Folk

For years, Maureen, Karen and Teresa have been captivating audiences with their highly woven sibling harmonies and endearing humour. With a mix of original songs, holiday classics, humorous recitations and a little Irish step-dancing, the evening is sure to ignite your holiday spirit. Don't miss the chance to delight in a Christmas tradition, cherished by so many!

2022 marks 25 years since The Ennis Sisters have been connecting to audiences across the world. From arts centres in their home province of Newfoundland to performing for International leaders and delegates at the 75th anniversary of D-Day on Juno Beach, their harmonies resonate with us all.

A Juno Award, multiple ECMA’s, Music Newfoundland & Labrador awards and a SOCAN for top grossing Canadian country song - along with endless accolades from fans and critics alike - tangible proof that they’ve tapped into something universal, beyond the notes on the page.

Flavoured by Celtic and traditional Newfoundland influences, Maureen, Karen and Teresa are known for their captivating sibling harmonies and their powerful, often humourous, storytelling. Their music offers a broad mix of original songs as well as uniquely interpreted tunes and ballads.

Live performance has been a staple of the Ennis’ experience, and continues to be. Proven road warriors since 1997, they gained underground notoriety before translating it into the global

success they’ve become - and they aren’t finished yet!

 

For over 25 years Hayden has been making music on his own terms and on his own schedule. The Polaris Prize and Juno nominee has produced, engineered and mixed most of his records at home, creating a world of his own, exploring themes ranging from love lost and found to bear maulings and home invasions. He is also the co-founder of Dream Serenade, an annual benefit concert every Fall at Toronto's Massey Hall for children with developmental and physical disabilities and their families established in 2014.

These upcoming Evening With Hayden shows will take place in intimate venues hand-picked by Hayden, performing catalogue classics and a sneak peek at new songs from his 9th album to be announced shortly.

Please follow along @haydendesser for album updates.

Chantal Kreviazuk, a two-time JUNO Award winner and Raine Maida — a four-time winner with Our Lady Peace — are one of Canada’s most influential cultural couples.

Kreviazuk made her critically acclaimed full-length debut, Under These Rocks and Stones, in 1997. Since then, the Winnipeg born singer-songwriter has released five more studio albums, and garnered five JUNO Award nominations. Maida has forged a dynamic career as a solo artist and the front man for the band Our Lady Peace, 25-time JUNO Award nominees, including winners for Rock Album of the Year in 2003 (Gravity) and 1998 (Clumsy).

The pair has also co-written countless hits for artists such as Kelly Clarkson, David Cook and Carrie Underwood.

While Kreviazuk and Maida are quick to lend their time to the studio and stage, they are equally committed to lending their help to those in need — both in Canada and internationally. In March, the couple received the 2014 Allan Waters Humanitarian Award that recognizing outstanding Canadian artists whose contributions have positively enhanced the social fabric of Canada.

“Not only am I able to express myself, and be able to play music for others and be creative for a living in life, but I can go to the next level and be a part of true greatness — the process of another human being’s healing, possibly playing even a small role in improving the quality of life of another,” Kreviazuk said.

War Child Canada is one of the many organizations the married couple has embraced. Kreviazuk is an honourary founder and active in various causes including women’s rights, war refugees and child education. Maida launched War Child’s Busking for Change program, in which Canadian musicians have raised money for children in the world’s most devastated regions, supporting initiatives such as the construction of schools in the Congo. Additionally the couple has recorded contributions for multiple benefit albums for War Child.

“I was first drawn to music because of the inherent ‘hope’ it provided me,” Maida said. “Social activism carries that same promise and the two together have shaped and taught me more than I could ever repay.”

One of Canada’s most mercurial artists, Joel Gibb is the lead singer, songwriter and choir captain of The Hidden Cameras. Forming in Toronto in 2001, Gibb and his gang of musical provocateurs have created music and live performances legendary for their raucous, unfettered celebration of freedom and sexuality.

Released on the eve of Canada’s sesquicentennial celebrations, ‘Home On Native Land’ is an inquisitive ode to Gibb’s homeland; it’s a stealthy return to Canadian soil both philosophically and physically. After relocating to Berlin for some time, The Hidden Cameras pick up and head west to commune with musical ancestors and explore the gentle folk sounds of the Canadian countryside. But as with

everything Gibb does, there’s a darker undercurrent flowing beneath the Canadiana terrain. With the title ‘Home On NativeLand’ being a play on the national anthem line ‘home and native land’, this title questions the definition and identity of Gibb’s nation, referencing the raging debate about repatriation of First Nations in Canada. Ever the master of subversion, Gibb arches an inquiring eyebrow at the personal as well as the political through his songs, returning to themes of belonging and identity from within. As a commanding, provocative figurehead of the LGBTQ community, Gibb inhabits the guise of the lonesome cowboy to his own ends, plumbing the depths of musical memory and delivering a beautiful album of life ­affirming experiences in all its colours along the way.

‘Home On Native Land’ was written and recorded over ten years by Gibb with friends, bandmates and icons including Rufus Wainwright, Feist, Neil Tennant, Bahamas, Ron Sexsmith and Mary Margaret O’Hara. Gibb once again assembles a band of musical accomplices and takes them on an adventure in revisionist history, forming a chorus of voices over a score of dulcet tones and twanging rock. The album makes new offers to the Canadiana genre with infectious melodies (“Big Blue”) and wild hymns (“Drunk Dancer’s Waltz”),overarched by Gibbs’ trademark, honeyed vocals and sighing guitars. His talents as a songwriter and composer remain undimmed, his on point lyrics oozing with hopefulness, joy and sorrow.

Alongside several new compositions, ‘Home On Native Land’ also borrows from the classic country songbook, reimagining soulful standards like “Dark End of the Street,” and “Don’t Make Promises” originally recorded by Tim Hardin. “Log Driver’s Waltz” is a cover of one of the most successful and beloved Canadian folk songs of all time. On “He is the Boss of Me” Gibb turns the tables and covers himself, giving a classicHidden Cameras song a proper studio recording, transforming it from an early 4­track demo from 2001debut EP ‘Ecce Homo’.

Tracklist:
1. Day I Left Home
2. He Is the Boss of Me
3. Ode to an Ah (ft. Neil Tennant)
4. Dark End of the Street
5. You and Me Again
6. Don’t Make Promises (ft. Ron Sexsmith)
7. Be What I Want8. Counting Stars
9. The Great Reward
10. Drunk Dancer’s Waltz
11. Big Blue
12. Log Driver’s Waltz (ft. Rufus Wainwright, Feist, Mary Margaret O’Hara)
13. Had a Feeling ‘Bout You
14. Twilight of the Season (ft. Ron Sexsmith)

Called Canada’s finest singer-songwriter by one of the most respected and lauded music journalists of the last 50 years, James Keelaghan is an artist who has proven to be a man for all seasons. As the calendar pages have turned, for almost a quarter of a century now, this poet laureate of the folk and roots music world has gone about his work with a combination of passion, intent and intensity, and curiosity. Fusing his insatiable appetite for finding the next unique storyline Keelaghan also forges his pieces with brilliantly defined craftsmanship and a monogrammed artistic vision, making him one of the most distinctive and readily identifiable voices of not only the Canadian scene, but as a member of the international singer-songwriter community. Armed with a songbook that has enlightened and enthralled, and been embraced, by audiences around the world, Keelaghan’s life as an artist is one that is a perpetual journey on so many levels. Most importantly it’s a journey that has invited fans of literate and layered songwriting to be a part of his artistic expeditions, some that weave their way through marvelously etched stories of a historical nature with underlying universal themes, and others that mine the depths of the soul and the emotional trails of human relations. ̈His masterful story telling, over the course of nine recordings, has been part of the bedrock of his success, earning Keelaghan his share of nominations and awards, and acclaim from Australia to Scandinavia. The necessity to write has always been a double-edged sword." "I’ve always had the urge to write. Some things weren’t being said in the way I wanted to say them. Then there are the different sides of what I write about. The narrative writing, the historical material, as well as the personal, where you have to take responsibility for what you are saying,” says the Calgary native who has been calling Winnipeg home for the past few years.A disciplined visionary, Keelaghan’s aces have long been a love of language, and history, as he earned a history degree years ago, his skills as a thespian that he acquired at an early age, that explain his ability to make an immediate connection with audiences in a live setting, and an ear for a memorable melody, and harmonies that make those melodies glisten. “I’m good for 80 or so books a year, mostly history, non-fiction, but inspiration can come in many forms, I’m always on the lookout for a good story or idea. My sister told me the story that became Kiri’s Piano. It was such an image,” says Keelaghan that visits a dark chapter in Canadian history, Japanese interment camps in the Second World War.â' ̈ â' ̈Not only does his deep catalogue include timeless originals like Fires of Calais, Cold Missouri Waters, Jenny Bryce, Hillcrest Mine, and Kiri’s Piano. Keelaghan is also a possessive interpreter of outside material, a fine example being his gripping take on Gordon Lightfoot’s epic Canadian Railroad Trilogy on the Lighfoot Tribute disc Beautiful. There are a number of illustrations of his interpretive skills on his 2006 recording A Few Simple Verses. The closing tune on that spellbinding set, My Blood written with Jez Lowe, is one of many examples in Keelaghan’s career, where he has invited collaboration into his creative process. “I was at the Celtic Colors Festival in 2008 and the producers locked six of us in a house for a week, and the company included Dave Gunning, David Francey, and Rose Cousins, it was an amazing experience. We had to come up with enough material for a show at the end of it. “To go along with a lifelong accumulation of influences, there have been these opportunities to work with equals, whether if be Oliver Schroer, Hugh McMillan, or Oscar Lopez. The sparks of collaboration, batting melodies back and forth, whatever, have produced some wonderful results,” says the artist who ties it all together with a powerful voice, delivery, and a commanding presence where he finds a balance between examining the lighter and heavier sides of life. For Keelaghan staying at the top of his game comes down to a very clear rule, “never stop accumulating.” “I want my audiences to know that I am open enough to try new things and push their bounds.” It was Dave Marsh, the award-winning American music critic and historian who not so long ago stated that James Keelaghan is “Canada’s finest songwriter,” and those few but powerful words of praise say it all about an artist who continues to set the bar at a lofty height.

Julian Taylor doesn’t fit in a box. He never has—and more power to him. A Toronto music scene staple and a musical chameleon, Julian Taylor is used to shaking it up over the course of 10 albums in the last two decades. Of West Indian and Mohawk descent, Taylor first made his name as frontman of Staggered Crossing, a Canadian rock radio staple in the early 2000s. These days, however, 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’ll be performing at a folk festival delivering a captivating solo singer-songwriter set. His songs have been placed in shows like Kim’s Convenience, Haven, Private Eyes and Elementary. He’s been invited to perform at two Olympic Games. The soulful blues, rhythmic soul, rootsy rock riffs and troubadour-esque folk songs that comprise his music are worth putting your busy life on hold for. 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. Off stage, Taylor recently ventured into radio; when the Indigenous radio station ELMNT FM opened in Toronto in 2018, Taylor became the station’s afternoon-drive host.

Taylor’s journey began in a musically artistic family: his father plays classical piano, while his cousins on both sides of his family sing and play music, and his uncle is the conductor of the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, which focuses on Afrocentric vocal music. Taylor started piano at age 5 and learned acoustic guitar over summer campfires. In 1995, while still in high school, he formed the band The Midnight Blues and started playing open stages in North Toronto. That band morphed into Staggered Crossing who were signed to a publishing deal in 1997, and their self-titled debut, released in 2001, spawned four rock radio singles, including top 10 hit “Further Again.”

When Staggered Crossing split amicably in 2007, Taylor started anew as a solo artist with two albums of rootsier material, while grinding it out on the cover band circuit in small towns across Ontario. In 2014, he launched the Julian Taylor Band and this time, all bets were off: all of Taylor’s myriad influences were on the table, masterfully combining and updating vintage sounds that inspired him to create bold, innovative new songs. Modern pop, vintage R&B, smooth soul, and the rock’n’roll swagger he was known for, were all tied together with an intense devotion to craft and a collection of some of Toronto’s finest musicians. JTB have three studio albums to date—their acclaimed debut Tech Noir, released in 2014, the double record Desert Star released two years later and 2019’s acclaimed Avalanche—and have no plans to slow down, although in 2020 Taylor revisited his solo career with 2020’s contemplative The Ridge.

Toronto poet Robert Priest describes Taylor and his work as “the kind of artist forever in the zone, the voice limitless, the songs full of feeling.

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The Slocan Ramblers (2020 IBMA Momentum Band of the Year Award Winner & 2019 Juno Award Nominee) are Canada’s bluegrass band to watch. Rooted in tradition, fearlessly creative and possessing a bold, dynamic sound, The Slocans have become a leading light of today’s acoustic music scene. With a reputation for energetic live shows, impeccable musicianship and an uncanny ability to convert anyone within earshot into a lifelong fan, The Slocans have been winning over audiences from Merlefest to RockyGrass and everywhere in between.

On their new album Up the Hill and Through the Fog, the all-star Canadian roots ensemble channels the past two years of loss into a surprisingly joyous collection of twelve songs intended to uplift and help make sense of the world. Bluegrass music is nothing short of catharsis for The Slocan Ramblers.

Though the past few years have brought the group accolades, that same momentum was abruptly halted by the pandemic’s brutal impact on live music. Over the next year, bandmates Adrian Gross and Darryl Poulsen both lost close family members and their bassist decided to step back to spend more time at home. They channeled these tumultuous changes into some of their most honest and direct compositions yet. Up the Hill and Through the Fog showcases the breadth of their varied influences while staying true to their roots in the rough and tumble bluegrass scene of Toronto’s no-nonsense bars and dancehalls. From Frank Evan’s classic, dusty vocals, to John Hartford-inspired lyrical musings, it’s all buttressed by impeccable musicianship, and emotionally raw songwriting from the three core members. This is roots music without pretension, art powerful enough to cut through the fog of the past two years and chart a more hopeful course forward.

 

Say hello to your new favourite band.

The Slocan Ramblers are:

Frank Evans: Banjo/Vocals

Adrian Gross: Mandolin

Darryl Poulsen: Guitar/Vocals

With Charles James: Bass/Vocals

 

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“I used to go searching for the darkness,” Ken Yates says. “With this record, the darkness found me first. This is me finding my way out of it.”

Channeling pain into beauty, Ken Yates’ fourth album is a breathtaking triumph of the human spirit. The cool-hued Cerulean captures the artist’s intimate reckoning as he grieved his dying mother, giving listeners a vivid window into the rollercoaster of intense thoughts and emotions that accompany such a personal, yet universal experience. The result is a transcendent record that surges with tightly held energy and intimate moments. The listener hears the artist growing in real time, moving towards a space of acceptance and peace as he himself moved to the country, began therapy, and wrote the songs he needed to hear.

Cerulean may be born from grief, but it is not musically grieving: its surefooted and softly radiant arrangements shine with the quiet hope of a soul put through the wringer. “This is the first time that I’ve made a record where I feel like the songs were going to be written whether I wanted to release an album or not,” Yates explains. “I was writing because I needed to. I never would have described songwriting as a cathartic process in the past; it was just something I liked to do.”

With three albums under his belt, the Ontario born songwriter spent the past decade establishing himself as a talented folk artist with a penchant for thoughtful lyrics and evocative melodies. He won two Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2017, and supported Passenger on both the European and North American legs of his recent tour.

Nonetheless, Cerulean feels like a hard reset on Yates’ art and artistry. Reuniting with producer Jim Bryson, the album firmly steps into indie folk and alternative territories – he cites Big Thief, Andy Shauf, and The War On Drugs as a few of his inspirations. Thematically, this is Yates at his most honest and raw. "The record begins with a tone of paranoia facing the daily fear of what the world is becoming" he explains. “As the album progresses, the songs begin to look more and more inward. Moving through the anxiety and bitterness I was feeling. Still, there’s a lot of positivity in it. Maybe I was trying to take a step back to remind myself of all the good things and the full spectrum of color in my life. My wife and I moved out of our apartment in Toronto to the country, got a dog, and found a bigger space where I was able to make a little musical corner for myself. I started seeing a therapist too. That, along with working on this record, helped pull me out of the foggy bitterness I was in.”

“Reflecting back now, I can almost hear myself processing what I was going through in real time, to the point where even the track listing was obvious– an accurate timeline of the feelings and emotions I was dealing with”.

Cerulean opens with “The Big One (ft. Kathleen Edwards),” an achingly poignant song that starts, quite poetically, at the end. “A friend kept talking about The Big One, a high-magnitude earthquake expected to strike the Pacific Northwest. In the last couple of years it feels like we have all developed a slight doomsday mentality, myself included; feeling like the world might be ending. Of course, we’re not really sure how, so that song is reckoning with the ‘armageddon’, and a realization of how trivial a lot of our personal relationships or conflicts can be when we are staring face-to-face with the end. The only thing to do is ride out your last few moments with the people you love.”

Yates dives deeper into himself as Cerulean progresses, searching for meaning in the world and working through everything from insomnia, denial, and nihilism, to hope and appreciation. The artist envelops himself in a blanket of plaintive, somber introspection on “Best of the Broken Things,” a comforting ballad in which he gives a pep talk to his own reflection.

An album standout, he paints a portrait of relatable restlessness on “Don’t Mean to Wake You” (ft. Stephanie Lambring), a warm and driving folk rock reverie. Yates finds himself lost in a pool of thoughts that gnaw at him so much that he has to turn over and wake his partner. It’s as much an attempt to save himself from himself, as it is a gentle cry for help.

The dynamic and driving “Honest Light” similarly finds him reassuring himself, this time from within. “My wife always refers to golden hour as ‘honest light’, when the light illuminates all the dust on your floor and the crumbs on your counter”, Yates explains. “I had the line, ‘life is like a cheap wine, it don’t get any better with time.’ I merged the title and line together as sort of this acceptance that things are not alright, but you’ll be alright.”

This mature recognition of life’s imperfection proves the lifeblood of Cerulean, and every time Yates seems to be on the verge of sinking, he swims – held afloat not only by his own inner strength, but also by his community. Cerulean is a group effort, with features from singer/songwriter contemporaries including Kathleen Edwards, Stephanie Lambring, Katie Pruitt, and more.

“Although these songs were born in a period of isolation, it turned out to be my most collaborative album yet. There are full band arrangements on every song, and a few of my favourite artists lended their voices, which really brought this record to life”.

After forty minutes spent exploring a world of vulnerable depths and soaring sonics, Cerulean closes in a moment of tranquility. “The final song, ‘Cerulean’, is about searching for balance – an equilibrium. We move through this endless colour wheel of emotions every day, but you have to find those small moments of peace and acceptance, and reassure yourself, ‘I’m okay.’

Yates’ mother Beverley passed away in August 2021.

“I’m strangely in a better headspace now than I was a year ago when she was still with us,” he admits. “I may owe that to taking a hard look at myself through the lens of these songs”.

Now that he’s on the other side, Yates says this album proved a transformative experience – allowing him to grow, while giving him some much-needed resolution to the past few years.

“I feel more open than ever, at peace with where I am as an artist,” he reflects. “This is the first time I’ve had a real personal story I wanted to tell. It does feel like I’ve had a moment to reset my life, and now I can start to share that with the rest of the world.”

Loss is a shared human experience. Through Cerulean, Ken Yates not only puts the full scope of his own healing process on display, but he also reminds us that we’re not alone in our pain – and that with time, we may just find our way to acceptance.

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CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT AEOLIAN COVID POLICY BEFORE PURCHASING TICKETS The young Australian virtuoso recently described as ‘the finest guitar player of this generation’ brings his tour back to Canada for the first time in three years!

One reviewer recently wrote “Daniel Champagne exudes a natural ease on stage, as he sings poignant lyrics and beautifully crafted melodies that invariably whisk the heart up with grand romanticism. Coupled with an exhilarating guitar talent that transcends mere acoustic playing to replicate a whole band, Champagne is just magical”

The story goes that the young singer-songwriter and one of a kind guitar virtuoso first picked up his instrument of choice as a 5-year-old following in the footsteps of a musical father. He began writing songs at 12, training classically throughout his teens and performing wherever he could, honing his craft and developing the dynamite live show that he is renowned for today. At 18 he left school, turned professional and hit the road without looking back.  The following decade has seen him release 5 studio albums, tour relentlessly around the globe with upwards of 300 shows per year, play some of the biggest festivals under the sun and share stages with the likes of Tommy Emmanuel, INXS, John Butler, Lucinda Williams, Ani DiFranco, Judy Collins and Rodrigo y Gabriela. Daniel is now regarded as a leading light in acoustic music, with a firm reputation for dropping jaws, making crowds buzz and breaking guitars wherever he goes!

press

“The word Prodigy seems to entirely fall short of this soft-spoken young man’s skills, he coaxes sounds and melodies out of his instrument that literally drop jaws.” The Calgary Herald, CANADA “Today I saw the future of Folk – Festival goers flocking in the thousands towards the main stage to witness a young musical phenomenon from Australia dish out an absolute show-stopper.” The Firefly Column, USA “Daniel Champagne is a crossroads. Fusing the strong traditions of Blues, Folk and other roots art with pop showmanship and admirable lyrical ability. I firmly believe that he will become an ambassador for roots music in a time where it desperately needs representation.” The Indie Blender, CANADA “reinventing roots guitar” Rhythms Magazine, AUSTRALIA “Watching Daniel Champagne perform is a once in a lifetime experience. He is a true prodigy that plays like no one else could possibly play unless they spent at least two lifetimes studying the art.” BW Review, NEW ZEALAND  ‘Daniel Champagne exudes a natural ease on stage, as he sings poignant lyrics and beautifully crafted melodies that invariably whisk the heart up with grand romanticism. Coupled with an exhilarating guitar talent that transcends mere acoustic playing to replicate a whole band, Champagne is just magical’ Themusic.com.au, AUSTRALIA

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MURRAY McLAUCHLAN, CINDY CHURCH, MARC JORDAN and IAN THOMAS

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LUNCH AT ALLEN’S Lunch At Allen’s is a musical powerhouse comprising four remarkable Canadian talents: Murray McLauchlan, Cindy Church, Marc Jordan and Ian Thomas. As individuals, they have written for or sung on over 25,000,000 CDs, penning hits for Josh Groban, Chicago, Bonnie Raitt, America, Santana, Cher and Rod Stewart, as well as Murray’s Farmer’s Song, Marc’s Marina Del Rey and Ian’s Painted Ladies, just to name a few. These three artists have come together adding the incredible voice of Cindy Church (Quartette, Great Western Orchestra) to form Lunch At Allen’s. Attending their stage show is to embark on an intimate musical journey replete with laughter and personal anecdotes, familiar favourites and new material, fashioning an unforgettable evening’s entertainment …from their hearts …to your soul.   “You would be hard pressed to find another Canadian ensemble with more collective depth of influence over Canada’s musical landscape than Lunch At Allen’s.” - The Beat Magazine