Ask local singer/songwriter Cherelle Jardine how many times she’s played the Steveston Salmon Festival and she has to stop for a moment and think of which band she was with at the time.
This July 1 she returns to the Main Stage at the Steveston Community Centre with Stone Poets, who will be playing their brand of contemporary folk music from 2:30 p.m.
“It’s kind of been a home base for me for many years,” said Jardine adding two aspects she really likes about the Salmon Festival is the chance for a local act such as hers to play in front of a home audience, and that it’s a family-based event.
The last time Stone Poets — which includes Jardine, Marc Gladstone and Scott Jackson — played Steveston was three years ago.
Formed in 2011, the group is putting out its third release in time for the July 1 appearance.
“We’re really excited about that,” Jardine said. “We did a pre-release in California last month, and we thought we’d bring it home and open it here.”
While they have settled on the label of contemporary folk, Jardine said she and her bandmates struggled for a long time to define their sound.
“We have so many elements, it’s definitely folk music, but definitely not traditional,” Jardine said. “There’s a lot of interesting lyrical content and dark, moody piano parts.”
While they do not have a song that is typical “Canadiana” Jardine promises their original piece called Carry will bring the audience together.
“Hopefully, they can sing along with a neat piece of a U2 song (One) we incorporate into it. It’s a really nice transition we put in that people always ask us to play.”
But one of the best aspects of playing on July 1 is the chance to reflect the diversity of Canada, Jardine said.
“It’s nice for everyone to come together and have a spot they can celebrate that.”
