Blue Moon Marquee Win JUNO Award For Blues Album of the Year for Scream, Holler & Howl!

 

This time, they’re jumping for joy: Cowichan Valley - Coast Salish Territory, BC, indie blues duo Blue Moon Marquee have scored the Blues Album of the Year at the 2024 JUNO Awards, following their two nominations including Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year. The prestigious win is for the group’s 2022 album, Scream, Holler & Howl, a 13-song collection co-produced by the band, the legendary Duke Robillard (The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Roomful of Blues) and Erik Nielsen.

 

The award was handed out on Saturday, March 23 at the music industry’s gala event in Halifax, NS. Following their win, the band quickly became a highlight on the east coast, performing at JUNOFEST that night at The Carleton to a sold-out crowd.

 

“All those years hustling on the road, sleeping in alleys with our instruments, living in our truck playing every little spot all over the country…. This recognition is wind in the sails to keep going.”

 

It’s been quite a year for Blue Moon Marquee. Earlier, the duo of Guitarist/vocalist A.W. Cardinal and standup bassist/vocalist Jasmine “Badlands Jass” Colette were nominated in two categories in the 2024 Maple Blues Awards: Entertainer of the Year and Bass Player of the Year. That followed the band’s sweep of 2023, in which they won Entertainer of the Year, Acoustic Act of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Record/Producer of the Year—the first time in the 26-year history of the Maple Blues Awards that a single artist has carried those specific categories. The group were also the first Indigenous artist to win those “big four” awards.

 

In 2023, Blue Moon Marquee won the Summer Solstice National Indigenous Awards for Roots Album of the Year and Live Performance of the Year, as well as The Western Canadian Music Award for Indigenous Artist of the Year.

 

Founded in 2013, 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 Tubbs shoots firecrackers with Louis Prima and Memphis Minnie throws dice with Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.

 

Their gift is they bring 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. 

 

In addition to mainstays Cardinal and Colette, the act is sometimes rounded out by Darcy Phillips (Jann Arden) on piano and Jerry Cook (Colin James) on tenor and baritone saxophone.  

 

The group is currently working on three unique recording projects all while preparing for a spate of Summer and Fall concert dates throughout Canada.

 

Their road plans also include a trip to Nashville to appear at Americana Fest and a tour throughout the USA to support.

 

Blue Moon Marquee recently signed with Paquin Artists Agency, one of Canada’s most respected touring agencies. U.S. booking is through Caline Artists International. If you’ve been considering adding this hotly requested show band to your event schedule, the time to act is now. Because these “two small-town Alberta kids” aren’t just going places—they’ve clearly arrived.