, Andrew Galloway launched Electro-Fi Records, which has both international blues performers such as Mel Brown, Mark Hummel, Harmonica Shah, Fruteland Jackson, and Snooky Pryor; and Canadian musicians such as Julian Fauth, Diana Braithwaite & Chris Whiteley, Harrison Kennedy and Juno Award-winner Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne. Juke Blues Magazine from the UK called Electro-Fi "Canada's Top Blues Outlet" in 2005.
  The next addition to the family of Canadian blues labels is NorthernBlues Music, a blues label that was launched in 2001 by Fred Litwin, who aims to "add substantially to the blues repertoire" with interesting, original music. In 2011, Nicky Estor launched Iguane Records, which specializes in roots music (blues, swing, jazz, soul, funk, reggae, etc.); the labels artists include Nicky Estor, Nico Wayne Toussaint, Natalie Byrns, Ben Racine Band and Richard Carr.
caption: Harrison Kennedy and Folk's Wagon @ Piacenza Blues Festival
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