Roots and Costello signed on for inaugural Whistler fest

Just when you thought this year's summer festival lineup couldn't possibly have anything left up it's jam-packed sleeve, British Canadian resort town Whistler jumped in the game with a handful of festival veterans ready to prove you wrong at the Whistler Music Festival.

While it is their first go around at this music festival thing, the initial lineup released yesterday for the July 19-20 festival makes it seem as though the folks up in Whistler have certainly done their homework. Take one seminal genre-blurring singer-songwriter (Elvis Costello and the Imposters), one definitive hip-hop band with crossover appeal (The Roots) and one local favorite indie-rock supergroup (Broken Social Scene), and you've got the formula to the Whistler Music Festival's potential success.

Mix in festival veterans Robert Randolph & The Family Band and Medeski Martin & Wood,as well as Ontario's Bedouin Soundclash and 2008 Juno New Artist of the Year winner Serena Ryder and Whistler may just be a summer mainstay in the making. There will also be artist additions announced in the coming weeks.

The Festival is being put on by Festival Newtwork, LLC, who organized the event with Tourism Whistler. Festival Newtork is a privately held network headquartered in San Francisco that puts together multi-day music festivals around the world. Their CEO Tom Shepard says he hopes the festival is a memorable experience they can bring back to the area for years to come.

Tickets are on sale now at WhistlerMusicFestival.com.

Related links:
ElvisCostello.com
TheRoots.com
Broken Social Scene on MySpace

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