By Will Yannacoulias
Photo Courtesy Lip Slackers
The Salt Shaker at Manitou Lake is a rebranding of the old Manitou Boogaloo festival, taking place for the fifth year on the traditional weekend of July 8 & 9. The Manitou Beach resort town was once branded the Coney Island of the Prairies, a bustling family holiday destination with an electric nightlife. Events like Salt Shaker are encouraging a new generation to seek out the uniqueness of Manitou Beach.
Rather than setting up outdoor stages The Salt Shaker is using the resort town itself as a backdrop, with fifteen artists appearing at four different venues. Danceland, The Little Manitou Art Gallery, the Manitou Springs Resort and Mike’s Beach Bar will host live music, with plenty of food and vendors in between.
We spoke to Lip Slackers, a moody alt-rock four piece from Saskatoon who are appearing at their first Salt Shaker festival. Solo singer-songwriter Rowan Neufeld and punk rocker Cassandra Lavoie began playing together in 2016. “Rowan and I started writing together because we wanted to delve into something different, wanted to start experimenting with moody pop songs” Lavoie recalled. Writing and jamming was productive but the pair knew they had to bring in more members to capture the sound they were imagining. “I coach the Saskatoon Girls Rock Camp ‘All Grown Up’” Lavoie explained. “Courtney Tuck-Goetz was in one of the bands I’d mentored so we scooped her up as our drummer.” In 2020 Lip Slackers added Candace Lapointe as a second guitarist, completing their current lineup. Lavoie reflected that “having a second guitarist changed everything. I feel we now have a fuller sound with two guitars. We all sing so having four voices has given us an opportunity to revise how we want to do vocals and harmonies.”
In 2018 the band released “Slacker Demos”, a four song EP of original material. “We’ve written lots of new stuff since the Demos which we’re really stoked about” Neufeld shared. “We’ll be debuting some new stuff at Salt Shaker nobody’s heard before. We’re so excited to play. Nothing motivates a band like having an awesome show coming up.”
Lip Slackers will be appearing at Mike’s Beach Bar along with Anna Haverstock and Mandy Warhol & Puff Zaddy on Saturday afternoon. For more information and ticket sales please visit: