Jody Raffoul

Jody Raffoul may be from a small town in Southern Ontario, but his diverse career as a working class pop-rock singer/songwriter has continued to put him in the spotlight here stateside. Jody has already brought his signature throaty vocal style across the states, opening for big name artists such as Collective Soul, Kid Rock, Nickelback, Joe Cocker, Blues Traveler, Richard Marx, Counting Crows, The Allman Brothers Band, Uncle Kracker, John Entwhistle, Chris Isaak, Paul Rodgers and most recently Bon Jovi.

A reliable "critic's pick" in the Detroit Metro area, Jody's career jumped leaps in 2006 when he beat out over 17,500 bands nationwide in the Bon Jovi "Have a Nice Gig" competition. Jody's "Light of Day" won the regional gig, chosen by Detroit's WDVD 96.3, giving him the chance to open for Bon Jovi at the sold out Palace at Auburn Hills in November 2005. In early 2006 Jody was named the Grand Prize winner of the national contest, hand picked and announced personally by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. He went on to open a sold out show at Giant's Stadium in Bon Jovi's home state, New Jersey, alongside fellow Canadians, Nickelback. As the national winner he was also featured on XM Satellite Radio's, Billy Zero Unsigned Artists show. The contest win and word of mouth has increased his following across the states winning over new fans along the way.

At home in a small club or the big stage, his signature voice and compassionate stage presence has been described as a hybrid mix of Bono and Bruce Springsteen making every performance unique. Jody's solo acoustic album "Simple Life" which was only sold at live shows, not only garnered attention from the music industry, contemporaries and some of Jody's musical influences, but it also showcased Jody's diversity. His sensitive, in-tune songwriting ability combined with infectious rifts and full band is reflected in the album, "Like A Star", which was will finally made available as a download in January 2008.

In a world full of musical choices Jody's music has no gimmick; the songs speak for themselves, and the passion he puts into them is undeniable.

JODY has just finished his new album BIG SKY, produced by Jody, mixed by Al Sutton and mastered by Greg Calbi he is currently working on his movie GRABTIME - official release dates for both will be announced shortly.

Melanie Deveau

What can we say about Melanie...well...she has brown eyes...who knows what colour hair today.....that's pretty much it! Thanks for stopping by! Seriously, Mel cares very much about her community and feels the public has the right to know what's going on. She always seems to ask the right questions. If there's an issue to cover in Windsor and Essex County, you can count on Melanie and Windsor Now to bring you the facts and all sides of the story. And we can't forget... Melanie has a huge sense of humour...mostly due to the fact that she's forced to look at Dan in the studio all day long.

Mark Lander

Mark helps you through your work day with the best music around. He is a font of information about the music he loves and plays from 10am to 3pm. Make sure you catch the River Ticket Window at 10 to 1 every weekday to score yourself some awesome River Goodies.

Lisa Rene-de-Cotret

Lisa Rene-de-Cotret is a local award winning photo-journalist, writing and photographing for many local publications, such as Bluesfest sponsor, Biz X Magazine, and The Windsor Star. She is also a well known publicist, and community activist. From 1981-1988 she was the personal assistant to Juno Award Winning Canadian Record Producer/Song Writer/Musician David Tyson, (who wrote for Hall and Oates, Joe Cocker, Alannah Myles, Amanda Marshall, and Amy Sky, just to name a few)

She scouted talent, helped in the recording studio, and in video productions. She is also the Community Liaison for the Windsor Chapter of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. But most of all she is a die-hard blues fan, and for the past 13 years, she has attended Bluesfest photographing and interviewing many of the performers and headliners.