Maple Ridge is in for a summer beach party for Canada Day.
The John Welsh Band will be taking to the main stage for Canada Day celebrations in Memorial Peace Park.
This is their summer kick-off performance and they will be promoting their new album Vamonos Mi Chica! which debuted at #2 on the Canadian iTunes World Music Charts.
“We have a bit of Latin, a bit of reggae, just to get people dancing and singing along,” said John Welsh.
When the John Welsh Band were first starting out as a band they used to play as a three piece band at the Billy Miner Pub.
Now they have a full six-piece band and will be performing two sets.
The new album is a mixture of the bands original songs that they play at festivals.
“We really wanted to capture the feeling of seeing us live on the album,” said Welsh.
“It’s a really upbeat album that you would put on at a summer party or something. A lot of people say it reminds them of being on the beach,” said Welsh.
The band also released their new music video, Sayulita, on Facebook.
The song is about a little surf town north of Puerta Viarta that Welsh visited on a trip to Mexico.
“It is just a fun song about escaping the duldroms of life here,” he explained.
“It actually went viral in Mexico and we just passed one million views on it,” laughed Welsh.
The band sings in English and in Spanish.
One of the band members is originally from Nigeria. He does African percussian and co-writes the songs so there is a blend of styles.
There is also a new band member who plays keyboard, saxophone and accordian.
They really encourage crowd participation and plan to get the crowd dancing and clapping to their new tunes.
To check out the music ahead of time go to johnwelshband.com.
Canada Day entertainment:
Five entertainment stages will be set up to present arts, culture, music and dance.
Plus there will be a full day of family-friendly activities including the Farmer’s Market, a community barbecue, children’s games, a splash zone, community displays and a multicultural parade.
10 a.m.Entertainment, Farmer’s Market and family activities begin
12:30 p.m. Protocol Parade and Official Canada Day Ceremony
1:30 p.m. Bruce James Orchestra show and dance lesson
4 p.m. - 6 p.m. Multicultural Parade, community barbecue, New Canadian presentation, summer spray and play
5 p.m. - 7 p.m. The John Welsh Band will be the headlining entertainment on the ACT Mainstage
7 p.m. Happy Birthday Song