Yellowknife (May 01/06) - A grittier, roots-oriented group of musicians will greet Northerners at this year's Folk on the Rocks festival, which has just finalized its Northern line-up.

"This year is different. It honours our roots and our origins," said Tracey Bryant, executive festival director for the annual Yellowknife festival.

Northern performers Katlodeeche Drummers Diga Lazy Suzanz Indio Esker Pauline Permik and Karen Panigoniak The Leslie Bader Band Razzamajazz! Sex and Salvelinus William Greenland Jay Gilday G'joa Brodie Dawson Steve Smith and Hindesite

To this end, a number of artists from around the North and elsewhere have been called upon to lend their unique voices to the event.

These include Behchoko's (Rae-Edzo) award-winning Diga, Inuvik's Razzmajazz and the Katlodeeche Drummers from Hay River, among others.

Each year, Bryant said, the festival is a 50/50 split between Northern and southern artists, and strives to encourage onstage collaboration.

"Part of our mandate is to provide opportunities and exposure for Northern artists," she said.

One such grouping will include Hay River's traditional Dene percussionists, who will appear with War Party, a socially conscious hip-hop ensemble from the Hobbema First Nations reserve in Alberta.

"What's important to the drummers is passing on culture to future generations," she said. "They're telling stories and passing on oral tradition and I think there's a similarity with how War Party uses mainstream hip-hop."

"They use it as a vehicle to promote change and make a difference among the youth."

She said the $400,000 festival is moving away from some of the gloss and polish of last year's 25th anniversary celebration to preserve its "up close and personal feel."

"We're letting the dust settle a bit from last year," she said.

This year's festival runs from July 14-16, with a number of warm-up shows and activities preceding the main event. Bryant said more than 4,000 people came out for last year's festival.

Twenty-eight performers will grace five stages at Folk on the Rocks this year, and Bryant isn't picking any favourites.

"When you're involved with an event like this, every band is your favourite. That's how you pick them," she said.

The full line-up will be released May 15.