Thursday, December 5 • 7:30 PM
The Historic Market Hall
Meghan Parnell (vocals) and Dave Barnes (guitar) are the dynamic duo behind Bywater Call, a seven-piece Southern soul and roots rock juggernaut straight out of Toronto. The band’s lineup is rounded out by Bruce McCarthy on drums, Mike Meusel on bass, keyboard whiz John Kervin, trumpet master Stephen Dyte, and tenor sax sensation Julian Nalli.
Bywater Call has been collecting Independent Blues and Maple Blues Award nominations like they’re going out of style, with nods for Entertainer, Electric Act, and Best Female Vocalist for the 2024 Awards Season. They’ve wowed audiences across Europe, with Dutch, German, and UK critics calling Meghan one of the top female voices in blues and roots today.
In August 2023, the band hit the high seas on Joe Bonamassa’s third Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea Mediterranean Cruise, sharing the stage with headliners Blackberry Smoke and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. They even got to jam at the All-Star Jam with Bonamassa himself. Guitarist Dave Barnes also got a shout-out from legendary blues artist Jimmy Vivino (of Conan O’Brien’s Basic Cable Band fame) to join him on stage.
Bywater Call has rocked festival stages both in Canada and worldwide, often dubbed the “find of the fest.” In May 2023, they opened for the Canadian award-winners White Horse at the inaugural Smokestack Music Festival in Hamilton, Ontario. Meghan also joined pedal-steel virtuoso Robert Randolph on stage at his request during the Briggs Farm Festival in Nescopeck, PA.
On October 24, 2023, they performed a live stream set for the renowned German TV show and festival Rockpalast.
In just 2023 alone, the band played 96 shows across 10 countries, 89 cities, 19 US states, and 3 Canadian provinces. This doesn’t even count their month-long duo tour through Europe and the UK, where Meghan and Dave opened for Southern California rockers Robert Jon & The Wreck, who recently teamed up with Joe Bonamassa’s Journeyman Records.
Their music is a wild ride through life’s ups and downs. From soul-baring ballads that explore human emotions to high-octane anthems that demand to be cranked up to eleven, their catalog takes listeners on a journey influenced by legends like The Band, The Wood Brothers, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Otis Redding, Little Feat, and Sly and the Family Stone.
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