The Griffintown Jug Addicts

Drawing inspiration from 'jug' bands of the 1930s and 40s (a blues style mixing ragtime, swing and folk music), the group re-creates the ambiance of that lost era in music when simplicity and fun were paramount to the making of music. This music, deceptively simple in nature and it themes, is often complex in its polyphony and rhythm and can directly be linked to the beginning of swing, and much later rock'n'roll. The simplicity is demonstrated by the high preponderance of homemade instruments such as the washtub bass, washboard, jugs and cigar-box guitars. The Griffintown Jug Addicts reflects and re-invents the traditions with an emphasis on vocal harmony and swing.

Dan Livingstone

Fingerstyle blues guitarist Dan Livingstone has been receiving acclaim from musicians and audiences alike as an exceptional guitar player and an engaging performer - a bluesman to watch. Whether playing rags, swing, blues or spirituals, his expressive style marks him as a musician with "big ears" and a passion for the authentic. Born and raised on the west coast of Canada, Livingstone now makes his home in Montreal where he regularly plays the clubs around that city. In the Fall of 2004, he toured Europe, playing the clubs and concert halls of Norway, Germany and France. His appearances and concerts across Canada over the last decade have included festivals in the Maritimes, Prairies and Quebec, mainstaging at both Rimouski en Blues and Carleton International Blues Festival, the Pan Am Games, International Jazz Festival of Montreal, and the Islands Folk Festival on Vancouver Island where audiences ranked him as one of the top performers of the weekend. In 2008, he embarked upon a tour that took him to China, Ireland, France, Belgium with brief stopovers in Greece, N. Ireland and the USA. With nearly 700 shows in the past five years Livingstone has established himself as a veteran performer and raconteur.

Livingstone is inspired by the magic of the Piedmont, Delta and Texas blues traditions, and one of his aims as a musician is to immerse his audience in the music of Reverend Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, Fred McDowell, and Robert Johnson. Livingstone's originals-- very popular with his fans -- reflect a mix of these influences as well as a highly developed, lyrical style.

Livingstone's debut CD was released in June 2000 and is entitled, Dan Livingstone.

Dominic Desjardins

Growing up Trois-Rivières, Dominic Desjardins' first passion was jazz guitar. But it was while studying guitar at the Cegep du Vieux Montreal that he discovered another great instrument of the jazz era: the tenor banjo. Within a very short while, the banjo became his principal instrument. Desjardin is currently studying music at Concordia University, but also performs as a banjo and guitar player as well as arranger for several bands, including the Early Jazz Band, the Jazz Knights, and with Dan Livingstone and Jerome Dupuis-Cloutier.

Julia Narveson

World Champion Jug-Tubbist Julia Narveson hails from Waterloo, Ontario where she was raised in household of music afficianados. Julia has been playing music for over 20 years on violin, double bass ukelele, saxophones, madolin, saw, jug and of course washtub. Played a whole lot in the classical realm, and branched out from there. Miss Narveson has been living in Montreal for 5 years now, playing mainly folk/country/old time music with such bands as Lake Of Stew among others. Her incredible groove and intonation is the keel of the Griifintown Jug Addicts.

Brad Levia

Originally from Chateauguay Quebec, 'Washboard' Brad Levia has played bass, drums and guitar in numerous punk and rock bands around Ontario and Quebec. In 2004, he decided to retire from the loud, electric genres and began a solo show as 'Uncle Daddy', a country/rockabilly one band band. He is also a founding member of Lake of Stew- a 7 piece acoustic folk/country/bluegrass group with a heavy emphasis on vocal harmony. In tandem to Lake of Stew he also maintains a 'skiffle' duo with Julia Narveson.

Bernadette Fortin

Montréal born and raised, this prodigious fiddle player and vocalist is the latest addition to the band. After growing up in a family of musicians, where she honed her fiddle skills, Fortin moved on to world beat and eventually the blues. Recreating blues/Cajun fiddle with extraordinary versatility, she breathes new life into this almost forgotten genre. Taking inspiration from such fiddle greats as Joe Venuti, Harry Choates, "Stuff" Smith, and Johnny Gimble, Fortin is establishing herself as someone to watch closely in the Montreal blues community. With her dark contralto vocals and expressive fiddle work, she fills out the top end.

For booking information contact by e-mail: livingstone_dan@hotmail.com.