Are you trying to make a name for yourself in music?

This might just be the thing for you.

The Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival is partnering with Creative Okanagan Artist and Event Development Society to give burgeoning Okanagan musicians a place to strum their stuff.

The program is called Inside the Festival program and open to artists performing music within the genres of roots and blues.

Those who gain acceptance would be offered a wide array of opportunities, including:

• Meeting with Creative Okanagan Creative Director prior to the festival to do a performance review, go over what to expect at the festival, and to consider performance opportunity details
• Two 40-minutes performance opportunities on the Wednesday or Thursday night before the Roots & Blues Festival, a Friday night workshops (to be determined by the Roots & Blues Artistic Director) or Saturday morning brunch outreach event
• Weekend passes and back stage passes to for the festival weekend
• A 40-minute media training session guided by Creative Okanagan Executive and Creative Director in partnership with a media sponsor on the Saturday or Sunday (as determined by Creative Okanagan and Roots & Blues) at the media tent on the festival site, opportunity to see other musicians interviewed by the media
• Tech walk through with an experienced stage manager, on the Saturday or Sunday (as determined by Roots & Blues)
• Roots & Blues will strive to provide accommodations for band members, this may be a billet situation Criteria:
• Artist or band must perform music stemming from the roots and/or blues traditions. Music performed may be primarily covers. Quality of performance will be primary selection criteria.
• Members must have been residents of the Okanagan including the Shuswap/North Thompson for one year (same boundaries as the Okanagan Regional Library)
• Artist has not previously been hired to play the Roots & Blues Festival.
• Required to submit a brief statement on goals as a musician and a CV including recent activities as a musician (tours/shows/albums/digital activities/website link).
• Applicant(s) must be a musician capable of playing a forty-minute set in a professional manner, this may be a subset of a larger band, acts of all sizes will be considered
• Artists must be available to attend Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival, August 17 – 20, 2017.

The Inside the Festival program application can be found on the Creative Okanagan website and will be open until Thursday, June 15, at 9:30 a.m. Applications will be accepted until Thursday, June 15 at 9:30 a.m.

Selection process: Creative Okanagan will ensure all criteria are met and create a short list to pass on to the Artistic Director of the Roots and Blues Festival. The selected applicant(s) will be notified by July 12, 2017.