Cover photo taken by Don Idio
Shambhala Music Festival has graced us with their headliner announcements leading up to the official lineup announcement for this year’s festival. Not only is it the 22nd annual Shambhala, but it comes along with a stacked lineup from top to bottom with even more artist announcements coming in the first week of April! Let’s take a look at some of these artists in depth.
FKJ
After taking 2018 off to make some new music, Vincent Fenton, otherwise known as FKJ (French Kiwi Juice), is a man of many talents. FKJ has been taking 2019 by storm as he is embarking on his North American tour that begins in Canada and ends in Denver. He has released a few new singles over the last few months and also played a set at Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia that was live streamed. Since I have started listening to FKJ, I have seen him open for artists such as GRiZ and ODESZA and perform at a handful of festivals like Electric Forest and Hulaween. FKJ is an artist that is not to be missed!
Liquid Stranger
After releasing his 30 track album, Infinity, Liquid Stranger will be embarking on a journey to Canada to take his fans on a meteor ride through space. Martin Stääf has had quite a busy 2019 with his album release and the announcement of the first Wakaan Music Festival in Ozark, Arkansas. Liquid Stranger has a wide variety of songs to select from for his set and I am hopeful that he will pop up more than once at Shambhala for a downtempo set. Not only will Liquid Stranger be one of the headliners, but he has a handful of other artists on Wakaan that will be performing as well. Maybe a Wakaan takeover is a possibility?
GRiZ
Grant Kwiecinski, otherwise known as GRiZ, is slated for a wild 2019. After taking a much needed break from social media in 2018 and laying low, his latest album Ride Waves is expected to be released on April 5 with a handful of features with artists such as DRAM, Wiz Khalifa, Snoop Dogg, and Matisyahu. GRiZ also has a mini tour kicking off in the beginning of May in St. Augustine and ending in Kansas City. What will GRiZ have planned for his weekend at Shambhala, maybe a chasing the golden hour set?
If you thought the headliners for Shambhala were phenomenal, take a peek at the load of talent for the undercard!
Defunk
Logan Shea, otherwise known as Defunk, looks to takeover Shambhala once again. Coming from Calgary, Alberta, Defunk brings a mix of funk and glitch-hop to Shambhala for the crowd to get the funk down! He has been an opener on tour for artists such as SoDown and the Russ Liquid Test. He also has a featured mix for the Pretty Lights Hot Sh*t episodes as well. Listed as a Shambhala favorite, Defunk should be primed for another great year!
CharlesTheFirst
Charles Elias Ingalls, otherwise known as CharlesTheFirst, has been making some serious tracks since he has become a popular artist amongst the crowd. With a mix of experimental bass and downtempo tracks, CharlesTheFirst has been on a roll and was an opener for Bassnectar at the Freestyle Sessions in 2018. He has performed at numerous other festivals such as Electric Forest and Sonic Bloom. He currently is on a headlining tour in North America and is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon!
Boogie T
Brock Thornton, otherwise known as Boogie T, will be bringing his guitar and riddim tracks to Canada. Not only has Boogie T produced a handful of bangers, he also has formed the Boogie T.RIO, which consists of two other members to form the band. They debuted the Boogie T.RIO at Electric Forest 2018 Weekend 2 and it seemed like it was a huge success! Accompanied by Kooz doing visuals, Boogie T should be a hell of a time at Shambhala! Maybe we can get a guest appearance with GRiZ for their Supafly collab…
Shambhala features a diverse range of artists and is definitely a festival lineup that should not be overlooked by anyone. Even though the festival itself is in Canada, I have NEVER heard a bad thing about Shambhala and have been told that it is a festival that everyone needs to attend once in their life. My motto has always been to try a new festival every year and it is safe to say that I can cross this festival off my list to attend; Shambhala 2019 will be one for the memory books!
