Article content The full lineup for the tenth edition of the Rock On The River music festival was formally revealed on Wednesday with the announcement of the country acts. The two-day event, hosted by the Timmins Festivals and Events Committee (TFEC), will be held on Friday, July 24 (rock night), and Saturday, July 25 (country night). Recommended Videos TFEC chair John Olaveson told The Daily Press that the country acts have been confirmed for many weeks, but they couldn’t quite announce them until every fine detail of the contracts were locked in.
“There was still a lot of negotiating going on. Some people don’t understand that.” Headlining on Saturday will be Russell Dickerson – a Tennessee-based country pop singer-songwriter, who has four albums under his belt. He will be preceded by Jade Eagleson – an Ontario-based singer-songwriter with three albums released, and three Juno Award nominations to his credit.
Nate Haller will also take the stage at the Saturday show. He is an emerging Canadian talent, with over 33 million streams of his tunes, and promises to have an electric energy. Makinna Givens, from Haileybury, Ont, will open the show.
Olaveson said there are a number of new and emerging country music festivals in Ontario, and across Canada, so the demand for touring artists is high right now. “The demand goes up, and the supply is down. So it was difficult to get the level of artists we wanted for our tenth anniversary.” Though its very early, Olaveson said the feedback has been very good.
“Its been a positive response. We’re happy.” He added that the TFEC team is aiming to pull in music fans from across the region, and beyond. “An artist like Russell Dickerson – he doesn’t play in Canada a lot, so we wanted someone to have that draw, to bring people to Timmins.” The lineup for the Friday rock night was previously revealed on Feb.
13, which includes some heavy hitters. At the top of the bill are pop punk icons The Offspring – a California-based group who has been active since 1984, yet has continuously found ways to reinvent themselves and change with the times. They have 11 studio albums to their credit, with over 45 million albums sold.
Gob is an iconic Canadian punk rock group from British Columbia who formed in 1993, and has six full length albums released. Plush is an emerging all-female rock group from New York, who offer some powerful vocals. Fortunate Losers – a hard rock band from Sudbury will get the festival started.
“If you don’t know The Offspring, I’m not sure what planet you’re from,” joked Olaveson. “That’s a huge artist for us, and an artist we’ve been wanting for a number of years. They’re a generational band.” Another big development is the fact that the festival is returning to Hollinger Park for the tenth edition, after hosting last year’s event at the Mountjoy Historical Park.
“We had discussions with the City of Timmins last year about that,” said Olaveson. “With the level of artists playing, we need a bigger space.” Olaveson emphasized that Hollinger has the infrastructure needed to host a bigger event, as well as benefits such as a more central location. “The city, I was told, are going to be working around the clock, once the snow melts, to get a grassy area installed, where most of the attendees will be standing.
I’m hopeful about that,” he said. The current events area at Hollinger is entirely made up of gravel, which is not ideal for music festivals, and was a major reason why TFEC relocated the event last year. “There had been comments from artists about the gravel, stuff like that.” “I thank the City of Timmins for addressing that, and helping us with that.
We’re not the only event at Hollinger Park, I realize that. I hope to see a lot more events at Hollinger.” Ticket sales are live at the Rock on The River website, and have been moving well from early indications. VIP tickets for the Friday night are already sold out.
“We’re very excited.” Olaveson added that TFEC is always in need of volunteers to help out with the festival. Interested parties can connect through the TFEC website.
