Steve Edge, a founder of Vancouver’s Rogue Folk Club, is the recipient of the Slaight Music Unsung Hero Award for the Canadian Folk Music Awards (CFMA). The award will be presented at the CFMA Gala on December 3 at the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto, Ontario.
Steve Edge is one of the founding members of Vancouver’s Rogue Folk Club, which became a hugely important initiative to develop and support live folk music. Prior to the arrival of Expo 86 to Vancouver, the local pubs were closed on Sundays. Steve, who had started to host “Saturday Edge” on UBC campus radio station CITR, had also noticed that the thriving Canadian folk music scene needed more venues to perform in the city. Once Expo 86 was finished, he started to book folk bands at The Savoy in Gastown and the Rogue Folk Club was born. The gathering then moved to The Railway Club, and later to East Vancouver’s Wise Hall, and finally to Kitsilano’s St. James Hall.
Along the way, Steve and the Rogue Folk Club were founding members of Folk Alliance International in 1989 (the destination North American conference for folk music) as well as being a founding member of the Vancouver Alliance for Arts & Culture. Steve is also a regular MC at the Island MusicFest in Courtenay, BC, as well as Mission Folk Festival and occasionally the Vancouver Folk Festival and Edmonton Folk Festival. He co-produces the Shorefest stage with LG104.3 FM.
“We are proud to support the CFMAs and would like to congratulate Steve Edge on receiving the Slaight Music Unsung Hero Award. The Slaight Family have a long history in Canada in supporting charitable organizations and, in particular, those that give their time and efforts into improving the arts community” said Derrick Ross, President of Slaight Music.
This annual legacy category award recognizes the exceptional contribution of an individual, group, or organization to any aspect of the Canadian Folk music scene.