Here are the dates and confirmed performers for our 42nd anniversary, 2022 – 2023 Season.
October 1 The Fretless with opening act Magnolia Buckskin
The Fretless is a Canadian fiddle foursome playing an essential part in the emerging movement mainstreaming traditional Irish folk music. Starting with its debut album in 2012, the band has steadily pushed further into the public eye, winning Instrumental Group of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. In 2017, The Fretless took home a Juno award for Instrumental Album of The Year for Bird’s Nest.
Magnolia Buckskin members Corry Ulan, Natasha Sayer and Kathy Cook are excited about sharing their new CD titled Die Laughing. They have been winning the hearts of audiences for more than half a decade with their intriguing lyrics and captivating arrangements. A flavorful blend of grassroots, folk, and acoustic pop music highlights sweet harmonies, laced with banjo, accordion, clarinet, mandolin, bass and guitar.
October 15 The Pairs with opening act Tim Isberg
Family is the cord that ties The Pairs together, and with soaring harmonies they share stories of life’s hope, hilarity, and hardship. Their emotion-full performances and unbottled chemistry quickly connect them with their audiences, blurring the line between the stage and the crowd. Powered by 3 classically trained vocalists and a former punk rock drummer, The Pairs create acoustic harmony pop tunes grounded in unique rhythms that will hug your ear drums and inspire you to dance.
From Rwanda to Afghanistan, veteran soldier Tim Isberg experienced the real-life challenges while deployed amid the best and worst humanity has to offer. A Nominee for ACMA Male Artist of the Year and Top 5 Best Albums, Tim is a storyteller who brings an Americana blend of well-crafted songs to the stage and a unique and endearing array of experiences he shares in a way that makes each listener feel connected.
October 29 Little Miss Higgins and Kris Demeanor present The Fire Waltz with opening act Ian Foster
Little Miss Higgins struts and serenades her way onto any stage playing music brewed in early country blues, jazz and folk. Her six independently released albums have earned Juno and Maple Blues Award nominations and the Outstanding Blues Recording at the Western Canadian Music Awards. The Fire Waltz is a collaboration with Kris Demeanor, following a song cycle journey of a mother from a WWII era English Channel island to the great northern plains of Canada.
Newfoundland’s Ian Foster is a storyteller who continues to evolve and defy genre, as his latest forthcoming album and film project Close to the Bone illustrates. He is a MusicNL and East Coast Music Award winner and a finalist for the International Songwriting Competition. A master with words, he’s got many a tale to tell and tells them with elegance. Some of the songs are in essence short stories, others poeticisms reflecting a connection to his surroundings.
November 12 Irish Mythen
Irish Mythen was born in Ireland and now resides in Charlottetown Prince Edward Island. Her latest release, Little Bones, gained her a 2020 JUNO nomination for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year, seven Music PEI 2020 nominations and two wins — Touring Artist of the Year and Roots Contemporary Recording of the Year, and a Canadian Folk Music Award for Solo Artist of the Year. Irish’s live performances are a thing of raw power, emotion and a connection with her audience that just has to be seen to be believed.
November 26 Dala with opening act Rob Heath
Juno nominees and winners of the Canadian Folk Music Award for Vocal Group of the Year, Amanda Walther and Sheila Carabine of Dala write and sing in harmony best described as angelic. Dala write songs that are both catchy and insightful. Amanda’s ethereal soprano voice blends seamlessly with Sheila’s velvety alto, creating the lush harmonies that have become their trademark. The sheer joy with which they perform is infectious, turning first-time listeners into instant fans.
Singer/songwriter Rob Heath is first and foremost a storyteller. He has a keen eye for observance of the human condition and an ardent ear for putting it all to music. He won first place in the Calgary Folk Music Festival Songwriting Contest, won the New Folk competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival and was nominated for Canadian Folk Music Award as Songwriter of the Year. His latest CD Biggest Moments was released in 2022. Most of the songs are about people showing kindness to others without any expectations.
January 14 Terra Spencer with opening act John Hewitt
Since her 2018 solo debut, Nova Scotian funeral director-turned-songwriter and 2021 CFMA Contemporary Singer of the Year nominee Terra Spencer has won over audiences by marrying fingerstyle guitar, gospel piano, and her butterscotch voice with onstage humour and 70s wood-paneled warmth. Her self-produced second album Chasing Rabbits was recently named 2021 Music NS winner and nominated for 2021 ECMA Folk Recording of the Year. In a room of 5 or 500, every show is a knee-to-knee conversation with a natural storyteller.
As a songwriter he involves the abstract imagery of the Beat Poets. Pumping gas and playing the local clubs of his hometown. Running on caffeine, beer and the enjoyment of going to the school of yesterdays records. Now, with three releases under his belt John is working on two new recordings, a solo acoustic record, Life Blood and Tears and a full band record, Chaos and Conversation.
January 28 John Wort Hannam with opening act The Goddamsels
In 2001 John Wort Hannam quit his teaching job and spent 10 months depleting his savings, writing his first ten songs. Those songs would become his first recording Pocket Full Of Holes. Since then he’s earned a JUNO nomination, a Canadian Folk Music Award for Best Album of the Year, a CBC Galaxie Rising Star Award, and a Kerrville Texas New Folk win. John has just released his eighth full-length recording Long Haul. He’s spent years learning the craft of songwriting and is taking those tools to write some of his most personal songs. He has, quite literally, found his voice.
Based on their name alone, The Goddamsels aren’t your grandparents’ idea of country music. Mallory Chipman and Frédrique “Freddi” MacDougall write songs with strong, empowering messages, blended with elements of folk, pop and traditional country, all tied together by their stunning, instinctive harmonies It’s all fully displayed on their six-song debut EP, Wayward Daughter. The Goddamsels are poised to make a powerful first impression within the roots music world—and one that is sure to leave everyone who hears them clamouring for more.
February 11 Jennifer Berezan
Jennifer Berezan is a unique blend of singer/songwriter, producer, and activist. Over the course of ten albums, her music has been shaped by her lifelong involvement in environmental, women’s, and justice movements as well as Buddhist practice. Though her songs often confront universal issues, her perspective is informed by a refreshing and honest intimacy. Raised in the prairies of Alberta, the healing power of nature is also at the heart of her work. Her approach to music as a transformative experience creates a strong rapport with audiences from small venues to large events throughout the world. She is a leading voice in the field of music and healing
February 25 Braden Gates with opening act Shawna Caspi
The dignity of labour has been a theme central to the folk music tradition forever. Working as a dishwasher, Braden’s formidable focus of conscience and care illuminate his portraits of characters from the restaurant milieu. His subjects: an aging line cook who breaks into song when the work gets tough, a tattooed omniscient waitress, a pool shark with anger management issues. His raucous fiddle and folk guitar playing are emancipatory. Braden’s latest album Kitchen Days won the 2022 Canadian Folk Music Award for Traditional Album of the Year.
Shawna Caspi takes her time crafting lyrics that are poetic and meaningful, often using unusual rhymes and surprising turns of phrase. She spent years on the road, supporting her warm, clear voice with intricate fingerstyle guitar accompaniment, and drawing energy from shifting landscapes and long drives through Canada and the United States. After taking a break from the road to rest, reflect, and write, Shawna’s fifth album, Hurricane Coming, is a collection of raw, deeply personal songs set against a backdrop of colourful cinematic soundscapes.
March 11 Gunning and Cormier with opening act True Blue
Dave Gunning is best defined as a master craftsman who, with a dozen albums has diligently sharpened his skills, developing into a poetic storyteller and emotionally convincing singer with few equals. Be it guitar, fiddle, mandolin or banjo, be it singing or songwriting, J.P. Cormier is outstanding. Together, they are two songwriters, interpreters, guitar players, and singers at their peak. It’s the power of the song, the highest quality from the past to the now. It’s two friends, brothers and uncompromising performers.
True Blue, Kyle Mosiuk and Nataya Nolan, blend folk music with the soulful sounds of the blues and a pop sensibility. Each member of the duo has a strong singing voice and together they create melodies and harmonies which are at times soft and subtle and other times visceral, raw and powerful. Every new song is driven by a different instrument and tonality, be it finger-style acoustic, soft, ethereal piano, or groovy and soulful electric guitar.
March 25 Pharis and Jason Romero with opening act Mike Tod
They’re nice people who play folk music. Oh yeah, they’ve also won three Junos and seven Canadian Folk Music Awards. They started out together playing mostly traditional music. Over the years they’ve moved their original songwriting and nuanced singing into the forefront, and audiences have embraced their intelligent songs, the sounds of their instruments and their clear approach to being two people while singing like one. Their newest record Tell ‘Em You Were Gold is a banjo-focused release out now on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
Mike Tod is a wry and raspy tenor bringing old-time music to modern audiences. He sings well-worn traditional, researches their roots, and shares them in a fashion that seems old yet contemporary at the same time. It sets a precedent for a sound that is both rooted in history and relevant to the present day.
April 15 Julian Taylor with opening act Wyatt C. Louis
Of West Indian and Mohawk descent, the soulful singer/guitarist might be on stage one night playing with his eponymous band, spilling out electrified rhythm and blues glory, and the next he is at a folk festival delivering a captivating solo singer-songwriter set. Julian earned the Solo Artist of the Year honour at the Canadian Folk Music Awards (and a nomination in the English Songwriter category), plus two Juno Award nominations in 2021, as well as a Polaris Music Prize nomination. In everything he does, Taylor has carved his own path, creating genre-free music with a generosity of spirit and a strong belief in the healing powers of song.
Wyatt C. Louis is a Nêhiyaw singer-songwriter based in Moh’kinstsís, Treaty 7 Territory (Calgary, AB). His songs are built from soaring melodies, railroad-like finger picking, quiet, haunting vocals and lyrical phrasing. Dark, rustic tales meld folk and soulful blues to tell tales of love, loss and the journey home. They’re beautiful, subtle creations that juxtapose emotions, striking imagery and experiences that charm and envelop listeners.