The Wintertime Music Festival runs March 9-15 at the Gladstone Theatre.
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Ottawa blues phenom Angelique Francis isn’t planning to let the political situation throw a wrench in her plans for the year.
The singer-songwriter-musician has a new album in the works for 2025, along with tour dates in both the United States and Canada. Among the U.S. dates are festival appearances and a spot on a blues cruise from Seattle to Alaska with such notables as Joe Bonamassa, Little Feat, Marcus King and another Ottawa-born blues player, Sue Foley.
The U.S. shows are mostly return appearances, booked long before Trump tariffs and talk of annexing Canada.
“We’ve had several performances in the States in the past and they’re such lovely people at the festivals we’re performing at (that) we’re really excited to be able to do that this year despite all the difficulties that are happening right now,” Francis said.
Her band includes two of her younger sisters, Kharincia and Kira, their father Kiran on drums and two non-family members, guitarist Dave Williamson and trumpeter Andrew Knox.
Their first concert of 2025 takes place Sunday as part of a new, week-long indoor music festival at the Gladstone Theatre. Dubbed Wintertime Music Festival, it runs March 9-15 at the former Gladstone Avenue truck garage that was converted into a theatre in the 1970s.
A different genre of music will be showcased each night, including blues, hip hop, roots music and global sounds.
Theatre manager Robin Guy describes the festival as a “hyper-local” spotlight on the “incredibly eclectic and diverse” Ottawa music scene and a departure from the venue’s usual program of independent theatre.
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“It’s a really great way of bringing fresh faces through the door who then go, ‘Oh, what else is going on here?’ and they come back,” Guy said. “So that’s a pretty awesome thing that’s happened as a consequence of branching out in terms of programming.”
The all-ages festival starts Sunday, March 9, with an afternoon show featuring the old-time stylings of C.A. and Sonny and the piano-and-voice duo of Kloe and Samie.
The bluesy punch of Francis and her band will be featured that evening. She said fans could expect a selection of fan favourites and originals from her two previous albums, plus new songs that will be included on the forthcoming project entitled Not Defeated.
Monday, March 10, brings a selection of songwriters in the round to the Gladstone, including Emma Bayash, Jewel Darby, May Davis, Kyle Evan, Audrey Saparno and OK Naledi, followed by hip hop wordsmiths on Tuesday, March 11, with Aspects, JHC, King Kimbit and Seiiizi.
Rootsy singer-songwriter Lynne Hanson shares the March 12 bill with Emma Lamontagne, while Thursday, March 13, will feature a special presentation by the Ottawa Chinese Musicians Association.
The musical adventures continue with Mimi O’Bonsawin on March 14 and wrap up March 15 with a 1 p.m. Latin-music show presented in partnership with Ottawa’s Axe WorldFest.
Tickets range from $15 to $35 for each show, available at the website https://thegladstone.ca/
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