Badlands Music Festival with Griz

On July 5, 2026, Badlands Tent in Calgary welcomes GRiZ, the Detroit-area producer and saxophonist folding funk, soul and hip-hop into bass-driven electronic sets. Under his own name, Grant Kwiecinski has shaped a live identity around the saxophone as a melodic thread running through dubstep drops, glitch-hop grooves and jam-friendly detours. His discography sketches the path: from the electro-soul roots of Mad Liberation and Rebel Era, through the brass-forward bounce of Say It Loud and the vocal turns on Good Will Prevail and Ride Waves, to the psychedelic, set-ready textures of Rainbow Brain and the sundown moods of the Chasing The Golden Hour tapes.

On stage, he blends DJ craft and live playing: quick cuts into basslines, horn riffs pitched and looped, and space for improvisation that keeps the flow moving rather than a fixed playlist. GRiZ often builds momentum in waves, lifting funk motifs into heavier climaxes before dropping back into groove, with occasional nods to collaborators across the US bass scene. At Badlands, that blend—club energy shaped by musicianship—anchors the show.