Wine, Brews and Blues Festival by the Sea

Daybreak Rotary welcomes you to our 15th “Wine, Brews and Blues” Festival by the Sea event, this year at the waterfront Maritime Heritage Centre. We trust you’ll enjoy the evening of wine & beer tasting and appies along with great entertainment on stage featuring Juno winner Dr. Lindsay Mitchell (founder of the band Prism), along with fellow Juno Award winning vocalist Sue Medley, plus Doc “Fingers” Gallagher and ” Rockin’ Saxman Johnny Ferriera and more!

This fundraising event will support the major projects done annually by Daybreak Rotary, such as Children’s Health Foundation of Vancouver Island’s Campbell River Qwalayu House supporting families throughout northern Vancouver Island. Daybreak Rotary does many projects in the community and around the world through this and other fundraisers.

The 15th Annual Grazing the Resort main event welcomes a community of food and drink. The evening includes canapes by local chefs and island purveyors, paired with a variety of tasting choices offered by both BC and International wines & island microbrews.

Indoor/Covered Balcony event – Rain or Shine – No Minors Permitted

This years appetizers include  BBQ Salmon, Sushi, charcuterie, Boston pizza and Rocky Mountain Chocolates.

Ticket: $75 Admission (plus applicable taxes & fees) includes Sampling well over 100 varieties of wines, beer & ciders, hot & cold appetizers as well as entertainment by award winning Blues artists.

THE MAIN STAGE WITH LIVE MUSIC

by Professional Artists Lindsay Mitchell, Sue Medley, Doc Fingers, Rockin’ Johnny Ferreira, & more!

Saturday, May 31,2025 | 7:00 PM – 9:30 PM

Dr. Lindsay Mitchell, Juno Winner & Co-founder of Prism

Born in North London, England he emigrated with his family to Canada and settled in Vancouver  where he developed his guitar skills emulating instrumental surf music bands such as the Shadows, the Ventures, and British Invasion artists like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds.

In 1974 he joined Bruce Fairbairn’s rhythm and blues band to help transform their sound from jazz fusion into blues rock.  1980 saw Prism win Juno Awards for Group of the Year while Fairbairn took Producer of the Year where Mitchell conceived the title song “Armageddon” in 1978 and earning multi-platinum status.  Mitchell and Prism performed on the first anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death.

More recently, Mitchell was a regular performer on the Vancouver Blues scene, notably with British blues legend Long John Baldry and with St. Louis-born actor/musician Jim Byrnes.

Sue Medley, Juno Award winning Vocalist/Guitarist

A native of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, Sue Medley was signed to PolyGram Records Canada in 1989 and released a self-titled debut CD in 1990. The album was co-produced by Medley and John Mellencamp producer Michael Wanchic and featured strong performances by John Hiatt’s band The Goners. In Canada Medley’s first single, “Dangerous Times” not only pushed her debut album to gold status within a few weeks of release, but was #1 on MuchMusic for two weeks, #1 on the Pop Adult charts for 12 weeks, in the Top 3 of the national album rock chart for six weeks, and earned her a SOCAN Songwriter of the Year Award for most airplay.

On the heels of the singles “Dangerous Times”, “Maybe the Next Time”, “That’s Life”, and “Love Thing”, she toured North America the rest of the year opening for Bob Dylan and other high-profile artists. Her second album, Inside Out, was once again co-produced by Medley and Wanchic and was aided by the musical help of slide guitarist Sonny Landreth and drummer Kenny Aronoff. The album, released in 1992, continued her radio success with a handful of additional singles and national tours with such artists as Tom Cochrane, Kim Mitchell and 54.40, keeping her in the spotlight. The first single “When the Stars Fall” became a hit on album radio and reached #2 on The Record’s chart (being locked out of #1 only by U2). In October 1992 she was invited by John Mellencamp to participate in the Bob Dylan Tribute at Madison Square Gardens in New York City, and performed a duet with Mellencamp on the classic Dylan track “Like a Rolling Stone”. Later that month she received a SOCAN award for her song “Maybe the Next Time”, which was one of the most played songs on Canadian radio in 1991.

Doc “Fingers”Gallagher

It was in the early ‘70’s Doc “Fingers”  while working with the Ronnie Hawkins band, when the handle “Fingers” was acquired.   When it comes time for that therapeutic, good time, boogie woogie blues, jazz and rock and roll, there’s no one that can tickle the keys quite like the Doctor.

“Doc” has played with musical greats such as Chuck Berry, John Lee Hooker, Rita Coolidge, Kris Kristofferson, Frank Zappa, David Clayton-Thomas (Blood Sweat and Tears), Bo Diddley, Jim Byrnes and many others.

Rockin’ Saxman”  Johnny Ferreira

Born in Portugal and growing up in Vancouver some of Ferreira’s primary influences were early rock and roll saxophonists King Curtis, Edgar Winter, Sam Taylor and later Bruce Springsteen and Supertramp.  Later, he collaborated with guitarist and singer-songwriter Colin James, both playing in clubs and joining the Colin James Band.   The band toured with Steve Winwood, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robert Plat, ZZ Top, The Rolling Stones, Bonnie Raitt and Keith Richards.   In 1990 the band released their second album going from gold to platinum.  And, in the late 1990’s Ferreira form his own band “Johnny Ferreira and The Swing Machine” touring most of Europe.