What do you get when you recruit a talent agent to recruit performers for a festival? A strategically-matched medley of musicians on the rise.

Debbie Peters, who represents musicians through Magnum Opus Management and who is the artistic producer for High Notes Music Festival at Panorama Mountain Resort said her role is “sourcing the talent.”

Much like the artists themselves, she travels to showcases, performances and wherever music is made. Then she writes a score where the notes are the individual bands and the song is an entire festival. When last year’s show ended, she was already starting to collect artists for the 2019 High Notes Music Festival.

“The overall goal is to animate the mountain with great music,” she said.

The festival recruits “artists that are really going to bring high energy to the stage” and “who are really on the rise,” she said. “It may not be a household name but it may be somebody who is just about to break out and some of them are really making it, getting really well known (in Canada and beyond).”

But courting bands on their way up can come with some challenges.

For instance, last year the Jerry Cans were slated to perform at High Notes when they received two JUNO nominations (for Breakthrough Group of the Year and Contemporary Roots Album of the Year) and were invited to play on the national stage. The only problem: High Notes and the JUNOs were at the same time.

“We had to make some pretty quick changes,” she said when the Jerry Cans postponed their High Notes show but she was pleased to see the band gain national acclaim.

The Jerry Cans will be playing at Panorama on Saturday, March 23rd, and Ms. Peters is “just thrilled” to welcome them to the mountain.

Because the Jerry Cans are from from Iqaluit, Ms. Peters feels they “fit quite nicely” with Diyet & The Love Soldiers, who come from the Yukon.

“And again backing winners, Diyet’s just been nominated for best folk album for the Indigenous Music Awards,” she said.

Tiger Moon – a Kelowna band that is “hugely engaging on stage” – will also perform that evening.

High Notes will carry a different beat on Friday, March 22nd.

“On Friday night the idea and the vision was to have a west/ east coast mountain kitchen party in the T-Bar,” she said.

There the Derina Harvey Band from Newfoundland and Edmonton will offer “that real East coast/ Alberta/ Celtic rock.”

They will be matched with The Frontiers out of Calgary so there will be “an acoustic but energetic vibe coming out of the T-Bar,” she said.

That evening Ken Lavigne “an amazing voice and entertainer” will perform during a dinner and wine pairing at Restaurant elevenFIFTY.

“We’ve got some phenomenal artists coming to the festival,” she said. “Get your party shoes on. It’s going to be fabulous.”

Last year even the weather joined the party.

“It was spectacular. The sun was out and the blue sky and the skiers coming down and the music kind of going up in that natural amphitheatre there. It was fantastic out on the Great Hall Patio,” she said.

High Notes Music Festival runs from March 22nd to 24th at Panorama Mountain Resort. For tickets and for more information, visit www.panoramaresort.com/panorama-today/high-notes/.