GARNETTA CROMWELL & DaGROOVMASTERS

Garnetta Cromwell is a classic soul and R&B singer whose upbeat music brings pure joy to her audiences. Garnetta has been busy in the studio recently recording with many notable musicians and has just been invited to grace the stage with Juno Award & Maple Blues Award recipient and Hall of Famer, the King of Boogie Woogie, Mr. Kenny “Blues Boss”. Garnetta won the Toronto Blues Society’s 2022 Talent Search, recently performed at the Southside Shuffle in Mississauga, Ontario and will be featured at the Women’s Blues Revue at Koerner Hall in Toronto in November 2022. Garnetta will be proudly representing Canada at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis in January 2023. Her debut full-length album Get A Job is scheduled for release in the fall 2023. 



Garnetta’s story began in Montreal as a bilingual, Afro-Metis ( Mi’q Ma’q Community) Canadian girl, a musical daughter of a sophisticated and strong woman; and the youngest of six daughters. Watching her mother (Miss Marva Ann) use music to survive, thrive, heal, and grow; Garnetta used music for the same purpose. As a child, Garnetta had a hearing impairment that left her temporarily deaf and that required surgical treatment to repair. Loving music gave her the impetus to survive, the determination to thrive, the peace to heal and a reason to grow through a lifetime of facing significant challenges, many of which have involved losing loved ones and facing overt systemic racism. She diversified her musicality at a young age with a passion for gospel, blues, country, and soul music. Following her sisters in talent contests, Garnetta was a child performer, in costumes tailored by her mother and performing hit songs from the Supremes, The Staples Singers & the Jackson 5. With her bold, rich tone and innate talent; Garnetta became the lead vocalist in a junior choir, often performing with her sisters.



As Garnetta continued her music journey, she become the lead vocalist and drummer for a Toronto’s only female reggae band Sweet Sensation, performing on the same stage with Platinum/Grammy Award artists like Maxi Priest, Shabba Ranks, Shaggy, Gregory Issac and Sean Kingston, soul legends Percy Sledge, Dorothy Moore and The Manhattans. Garnetta then joined an R&B band in Nova Scotia called Bonafide, and set off for happiness, success, and change. She eventually returned westward and is now based in Hamilton, Ontario. 



Garnetta reflects on recording “Miss Marva Ann”:  “I felt compelled to write a song tribute to my mother, Marva Ann Fairfax. She was raised in the 1940s, in a very strict home as the only daughter with two  brothers. My mother’s strength to feed, clothe, and most importantly protect her six girls empowers me to this day”.  “Dance & Shout, It’s A Woman’s World, was inspired by my upbringing,” she relates. It’s an anthem to all women, meant to empower and inspire. I inherited my mother’s will to fight and survive in any circumstances; I hope my songs will connect with many audiences.”

 

Performances

Sunday August 1st, 2021

7:00PM ~ Mainstage

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