NNSL (Jun 12/98) - When the Folk on the Rocks Music Festival 1998 opens its gates this summer, there will be a cultural area, three-side stages, food and refreshments, a kids' stage and play area, evening main stage shows and a Friday night dance.

And there will be -- as usual -- an excellent lineup of Northern and southern performers.

The Holmes Brothers have been playing music since the late 1950s, but it took 30 years for their brand of soul, blues, gospel and country to get "discovered."

Their debut album, In The Spirit, was called "one of the best blues albums of the year" by the New York Times. Billboard Magazine described it as "utterly astounding." And Rolling Stone Magazine declared "...the words inspired, warm and soulful most definitely apply...one listen...and you'll adopt this family as your own."

The band is a rarity -- a soul harmony group where the three singers are all excellent instrumentalists. Wendell Holmes provides the gruff vocals and plays guitar, Sherman Holmes lends a rich baritone and plays bass, and Popsy Dixon covers the angelic falsetto and plays drums.

The New York Music Awards named the Holmes Brothers best blues artists in 1992, and they also finished first in the annual Downbeat International Critics Poll in the blues group traditional/roots category. They have also appeared on Late Night with David Letterman.

Eddie Kikoak has played guitar and fiddle at many events across the North over the past 50 years. He played in the Seal Skinners and with the late Abe Okpik in 1958. In the late '50s and early '60s, Kikoak introduced fiddle, guitar music, and western-style square dancing to many communities in the Arctic.

Taj Johnson and Aaron Hernandez of Yellowknife have been rapping and hip hopping as Unonymous for the past three years. They have written, produced, and manufactured two demo CDs. On the Folk on the Rocks stage, they will be accompanied by singers Margaret Bell and Jesse Miller -- not to mention the Unonymous dancers.

Folk on The Rocks is scheduled to hit Yellowknife July 17-19.