March 1st, 2011

Maritime Countryfest is pleased to announce two of the headliners for the annual country music festival to be held at the Historic Garrison District (Officers Square) in downtown Fredericton, NB on June 9, 10 and 11.

Appearing Friday, June 10, will be Dr. Hook featuring Ray Sawyer. Ray Sawyer, the spirited, eye patched lead singer of the group Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, whose soulful and sometimes comic vocals fronted the band's breakthrough "Cover Of The Rolling Stone" to international superstar status in the early 70's and 80's, has been touring the United States, Canada and countries overseas since the break-up of the Band in 1984, and currently with a new band and a new twist to his familiar sound. Ray's current style is harder edged and more soulful then his previous country-rock and pop efforts, though current and future releases will show the humor is still there. Accumulating 60 Gold & Platinum Records worldwide with Dr. Hook, he has gained the confidence of a seasoned entertainer, and to this day, travels the globe with his band. In addition, Ray's son Cayce has been touring with him since he was 13 years old, playing percussion instruments as well as singing background vocals, and has currently taken on the role of "drummer" for the band. Some of their other familiar hits include SYLVIA'S MOTHER, ONLY SIXTEEN, WHEN YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN and SEXY EYES. Appearing Saturday, June 11, will be The Stampeders. The band formed in Calgary, Alberta in 1964 as The Rebounds. The Rebounds had five members: Rich Dodson, Len Roemer, Brendan Lyttle, Kim Berly, and Race Holiday. They renamed themselves The Stampeders in 1965 and Len Roemer was replaced with Ronnie King and Van Louis. In 1966 they relocated to Toronto, Ontario, and became a trio in 1968 when Lyttle, Louis, and Holiday left. In 1971 they had a hit with "Sweet City Woman," which won Best Single at the Juno Awards, reached #1 on the RPM magazine charts, and #8 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Written by Dodson, the track stayed in the Billboard chart for 16 weeks and the disc sold a million by September 1971, and the R.I.A.A. granted gold disc status. They also won Juno Awards for Best Group, Best Producer (Mel Shaw), and Best Composer (Dodson) that year. In 1976 they had another U.S. hit with "Hit the Road Jack", featuring Wolfman Jack. In Canada they went on to score twelve Top 5 hits.

Early Bird All Access Passes go on sale in mid March with more announcements in the near future.

March 15th, 2010

The organizing committee of the fifth annual Maritime Countryfest and Le Centre Communautaire Sainte-Anne, to be held in The Historic Garrison District, downtown Fredericton (adjacent to Officers Square), will be holding a news conference at 11 am on Monday, March 15, 2010 at the Richard Hatfield Room, Le Centre Communautaire Sainte-Anne , Fredericton.

The press conference is being held to announce this year's line-up of artists, ticket package pricing and ticket outlets. Hosts of the news conference will be Tom Hoyt, Chair of Maritime Countryfest 2009 and Paul Chaddock - Program Director for le Centre Communautaire Sainte Anne. Also attending will be representatives of the sponsoring and funding organizations of this year's event.

Maritime Countryfest 2009 entertained close to 4000 patrons with eleven performing groups over four days. This year's event will see an increase in all areas and is fast becoming the first signal of summer's soon arrival in the Fredericton area.