Market Square Boardwalk party kicks off June 30.

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Stephany Peterson is so excited about Canada Day, she's making it a two-day event.

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Peterson is one of the co-ordinators of the Canada Day Countdown, an evening-long party that kicks off on the Market Square Boardwalk June 30 at 6 p.m. Now in its fourth year, the Countdown has offered Saint John residents some of the best music the East Coast has to offer; Wintersleep, The Jimmy Swift Band and Two Hours Traffic are just a few of the artists that have graced the Countdown stage.

This year's no different. One top of the comedy stylings of Yuk Yuk's regulars Francois Webber and Tracy MacDonald, The Canada Day Countdown will offer performances by ECMA winners In-Flight Safety, Newfoundland up and comers Hey Rosetta!, Moncton jazz rockers Les Paiens, P.E.I. popsters The Jeff Morris Band, and electronic masters Scientist of Sound. Not a bad way to spend a summer night.

"It grows every year, because people are more aware of it," says Peterson. "People trust us in terms of who we're going to put on, so we can go with people we can enjoy and bands we can stand by. It feels good to be specifically oriented towards being that celebration."

It's also a good place for people to see some rising stars. Wintersleep was touted as the next big thing out of the East Coast when they performed at the festival last year. Since then they've picked up a Juno for Best New Artist, a Much Music Video Award for Best Independent Video, and have toured around North America and Japan. Peterson expects similar things from Hey Rosetta!, who are currently on tour in support of the brand new album Into Your Lungs.

"I am really glad we got to add them to the lineup this year," says Peterson. "We caught them at a great time, much like Wintersleep last year, because they're on their way up."

Tim Baker doesn't know what to make of the hype. The principal songwriter and front man for Hey Rosetta!, Baker is merely happy to be making music.

"Whatever happens, we'll try to play the best shows we can," he says en route to Regina, Saskatchewan. "I guess there's a bit of added pressure, but to me there's not a big difference between playing for half a dozen people or many thousands. We give it all we can onstage."

It's been a rapid rise for the indie pop sextet. Formed in St. John's a little over three years ago, the band earned rave reviews from fans and industry professionals for the 2006 EP Plan Your Escape. The group was quickly signed by Sonic Entertainment Group, who re-released the EP and hooked them up with Hawksley Workman, who produced Into Your Lungs.

"He was really into it, and it was really incredible for us," says Baker. "It was very quick, just getting the performances down, but it was super fun, and Hawksley is really hilarious, I don't think I've met anyone as funny as him."

The end result was a seriously good album that has left critics drooling. The band wowed a sold-out audience at Toronto's legendary Horseshoe Tavern during the North By Northeast Festival earlier this month, and recently debuted at number nine on the Canadian College Charts. Still, Baker says the band takes its success in stride.

"Everything is moving at a hectic pace, and I'm continually surprised when people compliment us and consider us big," he says. "We try to stay grounded because, success is fleeting so we're just going to keep doing what we're doing and try to make music that's smart and appeals to us."

In-Flight Safety has been doing the same thing for over five years. The Sackville-born, Halifax-based quartet has gained plenty of fans during that time, winning three 2007 East Coast Music Awards and for Nova Scotia Music Awards in the process. The band recently put the finishing touches on its yet-to-be-named third album, and singer/guitarist John Mullane couldn't be happier.

"We're really excited," says Mullane, who just shipped the new disc off for mastering. "We moved to Fox River, Nova Scotia, and recorded in an old haunted school house. We had been doing a lot of writing in Sackville, so we were used to the process of packing up the van and just setting up, playing and writing. We had some great accommodations right on the Bay of Fundy, and it was amazing."

The latest project took over six months to complete, much less than the two years it took sophomore album The Coast Is Clear to see the light of day. Mullane says speeding up the recording process was a necessity.

"If we didn't do that we wouldn't have much of a band left right now," he says. "We made sure that come hell or high water the album would be recorded in a timely manner. We hoped to do it in three or four months, and had ambitious release dates in mind, but traditional In-Flight Safety fashion dictated it would take a while, and that's exactly what happened. "

Now that the disc is done, In-Flight Safety plans on celebrating by hitting a few stages around the East Coast. The Canada Day Countdown spot marks the band's first performance since last winter, and Mullane is looking forward to trying out the band's new songs in front of a Saint John audience.

"This show is a perfect opportunity to come out and perform in public again," he says. "The last time we played a show was in front of City Hall in Toronto in the middle of the winter, and it was hilarious because we froze to death. My hands and guitars were freezing and my voice blew out because I didn't drink any water and my throat dried up. This is going to go down in the record books as the most opposite shows in terms of weather."