This year the Waterways Ireland Riverfest will be hosting 2 bands for our concert, Ken Haddock and Uncle Junior.

Ken Haddock

A naturally gifted vocalist , Ken Haddock has been a hugely popular figure among audiences and fellow performers since his arrival on the Belfast scene in the late ‘90s. Ken toured extensively in Europe over a two year period ‘95-97’ as saxophonist and percussionist for ‘Retina’ an Anglo-Belgium contemporary dance company,also as a session player to Ian White the successful gospel artist.

Having anonymously fronted a local radio hit, ‘First of July’, for the enigmatic theatre/soundtrack composer Jules Maxwell (a track from the album The Jules Maxwell Project, 1997,Bolt) , Ken found himself invited to contribute the vocal on Maxwell’s soundtrack to the Oscar - nominated short film Dance Lexie Dance. Ken’s work for the film,directed by Tim Loane, was widely viewed as a crucial element in its success - although, once again,Ken was proving immensely popular without anyone in the general public knowing his name!

That problem was decisively addressed in 2001 with the recording of Ken’s first album, The Sweetest hour, self-funded and initially pressed only in a limited run (swiftly re-pressed), the album was very successful on a local level - gaining significant airplay on BBC Radio Ulster,Cool FM,Downtown and other stations, with the local press and television also coming on board,Produced by Ken and Jules Maxwell, almost all the songs were haddock originals,performed with full band and revealing Ken’s mastery of generic styles - easy to listen to for the casual ear, but shot through with musical integrity.

Ken is motivated and inspired by human relationships and the visual environment. As father to Jacob and Grace he has found two invaluable muses and the ease of a child’s logic and depth of love have inspired and informed his writing.

In 2003, with long-time friend Steve Jones and Jules Maxwell completed work on the EP, Day That Never Came. During the promotion for the EP Ken performed a series of three concerts at Belfast’s Old Museum Arts Centre, all of which sold out.

Ken has now launched his new album “Almost” and he will be playing his new songs at the Riverfest. TO hear some of Ken’s songs visit: http://www.myspace.com/kenhaddock

Uncle Junior

This 5 piece blues / soul experience from London have travelled the world, both individually and as a band. Each individual member has performed with various members of blues royalty with the band itself being chosen by the legendary Cream writer Pete Brown as his own. Their set pays homage to the past masters whilst injecting their own unique blend of heart, passion and soul.

Members

Adam Binnie - Vocals
Connor McDonald - Guitar / Vocals
Will Shackleton - Guitar / Vocals
James Ahwai - Bass
Terry Swain - Drums Vocals

Below is a video of “King Biscuit” performing at the RIverfest 2007. The band make up 3 of the members from Uncle Junior, Front man Adam Binnie, Connor McDonald on guitar and Terry Swain on Drums.