Confederation Centre of the Arts
News & Media - Feb. 18, 2005
For Immediate Release
Canadian Blues-Rock Legend Matt Minglewood to be Featured in 2005 Charlottetown Festival’s
Production CANADA ROCKS – A Musical Revue
Friday, February 18, 2005
Canadian blues-rock legend Matt Minglewood will join the 2005 Charlottetown Festival cast in
the Confederation Centre’s brand-new Mainstage production called CANADA ROCKS – A Musical Revue.
CANADA ROCKS - A Musical Revue will take the audience on a fantasy train trek across
Canada with "whistle stops" at historical entertainment venues in Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa,
Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver. Classic Canadian rock and roll, and modern
techno-pop performances will celebrate the contributions Canadians have made to popular music
from the 1950s to the present. The cast will perform hits by Canadian musical
luminaries such as Steppenwolf, The Guess Who, The Stampeders, Anne Murray, Neil Young, Avril
Lavigne, k.d. lang and The Crew Cuts. Written by Prince Edward Islanders Doug
Gallant, Terry Hatty, Wade Lynch and Hank Stinson, the show will play in the Confederation
Centre’s Mainstage Theatre on selected dates from June 21 to September 2 at 7:30 p.m.
“Matt’s immediate enthusiasm for the idea of CANADA ROCKS was exhilarating,” says Annie Allan,
Artistic Director of The Charlottetown Festival. “Sparks will fly when Matt and the
cast hit the stage with this celebration of Canadian music and musicians!”
A multi-talented guitar player, singer, songwriter, Minglewood has earned the respect and
loyalty of thousands of devoted fans with his inspired blend of country, blues, folk, roots and
rock music. During 30 years in the music industry, he has released over a dozen
recordings, sold more than 350,000 records in Canada alone, and toured across Canada, the
United States and Europe.
He been honoured with many accolades and awards including the 2005 Maple Blues Awards
Entertainer of the Year; 2004 ECMA award for Blues Recording of the Year; ECMA Lifetime
Achievement Award; three gold records; two Juno nominations; two Canadian Country Music
nominations; ECMA Video of the Year Award and Canadian Country Music Songwriter of the Year
award, both for “Me and The Boys”; and the Great Canadian Blues Award from CBC’s national radio
show, Saturday Night Blues. He has been honoured with an honorary doctorate from the
University College of Cape Breton and the Queen’s Jubilee Medal for his contribution to Canadian music.
A native of North Sydney, Nova Scotia, Minglewood has been immersed in the music world from an
early age. At the tender age of four he sang in front of his first audience, singing a
couple of Gaelic songs, and at six he started fiddle lessons. He moved on to the piano at
eight and by his teens was in love with the guitar. He joined his first band, the
Rockin’ Saints, in his late teens playing organ and rhythm guitar. His early influences
included Elvis, Chuck Berry, Hank Williams, Muddy Waters, BB King, as well as local fiddle
players such as Winston Scotty Fitzgerald and Buddy MacMaster.
In his early 20’s,he joined a band called Sam Moon, Matt Minglewood & the Universal Power,
which soon evolved into the Moon Minglewood Band. They toured the country extensively and
became known as one of the hardest working bands in the country. By the mid 1970’s they morphed
into the Minglewood Band and recorded their first album, The Red Album, in 1976.
Since then Minglewood has never looked back. Now on his own label Norton Records, he has just
released his first acoustic CD entitled “The Story” and has no thoughts of slowing
down. He still tours extensively as an acoustic solo artist or with his full band.
CANADA ROCKS – A Musical Revue and The Charlottetown Festival are sponsored by APM group.
Tickets range from $26 to $36. For more information, contact the box office at 1-800-565-0278.