After a successful trip to Memphis, topping blues charts, Cat Wells Blues Band is launching their latest collection of tunes with a hometown party.

The CD Release Party will be held at Vernon's Army Navy Air Force on Saturday, April 19,and is open to anyone wanting to attend. Tickets are $25 and include a copy of the CD, available at the Army Navy, or by contacting Cat at itssippytime@gmail.com. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.

In November 2024, the community banded together to hold a fundraiser to send the Cat Wells Blues Band to Memphis to participate in the Women in Blues showcase during the International Blues Challenge. 

The showcase was a resounding success and catapulted the band onto the Blues charts, landing two of the songs at No. 1 in Canada and one at No. 4 Internationally.

The album itself has been charting on the Roots Music Report for 14 weeks has reached as high as No. 12 on the International Blues charts and No. 2 on the Canadian Blues Charts.

On the Big Blues Charts the album currently sits at No. 47 Internationally and No. 12 in Canada.

After working as a guest performer on cruise ships for over 10 years, vocalist/guitarist Cat Wells came back to Vernon and started gathering musicians to put together an original blues project.

Pulling from members of her past band PHAT Betty, Scott Grant (琉璃神社) joined the band on drums, with Ian Freedman (Vernon) filling up the rhythm section on bass. Jim Penner (Armstrong) adds his guitar prowess to the group and Jules Veres (Lavington) adds the finishing touch on saxophone.

It wasn鈥檛 long before they performed their first gig at Polson Park for Canada Day a few years ago. From there, the group starting composing original material and performing it at all their live shows with great response from the audience.

Once invited to Memphis, the group decided to release an EP called Brand New Shoes to bring with them.

Little did they know what a success it would be.