Blue Moon Marquee and Northern Cree ‘Get Your Feathers Ready’

Blue Moon Marquee and Northern Cree

Get Your Feathers Ready

Hard on the Heels of their multiple Maple Leaf Blues Award winning 2024 album Scream, Holler & Howl, the Vancouver Island duo Blue Moon Marquee have embarked on a career defining collaboration with The Northern Cree Singers for landmark release “Get Your Fethers Ready.” Drawing inspiration from his own roots growing up in Northern Alberta and the recent film “Rumble,” about the indigenous influence on North American music guitarist  A.W Cardinal sought out the Pow Wow and Round Dance drum and singing group based in Maskwacis Alberta for a once in a lifetime session that blends Prewar Folk and Country  Blues with native Cree rhythm and melodies in a freewheeling trance like tone poem reinterpretation of Gospel and Delta Standards along with original vignettes. The upright Bass of Jas Collette holds the global center while the five Cree warriors howl and wail in tantrik joy  responding to Cardinal’s gritty slide playing and guttural storytelling that channels Charlie Patton, John Lee Hooker and Chester Burnett in their Glory.  The tracks ebb and flow seamlessly in the live off the floor recording from intimate interludes to Raucous foot stomping dance tracks that merge the juke joint with the campfire in a sacred circle. The rag time number “Put Your Feathers On,” is a date night call out that reflects the optimism of the album title that tell us to prepare ourselves for something special. When Cardinal launches into “Rollin’ and Tumblin,”  and “Soul Of A Man,” and Northern Cree respond the 20th century is met with echoes from hundreds of years before creating a sound that is both primeval and postmodern.  

Rick J Bowen

https://bluemoonmarquee.bandcamp.com/album/get-your-feathers-ready

https://bluemoonmarquee.com/get-your-feathers-ready

https://youtu.be/Ho109sqU5xA?si=0BjRLrxyilPJVxcv