What’s better than a day at Bluesfest? A BONUS day at Bluesfest! Tuesdays are usually off days for the festival, but this year organizers decided to break with tradition when they received an offer they couldn’t refuse: Jelly Roll was finally able to come to Canada and was looking for opportunities to finally come play for his fans north of the border. Given the infrastructure is already there, it made perfect sense to add in a day to the schedule and have a special night of hip-hop country, with Shaboozey and Dax filling out the opening slots.
RBC STAGE
- 6:30 pm – DAX
- 7:30 pm – Shaboozey
- 9:30 pm – Jelly Roll
DAX should be familiar to Bluesfest fans, as he made his debut just last year. His single “To Be A Man” had been making headway on country charts, and a month after his appearance, he released his full album What Is Life. He soon followed up with a new version of “To Be A Man” with country singer Darius Rucker, which charted in the US and earned Gold certifications in both US and back here in Canada. He’s continued to showcase his honest emotional lyricism on his latest track, last month’s “A Real Man”, which tackles more of the complicated questions involved with being a man in modern society.
Continuing the hip-hop country blend, next up is Shaboozey. The Virginia artist had gained a bit of traction over the years with his first two albums in 2018 and 2022, but this year he skyrocketed to stardom thanks to a pair of collaborations with Beyoncé on her Cowboy Carter country album. While the previous singles off his album Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going had not had much success, his subsequent single “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” went straight to the top of the charts in the US, Canada, and a handful of other countries, and has already been certified platinum. This week, Billboard will have the song at #1 on their Hot 100 chart, a momentous feat that will make Shaboozey the first Black male artist to top both the Hot Country and Hot 100 Billboard charts.
Finally, the man for which Bluesfest is adding a day, Jelly Roll will take the stage. From his early years in pure hip hop, he released a string of mixtapes and albums that had modest success. He gradually leaned more and more into southern rock and country influences, and finally found his niche with the 2020 album Self Medicated. The single “Save Me” caught the ear of many, and positioned him for his breakout. 2021’s Ballads of the Broken produced his first charting his, “Dead Man Walking”, and then came “Son of a Sinner”, the first of his mega-hits that include “Need a Favor”, and a remake of “Save Me” with Lainey Wilson. That success earned him, after 20 years of recording, at the age of 38, the New Artist of the Year award from the Country Music Association (and an exceptional acceptance speech).
Since then, he’s continued to sit comfortably at the crossroads of hip-hop, rock and country, collaborating with artists as diverse as Joyner Lucas to Dustin Lynch, to Falling in Reverse and Hollywood Undead.
This triple shot of hip-hop country is well worth the extra day at Bluesfest, and a can’t miss night.
RBC Ottawa Bluesfest runs from July 4-14 at Lebreton Flats, with passes and tickets available here.
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