CBRM Youth in Music celebrates back to school with free concert

Back to school time is in the air this week, but CBRM Recreation is stretching the summer a little longer with a free concert on Saturday, September 15th. Taking place at the Open Hearth Park Amphitheatre in the North End of the park, the Back to School show will be headlined by local favourites Fire Valley Fire and features The High Tide, New Draft, and Floodgate.

Fire Valley Fire‘s roots run deep in the post-industrial Cape Breton music scene and its members are no strangers to East Coast Rock and Roll. As a collective, guitar player Dan Baldwin (Rock Ranger, The Grass), bass player Morgan Currie (I Was A Spy, The Tom Fun Orchestra), drummer Mike Morrison (Rock Ranger, Sunfish) and singer Justin Vallis (Bella Rebellion) let influences from classic rock to early metal to ’90s alt-rock shimmer to the surface. With their debut album, Bring An Army, Fire Valley Fire delivers shredding guitars, pounding drums, bass like thunder and driving vocals.

Having showcased at the 2018 East Coast Music Awards and set to take Nova Scotia Music Week by storm this fall, the group has built a strong following locally and abroad with their driven rock’n’roll style. With their debut album, Bring an Army, the band shines like a beacon in the night as the next great Cape Breton rock band.

Since 2010, The High Tide have placed no barriers between themselves and their music. A unique amalgam of influences and self-taught style, the band tells stories of what they know–people and places struggling to persevere. Guitarist Mike O’Brien, bassist Clayton D’Orsay, and guitarist/singer Joe Costello exhibit strong chemistry gained from writing and performing together since 2012. With new drummer Lauchlan MacKinnon, this chemistry has a new energy that simultaneously adds depth and aggression to the songs both new and old.

Coming straight from the all ages scene to being one of the busiest bands around, New Draft bridges indie and post-punk revival influences to create music that is as danceable as it is rocking.

Floodgate joins the lineup as one of the newest bands in the area. Still in high school, this group of talented teenagers is cutting their teeth on classic rock and metal tunes while exploring their own creative process.

“Music is an important part of the summer experience in the CBRM,” says Recreation Program Coordinator Joe Costello. “Grassroots music also plays an important role in the development of the youth in our community. With youth headed back to school, we feel it important to show that these types of experiences can continue to occur and that they can engage in the fun and excitement that live music brings to our community.”

Music will begin at 5pm and admission is free. The concert is all ages and alcohol and smoking is not permitted. The event is brought to you through the CBRM Youth in Music Program, Makin’ Waves presented by Sydney Credit Union, and Open Hearth Park.