Results 2022

The traditional Grosse Isle trio is launching their new album Le bonhomme sept heures / The Bonesetter on a very symbolic date: March 17th, Irish St-Patrick’s Day. This group merges the Quebec repertoire and the Irish repertoire in a masterly way. Absolutely magical fusion thanks in particular to the union, in real life, of Sophie Lavoie from Lac-St-Jean and Fiachra O’Regan from Ireland. The legendary André Marchand (La Bottine Souriante, Les Charbonniers de l’Enfer) is also part of this talented trio.

Canadian singer and songwriter Fred Eaglesmith makes music that lives somewhere between country and contemporary folk, with a dark undertow that suggests rock & roll without making it an audible influence. Eaglesmith’s songs frequently deal with themes of a hardscrabble existence where liquor, drugs, violence, and desperation are facts of life along with love and good times; his lyrics are often leavened with sharp wit and his delivery can be sorrowful, energetic, or sarcastic depending on the song

David Boulanger has been playing the violin since his childhood. It was as a teenager that he became interested in traditional music and this passion has followed him ever since. In his early twenties, he was fortunate enough to join the world-renowned musical group La Bottine souriante, with whom he played for several years. One thing leading to another, he has performed with other musicians and several different musical groups and, for a few years, he has performed all over the world with the group De Temps Antan.

A Canadian and U.S. National fiddle champion, Shane Cook is a multi-instrumentalist who has distinguished himself as a master of the Canadian old-time fiddle tradition. As a four-member group of multi-instrumentalists, singers and step dancers, Shane Cook & The Woodchippers deliver performances that are an exciting mix of dynamic musicianship and engaging stage presence. Their superbly crafted arrangements are a modern and exhilarating approach to fiddle tunes and dance. Claire Lynch, a multiple grammy nominee says, “Shane offers up death-defying, acrobatic fiddle precision, soaring through tunes from his beloved Ontario with impeccable clarity.”

BEYRIES released her sophomore effort, Encounter, in November 2020. Every song on the majestic 11-track LP – produced by Alex McMahon – tells a story. Through BEYRIES’ unceasing commitment to songcraft, melody, harmony and lyrics, Encounter elegantly describes the earnest, fulfilling connections we make along our journey. Written entirely on a 1923 Heintzman & Co. family piano and expanded with lush instrumentation, BEYRIES approached every day at her piano with the same fundamental principle of writing songs that carried themselves like true classics of her youth.

Playing the piano since the age of five, multi-instrumentalist Reney Ray was writing her own songs even before graduating from elementary school. A few years later, the artistic spark of the Ontarian, who grew up in Val-Rita, turned into a flame and Reney was ready to raise her sensitive and heartfelt voice. In 2018, she finally released a debut album for which she received nominations in the Francophone Artist of the Year category at the Country Music Awards of Ontario in 2019 and 2020. In spring 2021, Reney released her awaited second album of 13 tracks “À l’ouest du réel”.

Ryland spends considerable time traversing the highways and byways of Canada, the US, and Europe, reflecting on personal growth and empathetically noting all around him, absorbing the images, stories, events, and experiences of the road as he goes. While the miles and time slip by, Ryland reads, mainly history and classic literature. Of the new songs that have emerged from an inspired combination of the pages of his book choices and all he sees through tour bus windows, Ryland says: “I feel less like a writer of fiction and more like a collector of sorts.”

Originally from Scotland, David Leask is a born song chaser who has produced seven critically-acclaimed albums. Leask’s latest release, Voyageur In Song, was inspired by the stories behind the pieces found in the Six String Nation Guitar. The Toronto Star called it, “possibly the most Canadian album on Canada’s most historic instrument” and RNR Magazine says, “Voyageur In Song is something truly special…that rare thing, a genuinely inspiring album.” David is a previous recipient of the Mississauga’s Performing Artist of the Year Award and winner of multiple international songwriting awards as well as the FMO’s Songs From the Heart Award.

Rick Fines has had a long and storied career as a hard working musician, touring across Canada countless times solo, as a duo or with a full band. He has recorded 14 albums and has been a guest on many others. Steeped in roots music, Rick crafts a unique blend of warm-hearted blues, juke joint folk, and dockside soul that both embraces and defies the genres that influence him. Rick engages audiences with captivating songs, diverse guitar styling and his signature vocal growl. Rick’s career has seen him working in stellar collaboration and as a successful solo act. 

Craig is a Canadian folk singer from Ontario He has released sixteen albums, both live and studio-based since 1997. He has toured North America and Europe. In 2012, Cardiff was nominated for a Juno Award for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year: Solo and for a Canadian Folk Music Award as Contemporary Singer of the Year. Over the years, Cardiff has found himself writing songs that offer pithy little bits of hope for people to hold onto. With a voice described as “warm, scratched, sad and sleepy,”

Since the release of his first album Gravity, Rob Lutes has steadily built a collection of exquisite songs that inhabit the intersection of blues, folk, Americana, and the contemporary singer-songwriter genre. As skilled delivering a Piedmont blues classic as he is performing his own acclaimed original songs, Lutes’s masterful fingerstyle guitar work and soulful voice bring an unmistakable intensity to his live performances.
Come Around (2021) is his 8th solo album. Co-produced by Rob Lutes and longtime collaborator Rob MacDonald, it features 11 original songs and a gritty cover of the blues classic In My Time of Dyin’.

Celebrated Namibian-Canadian children’s entertainer Garth Prince is on a mission to inspire the child within us all to dance in the rain, and dream big dreams. Prince is a gifted vocalist, djembe drummer, educator, and recording artist who delivers exciting and engaging concerts and workshops that treat audiences to a taste of his native homeland in southern-Africa. Joy radiates through his original songs and his arrangements of traditional folk songs, taking listeners on a musical safari. Vibrant, colorful and unforgettable, Garth Prince is making a positive impact – one concert at a time.

Yukon family eco-singer Remy Rodden—a bilingual, rich-voiced teacher and biologist – is committed to helping children learn about nature. He’s a clever songwriter, deeply concerned about the environment, and his wholly entertaining shows (live and online) ignite both the young and the young at heart. Remy’s life as an adventurer, camp leader, educator and entertainer uniquely position him to delight family audiences. He is nominated for the 2020 Western Canada Music Awards, Children’s Artist of the Year. His songs have been featured as part of CBC’s Playlist for the Planet, and a United Nations album celebrating the Earth Charter.

Meet Penny Pom Pom, a colourful ball of energy who embodies creative confidence and artistic freedom. Her multi-media show for young children is colourful, musical and interactive and focuses on the importance of creativity and self empowerment. Featuring original songs from her debut album, “Believe in Your Magic,” her lively music is sure to get young audiences singing and clapping along. Most importantly, children (and grown ups!) will leave this experience feeling inspired to bring more creativity into their own lives.

Peter delivers highly interactive guitar singalongs and storytelling, to help youth discover their talents and voices. His Juno winning Proud Like a Mountain (2011) was also nominated for a CFMA.

Sharing stages with role models like: David Suzuki, Jane Goodall, and Walter Macdonald White Bear, Peter helps Teachers/Artistic Directors inspire kids to excel in Arts AND Sciences. He models attitudes of resiliency, respect, and kindness. And invites participation via recording and Nature simulation activities – fostering enviro-literacy, and global citizenship.

Peter finesses belonging and acceptance, shining light on immigrant and indigenous influences, to weave a celebration of the Canadian tapestry.

The traditional Grosse Isle trio is launching their new album Le bonhomme sept heures / The Bonesetter on a very symbolic date: March 17th, Irish St-Patrick’s Day. This group merges the Quebec repertoire and the Irish repertoire in a masterly way. Absolutely magical fusion thanks in particular to the union, in real life, of Sophie Lavoie from Lac-St-Jean and Fiachra O’Regan from Ireland. The legendary André Marchand (La Bottine Souriante, Les Charbonniers de l’Enfer) is also part of this talented trio.

Born into a family in love with words, songs and stories, everything was in place to nurture the young man who is already having fun with his clarinet, the living room piano and great-grandfather’s books. He studied jazz piano and then discovered the hurdy-gurdy. In 2002, he founded Le Vent du Nord with which he produced more than 2000 concerts and 10 albums. In 2015, he published Maison de bois, just after winning the CALQ award for designer of the year in Montérégie. Then, Maison de Pierres is launched in the fall of 2020.

Equally skilled at delivering a dance-inducing, powerhouse Celtic tune as a quietly heartrending East Coast-influenced ballad, Pat’s rootsy vocal style, charismatic stage presence
and expert musicianship (guitar) are making for an ever
growing audience of enthusiastic fans. While his mostly
original music falls solidly under the broad umbrella of Celtic folk, his tunes have also, on occasion, known to be tinged with Americana influences. Its music played and performed, and often written, in Pat’s distinctive and unique voice; strongly rooted in the Celtic tradition,
but with an open-hearted connection to the place he calls home and the modern world around him.

The Wardens don’t just sing about the land, they’re part of it.

With haunting three-part harmonies and chilling tales, The Wardens’ mountain music rises from land they’ve protected as rangers in the Rocky Mountain national parks. Wrangling grizzly bears, rescuing stranded hikers and lonely nights on the trail. A performance by The Wardens has been dubbed “the quintessential mountain-culture concert experience.”

Terra Spencer discovered her love of songwriting while working as a funeral director in Nova Scotia and touring with country artist Ryan Cook through the Maritimes, Ontario, the UK, and Germany. Since her 2018 solo debut, she has won over audiences with her deft fingerstyle guitar, gospel piano, butterscotch voice, and onstage humour and ease. Her recent second album, Chasing Rabbits, is a collection of winter songs about long-distance love, wildlife encounters, and places that feel like home. In a room of 5 or 500, every show is a knee-to-knee conversation with a natural storyteller. “The real deal.” – Ron Sexsmith

LEAHY is a Canadian powerhouse of dynamic musicians and songwriters from one family, known for thrilling audiences with their musicianship, passionate vocals, and step-dancing. Accomplished multi-instrumentalists, their high-energy live performance reveals the special chemistry between the band members through their instruments, melodies and layered harmonies. Crossing genres, LEAHY combines vocals, piano, fiddle, button accordion, drums, bass, acoustic and electric guitars with contemporary influences that pushes their sound to the edge of folk-rock, always infused by the family’s traditional music roots.

Craig is a Canadian folk singer from Ontario He has released sixteen albums, both live and studio-based since 1997. He has toured North America and Europe. In 2012, Cardiff was nominated for a Juno Award for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year: Solo and for a Canadian Folk Music Award as Contemporary Singer of the Year. Over the years, Cardiff has found himself writing songs that offer pithy little bits of hope for people to hold onto. With a voice described as “warm, scratched, sad and sleepy,”

Weaving in influences from her African heritage, la chanson française, and American gospel, Kelly Bado’s music crosses cultural barriers to bring people together in joy and hope. Her striking vocals and uplifting melodies were recently recognized with three 2021 WCMA nominations (Recording of the Year, Francophone Artist, Global Artist)

With lyrics inspired by love, celebration and social equality, Kelly is committed to the vision of an inclusive world where we come together as citizens of this vast planetary village – each contributing our unique strengths to the common experience.

A trained violinist and solid guitarist, Olivier first played chamber music, then jazz. His versatility led him to work with several artists (Le Cirque du Soleil, La Bottine Souriante, Michel Faubert, The Bills). He describes himself as a fiddler, he who dedicated his life to traditional music. He was part of the Boulerice-Demers duo (best trad album in Canada in 2006 for Un peu d’ci, un peu d’ça), in addition to being the organizer of La Veillée de avant Veille, of the Chants de Vielles festival. and co-founder of the record company Roues et Archets.

Maneli Jamal has lived in five countries (Iran, Belarus, Germany, USA, Canada) and moved twenty times by the time he was 18. He’s gained a sense of musical maturity rarely seen among his peers especially when transforming his nomadic life experiences into musical movements. His rhythmic concepts can be alternately short and dense, or explored carefully through several movements and real life stories. This becomes evident with having won many competitions around the world including most recently placing 1st at Canada’s Soundclash Music Awards. Maneli was named one of the world’s top 30 guitarists under 30 by Acoustic Guitar Magazine.

Adam Young has been delighting audiences with his particular style of piano accompaniment for the past two decades. Deeply rooted within the fiddle and bagpipe music tradition of Cape Breton Island’s Scottish settlers, his piano style has evolved to incorporate subtle elements of jazz and popular music, while still sounding uniquely “Cape Breton”. Adam’s new double album, Yearbook, features compositions written during a tune-a-day project in 2018, and presented two ways: a traditional version, and a non-trad version with lots of fun arrangements inspired by bluegrass, doo-wop, New Orleans jazz, 8-bit video games, modern disco and classical music.

Dave Clarke has won fans and friends across Canada for his complex, lyrical guitar playing. His new album, The Healing Garden, promises to consolidate his reputation as one of Canada’s finest acoustic guitarists and a composer-songwriter to reckon with.

For the last two decades, Dave has garnered kudos for his work with the acclaimed Montreal-based folkgrass trio Steel Rail, hard-driving West Coast trio Shearwater Bluegrass, and Juno-winning singer-songwriter David Francey.

Dave’s previous solo work includes his first instrumental album Guitar Songs, released in 2002, and an album of instrumentals and songs, Reunion, released in 2007.

Oktopus is a major presence on the Canadian world music scene, with over 250 performances to its credit at home and abroad. The group is primarily devoted to klezmer distinguished by a novel approach that incorporates various components of the classical and Quebecois repertoire, with some jazz and Balkan accents. The group’s eight virtuoso musicians offer festive, high-energy performances, at once melancholic and profound, sprinkled with humour, in which original compositions and finely crafted arrangements combine with improvisation. After releasing Lever l’encre (2014) and Hapax (2017, Juno and Canadian Folk Music Awards nominations), Oktopus released Créature in 2021.

Bùmarang’s Scots Gaelic name, meaning boomerang, and their debut album title, Echo Land, allude to a resolution to find answers in the past.
David Gossage (flute, whistle, guitar), Kate Bevan-Baker (violins, vocals) and Sarah Pagé (harp, vocals, harmonium, bouzouki) individually performed with Orealis, Tree Talk and The Barr Brothers, and have toured with the likes of Lhasa DeSela, Hey Rosetta! and Michael Bublé.
First brought together on stage in 2015, the three Montreal-based virtuosic players combine classical, jazz, African, and Indian music styles with a love for Celtic folk songs, nourishing our souls with an entirely modern celebration of tradition.

Amber and Zebulun met in Chicago: back then, she was studying cello and he was playing and writing music. When they met, the artistic chemistry was clear, so they did what many musicians do when they find like-minded artists: they started a band. They traveled, played, fell in love, and eventually relocated to Canada. During the pandemic, their long-shared creative passion led them to the recording studio: “South of North, East of West” is their debut album, an instrumental sojourn reflecting on the long journey of their relationship, and our collective experiences of life, love, and lockdown.

A Canadian and U.S. National fiddle champion, Shane Cook is a multi-instrumentalist who has distinguished himself as a master of the Canadian old-time fiddle tradition. As a four-member group of multi-instrumentalists, singers and step dancers, Shane Cook & The Woodchippers deliver performances that are an exciting mix of dynamic musicianship and engaging stage presence. Their superbly crafted arrangements are a modern and exhilarating approach to fiddle tunes and dance. Claire Lynch, a multiple grammy nominee says, “Shane offers up death-defying, acrobatic fiddle precision, soaring through tunes from his beloved Ontario with impeccable clarity.”

Edmonton’s Scott Cook toured almost incessantly across Canada, the US, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere from 2007 until 2020, when the pandemic made living in a van less appealing. While averaging 150 shows and a dozen summer festivals every year, he also managed to release seven albums of straight-talking, keenly observant verse along the way. His latest collection Tangle of Souls comes packaged in a cloth-bound, 240-page hardcover book of road stories and ruminations, equal parts introspection and insurrection.  He still believes, more than ever, that songs can change your life, and your life can change the world.

Rick Fines has had a long and storied career as a hard working musician, touring across Canada countless times solo, as a duo or with a full band. He has recorded 14 albums and has been a guest on many others. Steeped in roots music, Rick crafts a unique blend of warm-hearted blues, juke joint folk, and dockside soul that both embraces and defies the genres that influence him. Rick engages audiences with captivating songs, diverse guitar styling and his signature vocal growl. Rick’s career has seen him working in stellar collaboration and as a successful solo act. 

A Canadian Screen Award Winner in 2019 for his role as Patrick on Schitt’s Creek, Reid has been
nominated for a CSA four times, including Best Original Song in the feature film People Hold On. In 2017,
his soulful acoustic cover of Tina Turner’s pop hit The Best on CBC’s Schitt’s Creek cracked #3 on the
iTunes Canada Charts. That directed fans all over the world to Reid’s 2016 debut solo album Songs From A
Broken Chair and 2020 release GEMINI

Ian Tamblyn began his career in 1972. He has been an active musician since that time . He has recorded forty five albums and has won numerous nominations and awards for his work as a songwriter and instrumental artist. Ian has also received several awards for his work in the musical community , including the Estelle Klein Award, Jackie Washington Award and Helen Verger Award. He holds an honourary doctorate from Lakehead university and is Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society.

Since the release of his first album Gravity, Rob Lutes has steadily built a collection of exquisite songs that inhabit the intersection of blues, folk, Americana, and the contemporary singer-songwriter genre. As skilled delivering a Piedmont blues classic as he is performing his own acclaimed original songs, Lutes’s masterful fingerstyle guitar work and soulful voice bring an unmistakable intensity to his live performances.
Come Around (2021) is his 8th solo album. Co-produced by Rob Lutes and longtime collaborator Rob MacDonald, it features 11 original songs and a gritty cover of the blues classic In My Time of Dyin’.

Flavie Léger-Roy, Janik V. Dufour, Roxane Filion and Raphaël D’Amours met at the university in 2007. Since then, they produce a folk-country music elaborated around great vocal harmonies. Their two first albums were nominated at the Gala de l’ADISQ and they won multiple awards at Festival Vue sur la Relève in Montreal. They also were Future Star iHeart Radio and worked with a lot of artists. Their third album is soft and flirts with cajun as it was produced by Eloi Painchaud.

Natif de Nicolet, Guillaume Beaulac est multi-instrumentiste. Il participe en 2009 au Festival de la chanson de Petite-Vallée où il reçoit le premier prix dans la catégorie auteur-compositeur. Il atteint également la finale du Festival de la chanson de Granby en 2010. Les occasions se multiplient pour lui et il accompagne nul autre que Shawn Phillips en tournée. Il devient également musicien et chanteur de studio pour les réalisateurs Michel Pépin (Stevie Nicks, Emmylou Harris) et André Leclair. Il lance enfin son premier album en mai 2021.

Émilie Landry sows words like flowers that adorn the flowerbeds of life. Her sensitivity shines through with her voice, body and soul on her country-pop-folk tunes. “Arroser les fleurs” (Watering the Flowers), like a balm to the heart, is an ode to hope and resilience, reaching out to us in the fog with the promise of harvesting the most beautiful flowers of existence. The songs on the album have been noticed in competitions and are regularly ranked in radio charts.

Balancing the intimate and the immense, Belle Grand Fille writes songs. The artist from Lac-St-Jean stood out in 2018 by winning the grand finale of the Ma Première Place des Arts competition and the following year released her first EP Maille par maille, produced by double bass player Mathieu Désy. The mini-album received a warm welcome and allowed the singer-songwriter to tour in Quebec and France.

In 2020, Belle Grand Fille joined the L-A be record company and released her first full album Nos maisons on March 19, 2021.

Morgan Toney is a 21-year-old Mi’kmaq Singer-Songwriter/Fiddler from Wagmatcook First Nation. He only has been playing the fiddle for three years, and after finding his sound, he started to combine his Mi’kmaq roots and his love of Cape Breton Celtic tunes in the creation of this fresh new music which Morgan and his producer Keith call “Mi’kmaltic. He has a debut album finished which was produced by Keith. Morgan’s video release of “Kojua” has already gathered 12K youtube views and his CBC song commission for “Alasutamaqn” has gathered closed to 40k views.

DAVID LARONDE is a Canadian Indigenous singer-songwriter performing contemporary folk, rock and blues. He hails from the ancient Teme-Augama Anishnabai (Deep Water People) in beautiful Northern Ontario. His debut album Right City Wrong Town was nominated for Best Blues Album 2013 in the Aboriginal People’s Choice Music Award.
With three full length albums out, David’s storytelling is a fresh take on heartbreak, loneliness, love, hope and joy with a cool summer breeze in the background. His music is uplifting and refreshing as he transcends an urban influence and the mystery of ancestral magic of his homeland.

Laura is a Quebec-Atikamekw artist who has distinguished herself in the musical landscape by singing in her native language. This year, she unveils her most spectacular self, her indie-folk universe with a nice touch of modern grunge, highlighting her sandy voice and her Indigenous heritage. Featuring collaborations with Shauit, Anachnid, Eadsé, RedTail Spirit singers, Gotta Lago, Kanen, Tee Cloud and Soleil Launière, Waska Matisiwin is a sensitive and grandiose up-and-coming album that will most likely mark our contemporary musical landscape

Distinguished by Maverick Magazine as a “A Lady of Conviction” singer-songwriter, Phyllis Sinclair taps on the conscience of the established ethos to flag distinctions and inequities under a brilliant banner of song. With seraphic vocals she charmingly disarms, soliciting a self-imposed metamorphosis to transform old ways of thinking into new possibilities. A deceivingly quiet and amiable diplomatist, Sinclair’s passion and activism are evident in her slow growing, nurtured prose.

Formed in Vancouver, Canada in 2007, The Fugitives are a folk collective headed by songwriters Brendan McLeod and Adrian Glynn and rounded out by elite players Chris Suen (banjo) and Carly Frey (violin). The band has toured extensively in Europe & Canada, won multiple folk music awards and released five critically-acclaimed albums. Their latest release, “Trench Songs”, sets new music to soldiers’ lyrics from WW1 and was accompanied by a performance film entitled “Ridge”, both of which received many accolades, including an “Arts Pick of 2020” from the Globe & Mail.

Flavie Léger-Roy, Janik V. Dufour, Roxane Filion and Raphaël D’Amours met at the university in 2007. Since then, they produce a folk-country music elaborated around great vocal harmonies. Their two first albums were nominated at the Gala de l’ADISQ and they won multiple awards at Festival Vue sur la Relève in Montreal. They also were Future Star iHeart Radio and worked with a lot of artists. Their third album is soft and flirts with cajun as it was produced by Eloi Painchaud.

Since their debut, Whitehorse has traveled from magnetic folk duo to full-blown rock band and beyond. In truth Whitehorse is never fully either one or the other, but an ever-evolving creative partnership that challenges both artists, Melissa McClelland and Luke Doucet, to explore new instrumental and lyrical terrain with each record.
The JUNO Award winners released Modern Love in March 2021, their first co-produced full-length album since 2017.

The Gilberts are a Nova Scotia contemporary folk trio – and Young Artists of the Year at the 2021 Canadian Folk Music Awards where they also showcased.
Siblings Frieden, Reuben and Maisie Gilbert have a reputation for emotionally impactful songs and performances and are all multi-instrumentalists but perhaps best known for their ‘blood harmonies’.
The Gilberts have performed at Lunenburg Folk Harbour, Deep Roots and Full Circle festivals, soft seat theatres, and virtual concerts and are approaching 100 public performances. They have been featured twice on Global News and CTV. Their music has been played on CBC and across the US.

Formed in Vancouver, Canada in 2007, The Fugitives are a folk collective headed by songwriters Brendan McLeod and Adrian Glynn and rounded out by elite players Chris Suen (banjo) and Carly Frey (violin). The band has toured extensively in Europe & Canada, won multiple folk music awards and released five critically-acclaimed albums. Their latest release, “Trench Songs”, sets new music to soldiers’ lyrics from WW1 and was accompanied by a performance film entitled “Ridge”, both of which received many accolades, including an “Arts Pick of 2020” from the Globe & Mail.

The Hello Darlins is a collective of award-winning artists and special guests. Led by Mike Little, Murray Pulver and Candace Lacina, professional studio musicians – this powerful group combines all of their skills and influences to create a distinct hybrid of country, gospel and blues music like no other. Their work with the artists includes a roster that includes Shania Twain, Charlie Major, The Road Hammers, George Canyon, Crashtest Dummies, as well as B.B. King and more. The first single, “Still Waters” featuring Matt Andersen perfectly shows their years of experience and a spirit of staying true to real instrumentation and vocals.

Taking their name from the word for heart or soul in the Afro-Cuban religion of Santeria, Juno-Award winning OKAN fuses Afro-Cuban roots with jazz, folk and global rhythms in songs about immigration, courage and love.
Having recently worked with Bomba Estereo, Lido Pimienta, Hilario Duran and Telmary Diaz, OKAN has followed up on their Juno and Canadian Folk Music Award-nominated and Independent Music Award-winning debut album Sombras, with their sophomore release Espiral, (Lulaworld Records, 2020) Earning international acclaim from OkayAfrica, NPR and Songlines, Esprial was included in CBC Music’s top 20 and NPR’s top 10 Alt Latino’s albums of the year.

Since their debut, Whitehorse has traveled from magnetic folk duo to full-blown rock band and beyond. In truth Whitehorse is never fully either one or the other, but an ever-evolving creative partnership that challenges both artists, Melissa McClelland and Luke Doucet, to explore new instrumental and lyrical terrain with each record.
The JUNO Award winners released Modern Love in March 2021, their first co-produced full-length album since 2017.

Maneli Jamal has lived in five countries (Iran, Belarus, Germany, USA, Canada) and moved twenty times by the time he was 18. He’s gained a sense of musical maturity rarely seen among his peers especially when transforming his nomadic life experiences into musical movements. His rhythmic concepts can be alternately short and dense, or explored carefully through several movements and real life stories. This becomes evident with having won many competitions around the world including most recently placing 1st at Canada’s Soundclash Music Awards. Maneli was named one of the world’s top 30 guitarists under 30 by Acoustic Guitar Magazine.

Rick Fines has had a long and storied career as a hard working musician, touring across Canada countless times solo, as a duo or with a full band. He has recorded 14 albums and has been a guest on many others. Steeped in roots music, Rick crafts a unique blend of warm-hearted blues, juke joint folk, and dockside soul that both embraces and defies the genres that influence him. Rick engages audiences with captivating songs, diverse guitar styling and his signature vocal growl. Rick’s career has seen him working in stellar collaboration and as a successful solo act. 

Canadian singer-songwriter Laura Smith (1952-2020) is deeply missed by all who knew and worked with her, along with thousands that loved her music. In 2019, Laura initiated a recording project that would be a “best of” album to showcase songs from her earlier work. Laura was diagnosed with inoperable cancer that winter and the project took on an urgency and a wider scope. Undeterred by her illness, Laura booked studio time in her hometown of Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia to record two new songs. She garnered the strength to record the new material just a few weeks before her death.

William Prince approaches the big questions with humility and curiosity. Prince’s influences, from the gospel of his childhood to the pantheon of classic outlaw country singers, baseball and the great beyond, shape his approach to songcraft, a masterclass in skillful simplicity.

Gospel First Nation, released in October 2020, is a “21st Century Northern Interlake Country Gospel” collection that tells stories of family and faith in the age of grief. The album explores Prince’s own family tree, the places and music that shaped his childhood, and explores the extremely complicated relationship of faith and colonialism with grace and empathy.

Described as “slightly strange and completely mesmerising” (Gold Flake Paint UK), Dana Sipos is an acclaimed Canadian songwriter whose music combines haunting vocals, enigmatic lyrics and bold production choices. For her latest release, The Astral Plane, Sipos once again teamed up with experimental producer Sandro Perri, and reunited with her accomplished studio band. To bring the new songs to life, the crew decamped to a large stone converted 1860s stone carriage house in Cambridge, Ontario in the summer of 2020. The result is an impeccably curated collection of sounds, anchored by Sipos’ haunting vocals and evocative production.

“A major international talent that’s on its way.”
– The Toronto Star

Through years of touring and collaborating with Juno and Grammy Award-winning performers, Eliana Cuevas has grown into an accomplished singer-songwriter and bandleader with unlimited colours in her compositional and lyrical palette. She has never been constrained by genre boxes in her songwriting, drawing freely from jazz, Latin, folk and world music elements. Her new album “El Curruchá” (2021), released on ALMA RECORDS, is the sixth entry in Eliana Cuevas’s impressive and eclectic discography and it features internationally renowned Venezuelan guitarist Aquiles Báez.

Created by courageous Polish ladies and fronted by singer Ewelina Ferenc Toronto’s own Polky (meaning “Polish women”) came together through a shared passion for the enigmatic and upbeat style of Eastern European music. By adding a uniquely Canadian, multicultural flavour, Polky brings their own original sound and lyrics to Eastern European traditional forms.

Taking their name from the word for heart or soul in the Afro-Cuban religion of Santeria, Juno-Award winning OKAN fuses Afro-Cuban roots with jazz, folk and global rhythms in songs about immigration, courage and love.
Having recently worked with Bomba Estereo, Lido Pimienta, Hilario Duran and Telmary Diaz, OKAN has followed up on their Juno and Canadian Folk Music Award-nominated and Independent Music Award-winning debut album Sombras, with their sophomore release Espiral, (Lulaworld Records, 2020) Earning international acclaim from OkayAfrica, NPR and Songlines, Esprial was included in CBC Music’s top 20 and NPR’s top 10 Alt Latino’s albums of the year.

GKO is a Montreal reference for euphoric energy and creative bounty. Their shows are a musical, visual and sensory experience with elements of theatre and circus arts. Combining brass, strings, accordeon, clarinet and traditional afro-Colombian percussion, they connect disparate cultures and traditions through the common thread of Cumbia’s rhythmic language. The songs on the album also support the storyline of the new choreographed and staged live show.VELKOMBAK.

David Lafleche is a guitarist, musical director and album producer from Quebec. David discovered the electric guitar and went to Boston to study it at Berklee College of Music.
Year after year, he multiplied appearances as a conductor and musical director on television shows and large-scale events, like the ADISQ Gala. David built his own studio, the Tree House Music Collective and signed the soundtrack for the film Starbuck.
He was introduced to country music and his passion for American folk finally took hold in his life as a songwriter and performer in 2020 with his debut single We Collided.

Sometimes “a completely beautiful song can be the greatest way to say fuck you.” This is the way Oxlip sums up the intention of her intriguingly titled third recording, Your Mother Was a Peacock. The songs tell stories of how women have been screwed over since time immemorial, but all ten are couched in lovely melodies and delivered in a lullingly sweet voice. Ten hard punches thrown by a soft velvet glove.

The Hello Darlins is a collective of award-winning artists and special guests. Led by Mike Little, Murray Pulver and Candace Lacina, professional studio musicians – this powerful group combines all of their skills and influences to create a distinct hybrid of country, gospel and blues music like no other. Their work with the artists includes a roster that includes Shania Twain, Charlie Major, The Road Hammers, George Canyon, Crashtest Dummies, as well as B.B. King and more. The first single, “Still Waters” featuring Matt Andersen perfectly shows their years of experience and a spirit of staying true to real instrumentation and vocals.

A Canadian Screen Award Winner in 2019 for his role as Patrick on Schitt’s Creek, Reid has been
nominated for a CSA four times, including Best Original Song in the feature film People Hold On. In 2017,
his soulful acoustic cover of Tina Turner’s pop hit The Best on CBC’s Schitt’s Creek cracked #3 on the
iTunes Canada Charts. That directed fans all over the world to Reid’s 2016 debut solo album Songs From A
Broken Chair and 2020 release GEMINI

Created by courageous Polish ladies and fronted by singer Ewelina Ferenc Toronto’s own Polky (meaning “Polish women”) came together through a shared passion for the enigmatic and upbeat style of Eastern European music. By adding a uniquely Canadian, multicultural flavour, Polky brings their own original sound and lyrics to Eastern European traditional forms.

Folk at its core and endowed with a great affection for detail, the Montreal-based band evolves gracefully without following the prescribed recipe of its era. Halfway between tradition and modernity, Rosier takes over an audacious approach where traditional songs become the intimate accomplice of well-crafted indie pop.

Bilingual, feminist and feminine to the four fifths, the band marches to a beat of its own while alternating between both French and English languages, between acoustic and
electric soundscapes, all this to fulfill the colors and fresh flavours to which it aspires.

There is beauty in Rosier’s lovemade confessions; so much it might even make one shiver.

Annabelle Chvostek is a late-deafened singer-songwriter, composer and producer. She’s co-written songs with Bruce Cockburn, was once in the band The Wailin’ Jennys, and has recently been commissioned to write a cello piece for Matt Haimovitz.
Annabelle’s latest album, String of Pearls, bridges her songwriting tradition with the sounds of her East European heritage and a long-standing connection to Uruguay. Recorded and co-produced in Toronto and Montevideo, String of Pearls pushes the boundaries between the worlds of folk and swing, evoking the grittiness of 1930s tango, Berlin cabaret and Jazz Manouche. “West meets South in jazzy folk excellence”— Americana, UK.

Since the release of his first album Gravity, Rob Lutes has steadily built a collection of exquisite songs that inhabit the intersection of blues, folk, Americana, and the contemporary singer-songwriter genre. As skilled delivering a Piedmont blues classic as he is performing his own acclaimed original songs, Lutes’s masterful fingerstyle guitar work and soulful voice bring an unmistakable intensity to his live performances.
Come Around (2021) is his 8th solo album. Co-produced by Rob Lutes and longtime collaborator Rob MacDonald, it features 11 original songs and a gritty cover of the blues classic In My Time of Dyin’.

Since their debut, Whitehorse has traveled from magnetic folk duo to full-blown rock band and beyond. In truth Whitehorse is never fully either one or the other, but an ever-evolving creative partnership that challenges both artists, Melissa McClelland and Luke Doucet, to explore new instrumental and lyrical terrain with each record.
The JUNO Award winners released Modern Love in March 2021, their first co-produced full-length album since 2017.

Folk at its core and endowed with a great affection for detail, the Montreal-based band evolves gracefully without following the prescribed recipe of its era. Halfway between tradition and modernity, Rosier takes over an audacious approach where traditional songs become the intimate accomplice of well-crafted indie pop.

Bilingual, feminist and feminine to the four fifths, the band marches to a beat of its own while alternating between both French and English languages, between acoustic and
electric soundscapes, all this to fulfill the colors and fresh flavours to which it aspires.

There is beauty in Rosier’s lovemade confessions; so much it might even make one shiver.

Decoration Day is a new-folk band based in Toronto. Their music combines heartfelt songwriting with low-tuned acoustic guitars, an old harmonium, odd pairings of strings & woodwinds, and the occasional cloud of instrumental bric-à-brac. A unique presence in the Canadian music community, they respond to the enduring existential questions of folk music through the lens of a new, diverse generation. To date, their music has been featured on media outlets including CBC Radio One, Exclaim!, The Bluegrass Situation, Indie 88, and more.

Toronto, Canada’s Speaker Face is a meeting of earth and electronics from two members of the JUNO award winning band The Fretless. Trent Freeman and Eric Wright are joined by Ruby Randall, whose voice haunts with an honest beauty that can’t be forgotten.

The band’s transportive new album Crescent (Oct. 9th, 2020) is an immersive experience, layered with keys, beats, and atmospheric production, but also incorporating the propulsive strings that have made Freeman and Wright essential players in the mainstreaming of traditional Irish folk music with The Fretless.

The debut solo album, from the self-taught singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist of extraordinary power, talent and grace. Allison is a founding member of the acclaimed groups Our Native Daughters (with Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla and Amythyst Kiah), and Birds of Chicago (with her husband/musical partner JT Nero).

Briga is a Montreal based violinist, producer, composer and performer. Her 5th album: “Territoire” challenges our standard conception of trad folk music as a purist’s genre and heredity. Her music reflects the reality of the current Canadian musical landscape; one which offers a diversity of traditional styles and modern influences. We’re verging on the creation of a. “new folk”, inspired by a wave of renewal representing one’s unique and complex identity.

At the age of 3, I heard Natalie MacMaster play for the first time and asked my parents if I could play the fiddle. At the age of 6 I got my first fiddle and that is how my story began as a first-generation fiddle player. Now I’m a 14 year old, grade 9 student from Peterborough Ontario. I have an incredible teacher named Alanna Jenish and my dad accompanies me on guitar.
I listen to what I love and that’s how I’ve learned to play. I also love to write my own music!

Paige Penney, 16 year old singer-songwriter, received 2021 Canadian Folk Music Award nomination “Young Performer of the Year” & 2020 MusicNL Award nominations, “Fan’s Choice Entertainer of the Year” and “Pop Artist of the Year” for her Factor funded debut EP “Watch Out For Your Step” recorded in Nashville! Paige’s single “Watch Out For Your Step” features Newfoundland folk trio The Once & single “Shooting Star” features co-write with Alan Doyle, who is featured in the music video. Summer 2020, Paige released a pandemic inspired song, “When All Is Said and Done”. Christmas 2020 she released her new Christmas song “One Star”!

At 18, This award winning Stratford based singer is no stranger to the stage. Hannah Thomas has performed all over Southern Ontario. Highlights include; performing on the Stratford Festival stage, singing with The Shot Canada, opening for Canadian musician Alan Doyle with the Magna Hoedown’s top 10 finalists, and working with Juno nominee Dayna Manning, as she was the producer of Hannah’s recent album “Christmas Don’t Be Late”. These days you can find Hannah performing at her Dock Music Concert Series on Stratfords beautiful Avon River, Sunday evenings at 7pm.

The Broken Bridges is one of the rare groups that formed in 2020.
Fern & Willow Marwood (ages 18 and 14) were a fiddle/banjo duo that turned into a trio by adding Graham Lindsey (considerably older) on guitar. They have played virtual summer festivals as well as “Hogman-eh!”, the Scottish Society of Ottawa’s Hogmanay celebration, on New Year’s Eve 2020. All three musicians are composers and multi-instrumentalists, and are actively playing virtual and physical venues as laws permit!

Folk at its core and endowed with a great affection for detail, the Montreal-based band evolves gracefully without following the prescribed recipe of its era. Halfway between tradition and modernity, Rosier takes over an audacious approach where traditional songs become the intimate accomplice of well-crafted indie pop.

Bilingual, feminist and feminine to the four fifths, the band marches to a beat of its own while alternating between both French and English languages, between acoustic and
electric soundscapes, all this to fulfill the colors and fresh flavours to which it aspires.

There is beauty in Rosier’s lovemade confessions; so much it might even make one shiver.

Big Little Lions are an award winning duo who were born out of a collaboration that won them a JUNO Award in 2014. Since then they have been cranking out infectious folk pop songs that are jam-packed with emotion and tight harmonies that sound like the product of two people working side-by-side instead of living in different countries.
 
They have released 6 albums to date, which have garnered them awards including the CFMA Ensemble of the Year. Their music has been placed in hundreds of movies, ads and TV shows and they are currently releasing a new single each month.

Raised in the prairies from Hungarian roots Loryn moved to Toronto as a teenager to pursue life in music. She went on to perform at prestigious venues such as Horseshoe Tavern, MOD Club Theatre, Cameron House and a sold-out headlining show at Le Verre Bouteille in Montreal.

Loryn’s debut single ‘In My Company’ was a major success. Loryn took home multiple awards including a World Song-Writing Award for ‘Best Jazz Song’.

Following the success of her EP release ‘Irene’, Loryn landed a slot on Canadian Folk-songwriter Donovan Woods’ tour, where she stole the hearts of her new fan base

The Hello Darlins is a collective of award-winning artists and special guests. Led by Mike Little, Murray Pulver and Candace Lacina, professional studio musicians – this powerful group combines all of their skills and influences to create a distinct hybrid of country, gospel and blues music like no other. Their work with the artists includes a roster that includes Shania Twain, Charlie Major, The Road Hammers, George Canyon, Crashtest Dummies, as well as B.B. King and more. The first single, “Still Waters” featuring Matt Andersen perfectly shows their years of experience and a spirit of staying true to real instrumentation and vocals.

JUNO Award-winners, The East Pointers, are redefining the ever-evolving genre – modern folk – with Billboard-worthy pop hooks, deep acoustic groove, trance-like trad breakdowns, and three-part harmonies. Already internationally acknowledged as musical trailblazers, their new album Yours To Break captures the furious energy of their live shows and pushes the boundaries of East Coast folk while lighting a path for a new generation of music lovers.
In the short time between their 2015 JUNO Award-winning debut Secret Victory and their 2019 album Yours To Break, the band has performed over 500 shows worldwide.

Andrea Bettger has experience playing classical, jazz and bluegrass styles, and experiments in the electric world of sounds on her instrument. She has become heavily involved in the Northern-fiddling scene. The fusion of these approaches results in an exciting blend of toe-tapping material, complemented with meditative and heart-warming melodies.
She has performed and recorded with countless artists, and at numerous concerts nationally as a soloist. The release of her first all-original album got her a nomination for Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year by the Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2018. Her band performed at the CFMA Awards Ceremony.

Originally from Saskatchewan and now based on the east coast of Canada, The Deep Dark Woods take up a deep tradition of forlorn storytelling, drawing lines from Celtic folksongs to country blues, John Fahey to Shirley Collins. Lush and devastating, Boldt’s gothic surrealism is stark in detail and full of emotion, a murder balladeer for our time.

Following their JUNO nominated album Yarrow (2017), Changing Faces is The Deep Dark Woods reimagined. Produced by Boldt, the new album also features touring companions Kacy & Clayton and the guitar stylings of Evan Cheadle.