JW-Jones and Friends: Live + Local featuring DeeDee Butters, Raoul Bhaneja, Megan Francoeur, and Zach Raynor (The Lionyls)
Presented by Meridian Theatres @ Centrepointe
Billboard Top 10 Blues Artist, JW-Jones, is back on the stage! The 2020 International Blues Challenge “best guitarist” winner and JUNO nominee will be lighting up the Meridian Theatres @ Centrepointe mainstage with his usual high-energy performance, wowing the crowd with song after song.
DeeDee Butters, Raoul Bhaneja, Megan Francoeur, and Zach Raynor (The Lionyls) will be accompanying JW on stage for this annual show!
JW-Jones and his band will back these amazing performers and play crowd favourites from their own repertoire.
Get ready for a sizzling show to melt the snow this December!
DeeDee Butters
Showcasing a flexible and expressive 4-octave voice, soul-pop artist DeeDee Butters is a powerhouse entertainer. DeeDee shifts between blazing high notes, improvisational riffs, and simple melodies, while displaying her easy charm. She is a founding member of the art-pop tour-de-force, The PepTides, and vivaciously fronts the original pop-funk-disco band, DeeDee7. She channels classic soul-diva in her 9-piece tribute to Aretha Franklin, With Respect. Delivering exciting physical energy on stage, DeeDee has played with many live acts such as Colin James, Sass Jordan, The Cooper Brothers, Stuart McLean & the Vinyl Cafe, and Séan McCann, founder of Great Big Sea. DeeDee’s collaborations have been played on CBC Radio in Canada (The Vinyl Cafe, All In A Day) and around the world (WA12 UK, LRD Radio France, Big Indie Giant South Africa).
Raoul Bhaneja
Raised in Ottawa, Raoul is a graduate of Arts Canterbury (Drama) and The National Theatre School of Canada. For twenty five years, along side a busy career as an actor on both stage and screen he has fronted Maple Blues Award winners, Raoul and The Big Time and released seven albums on his label Big Time Records. He has performed at festivals coast to coast and worked in the US, performing or recording with legends such as Bettye LaVette, Billy Boy Arnold, Curtis Salgado, Billy Branch, Lee Oskar, Junior Watson, Mark Hummel Rusty Zinn Johnny Sansone, members of Canned Heat and The Mavis Staples Band along with Canadian legends such as recent Order of Canada recipient Big Dave McLean. He has hosted the Maple Blues Awards a number of times and had his own radio show on Jazzcast.ca called “Raoul’s Blues”. He has appeared in over 130 different film and television projects and recently won Best Actor at The United Solo Festival in New York for his legendary production of Hamlet (solo) last seen at The National Arts Centre in Ottawa a decade ago.
Megan Francoeur
Megan Francoeur fuses folk-rock songwriting with spellbinding RnB vocal tendencies. Her single “The Cold” was written for the tiff award-winning short film, “Iowísto”, released in 2020. From slow searing tracks to those filled with rhythmic backbone, every song will grip you in her dynamic live performance. “Her truly exceptional and elastic vocals are front and centre. I would describe them as an instrument, moving seamlessly and effortlessly between highs, lows, and textures ranging from full-on register to the strong and beautiful tones of her falsetto”(Apt613).
Zach Raynor (of The Lionyls)
Bio: Rooted in Ottawa, Canada, Zach is a singer-songwriter with an expressive voice and charismatic style. Drawing from Neo Soul, RnB and Funk influences, he combines memorable melodies with a strong sense of groove. A founding member of The Lionyls, an Ottawa based Rock and Soul band, Zach has many years of experience as a frontman and guitarist, with performances at NXNE, CMW, and Ottawa Bluesfest to his credit.
