Folk

Since he released his first album a decade ago, singer-songwriter Donovan Woods’ blend of folk, country and pop has resonated with audiences all over the world. In recent years, the acclaimed, award-winning singer-songwriter has seen his profile grow with his breakthrough album, Without People.

Touring behind (2020’s) Without People saw Woods play to his largest audiences to date. That included a stint opening for New Jersey-based retro rockers Gaslight Anthem on their recent reunion tour.

Throughout his distinguished career, Donovan Woods has built a devoted following who cling to the acclaimed songwriter’s every word. Never one to mince words, Woods is one of music’s most vulnerable storytellers and on his forthcoming studio album, Donovan takes that a step further. Honest and unflinching, on Things Were Never Good If They’re Not Good Now, his upcoming seventh studio album, Woods takes a long look inside and isn’t necessarily thrilled with what he sees. For an artist who isn’t afraid to bear his soul, this is as emotionally gritty as he has ever been.

Long known as a masterful storyteller, Woods is at his absolute best on Things Were Never Good If They’re Not Good Now. Across the album’s 11 sparse, intimate songs, Woods finds himself reflecting on the ups and downs he has been through since 2020. His writing allowed him to open up and address the complexities of life that he has been going through. The album, he notes, serves as “A funeral to the life he was living.” Sonically, Woods decided to take a different approach.

“We had our boundaries and made things sound beautiful within them,” he says. “And what’s left is scrappier than Without People, but I feel like moments of creation are much more accessible on this record.”

Many of the songs that comprise Things Were Never Good If They’re Not Good Now focus on the intricacies of friendships and relationships, and looking at the little moments in life. Co-produced with longtime collaborator James Bunton over much of 2023, the album’s delicate nature is reflected in its lyrics.

The psychology of people’s actions always fascinated Woods and informs much of Things Were Never Good If They’re Not Good Now. Focusing on happy, party feelings doesn’t appeal to him.

Once he gets down these darker paths (“It was a warts and all album in a way that I never had done before”), which he admits can be uncomfortable, the songs flow and are universal.

In particular, on the heart-wrenching “Rosemary”. Co-written with Connor Seidel, “Rosemary” contemplates what happens in the aftermath of a heated argument.

“Have you ever had a fight by text message? And it’s long, and existential,” he says. “Someone did something wrong and maybe that’s it.” Continuing, he explains that “Rosemary” is about “finally admitting all your faults, showing your actual self and asking, can you still love me? And really wanting an answer either way.”

Not everything is doom and gloom.

On “When Our Friends Come Over,” Woods sings lovingly about a couple who rediscover their affection for one another. Featuring Madi Diaz on vocals, the song highlights how two partners are able to appreciate each other in the presence of others. Even though they're going through a rocky patch, Woods shows how even the tiniest of gestures are the true signs of love.

Throughout an album of heart wrenching songs, none hit harder than “Back for the Funeral.” Taking place in a small town, a group of friends who haven’t seen each other in years return to memorialize a schoolmate after they overdosed on pills.

“There's so much writing done about being back in your hometown and what it does to you,” Woods explains. “But there’s the idea that you only go there with bad news—which can be true—and what it does to your feelings about your hometown.”

However, the song poignantly shows that even though someone may return to their hometown for unfortunate reasons, reconnecting with old friends is a positive byproduct of the circumstance.

As Woods continues to work on himself, Things Were Never Good If They’re Not Good Now is the portrait of a songwriter at his creative best. Addressing the truths and pains of life is never easy, and here, he does so in a way that’s brutally honest. After all, that’s what great songwriters do.

Donovan Woods has partnered with PLUS1 so that $1 per ticket goes to supporting The Unison Fund and their work to provide counseling and emergency relief services to the Canadian music community.

A modern indie folk trio from Newfoundland, The Once have collected a trio of Canadian Folk Music Awards, numerous ECMA awards, and was named Artist of the Year by the Newfoundland & Labrador Arts Council. They have earned not one, but two JUNO nominations for Roots Album of the Year and continue to take their music around the world.

With the release of 2024’s Out Here, The Once have delivered a thoughtful and playful assembly of songs mingling their musical roots from Newfoundland along with folk, bluegrass, country, Americana, and modern indie rock. Members Geraldine Hollett, Andrew Dale, and Phil Churchill have created a sound representative of their home province of Newfoundland while pushing the boundaries on the great Canadian songbook with their soothing vocal harmony and acoustically rich core.

Lyrically, The Once’s newest collection of songs encompass an arresting sense of loss with the belief that the good can be found in all people, and a desire to bring it out here for everyone to enjoy. A ray of hope in a confusing time. A port in a storm. A provocation with a grin.

This material is soaked with the poetic charm and sunny sadness of the trio’s collective disposition. Written across Newfoundland and recorded in the band’s GingerBeard House studio the band took their time creating this record. “Sometimes music takes a while to flow”, Geraldine Hollett explains. “If you don’t panic and instead surround yourself with people who love you that you can trust, magic can happen.”

Moulettes are one of UK's most unique touring bands and are steadily being singled out from the wave of apparent Bjork & Kate Bush influenced Indie/alt Folk bands that have arisen this decade. They Recorded their third studio album 'Constellations' (Navigator Records) in studios, churches, tunnels, artisan workshops and bedrooms around Brighton and released it in the UK in 2014 and in Germany Feb 2015. It is their most complete and ambitious album to date and it testifies to their extraordinary ability to draw together such a varied ensemble that features legends Arthur Brown (God of Hellfire) and Herbie Flowers (Lou Reed, Bowie), as well as contemporaries Blaine Harrison (Mystery Jets), The Unthanks, Emma Richardson (Band Of Skulls) and a host of Brighton regular players from Sweden, Germany, Greece, Holland, South Africa, Australia, Scotland, Bosnia.

Renowned for their breathtaking live shows it is clear that few bands have the creative range and work ethic of Moulettes. With a brave approach to production and arrangement Moulettes look for peculiar ways of blending acoustic and electric instruments; For example, by putting Bassoons and stringed instruments through pedals and valve amps. They weave several genres with Cello, Violins, Guitars, Drums, Bassoon, Double bass, brass and synths into an incomparable pop/rock/folk Universe. Exercising both delicacy and fierceness, female Songwriter and Cellist Hannah Miller creates an otherworldly framework in which fantastical characters move bewteen the realms of Nature, Magic and Science. The band also contains a mix of self taught and classically trained multi-instrumentalists and singers who will often play more than one instrument per song and even at the same time. All members have shared the stage and studio with well known artists in Folk, Prog, pop and Rock, including Mick Jagger, Nick Cave, Seasick Steve, Bonobo, Gentle Giant, Dave Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Bellowhead, The Levellers and many more.

Original members Hannah Miller, Ruth Skipper, Ted Dwane(Mumford and Sons), Rob Skipper (Previously of The Holloways) and Ollie Austin started playing together at school in Glastonbury and Winchester from 2002. Their initial period as teens/early twenties was spent promoting their residency nights 'The Den Of Iniquity' in the renowned 12 bar club on Tin Pan Alley, London. They took these nights to Manchester, Southampton and Brighton with the aim of bringing many indie bands and Folk influenced bands together. It was at these events that Seasick Steve's UK Label/Management saw the band perform and offered to release some of their repertoire. Since their Eponymous release in 2010 which was followed by The Bear's Revenge in 2012, Moulettes have constantly been on the road with varying sized ensembles from a 3piece to a full chamber orchestra. A popular festival band, they have played events as varied as Cropredy/End of the Road/Glastonbury (Avalon)/Bestival/ and Cambridge Folk. Hannah, Ruth, Ollie and Jim Mortimore continue their busy gig schedule around the world with many guests joining them on their way. If you are looking for good song writing, incredible musicianship and a truly unique projection of recorded music to date squeezed into accessible pop tunes Moulettes is the band for you.

Maggie's Wake is a refreshing and exciting band from Southwestern Ontario, Canada. We are passionate about creating new music that expands on our influences and our sound is a blend of traditional folk and contemporary styles, including jazz, Americana and classic country. Our band members are passionate about bringing the rich history of folk music to life in a contemporary way and we strive to create a unique sound that reflects our heritage while also being wholly original. Our goal is to bring joy and inspiration to our audiences through our music.

The band features the stellar duo of award winning songwriter and multi instrumentalist Tara Dunphy (The Rizdales, Luther Wright and the Wrongs) on lead vocals, harmonizing tin whistle, flute and fiddle and award winning and internationally recognized Lindsay Schindler (Rant Maggie Rant, Trent Severn) as lead instrumentalist on fiddle/violin and harmony vocals. Their powerhouse band includes Andrew Kosty on upright and electric bass, Ken Palmer on acoustic and electric guitar, and frequent guests Dean Harrison on piano and accordion and Stephan Szczesniak on percussion.

In June 2023, Maggie's Wake was awarded the Forest City London Music Award for best Folk group and shortly afterwards were invited to Folk Alliance International in Kansas City, MO to perform as an Official Showcase Artist. They have been playing sold out theatres and concert halls for the past 18 months, building much anticipation for their debut album, the self titled "Maggie's Wake", which was released on March 17, 2024 worldwide to critical acclaim.

Nobody really knows who J.P. Cormier is for sure. That’s to be expected, believe me.

In 1974 he was a five year old boy, discovering an innate talent for playing the guitar, I had a little hand in that, guiding him through the beginning stages. He learned faster than I could teach.

By the mid eighties, not out of his teens, he was a sideman for bands and artists of many different genres in Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, and all across the deep south. As he travelled and worked he added more and more instruments to his arsenal of capabilities. He became indispensable to the bands he worked for.

In the early Nineties, he became a sideman for one of Canada’s favourite sons, Stompin’ Tom Connors and also became a staple of the recordings at Studio H in Halifax. His work with the CBC there, spanned musical, production and arranging duties.

All this before he was 20.

In the mid nineties he reentered the musical scene of his beloved East Coast and the Island called Cape Breton. He exploded onto the trad music scene there as a fiddler, performing some of the most difficult music ever produced by legends like Winston Fitzgerald and Angus Chisholm with a facility that stunned onlookers. Especially those who knew he wasn’t born there, but born in Ontario to Cape Breton parents. Somehow, some way, his music was the real thing, sounding like he had been steeped continually in a handed-down brew of family tradition from the old country.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

His previous gig was in Nashville playing mandolin and banjo in a grammy nominated bluegrass gospel band and performing on the Opry, and playing television shows with the likes of Waylon Jennings. All those people also thought he was one of them, American, reared in the ways of bluegrass, old time and Americana music. They knew he was from Canada, but it just didn’t seem possible.

Then in 1997, something amazing happened.

An album released in Canada, out of nowhere, called Another Morning. This time it was him as a songwriter and a lead singer.

And what a songwriter he turned out to be. Some of the performances on that album are literally part of the musical vocabulary today in the East Coast. Songs like the title cut, and Kelly’s Mountain, The Molly May (co written with his cousin Gervais) and others. It inspired, 25 years ago, some of the biggest names in the business today. People like Dave Gunning, Matt Andersen, David Myles, Joel Plaskett, all of which will tell you: that record changed things.

The Canadian industry thought so too, and it received a juno nomination and won an ECMA.

And that was just the beginning.

36 years later after stepping on stage as professional union musician for the first time at the tender age of 13, JP is still going, and frighteningly, still getting better.

16 albums followed the success of Another Morning, winning 12 more ECMA’s, another Juno nomination, a Canadian Folk Music Award and 5 Music Nova Scotia Awards. Each album was a snapshot of each thing that he can do. There are fiddle albums, Mandolin, Banjo, Guitar, tribute records, songwriting collections, a purely astounding spectrum of talent and musical vision.

His catalogue of recordings and the 150 or so records he’s produced on other artists, resemble the tapestry he weaves in live performance. Where he used to carry 3 and 4 piece bands, he tours alone now.

Just him and the instruments.

People still leave his shows confused, amazed and wondering what they just saw. Did they see a storyteller? A Songwriter? Arguably one of the best guitar players in the business today? Someone who crosses the lines between different instruments like there are no lines? Who was that masked man, anyway?

Accolades aside, and there are many from people like Chet Atkins, Marty Stuart, Waylon Jennings, Gordon Lightfoot; JP sees himself as just a performer. He’s shy, but has a razor sharp wit and lightning sense of humour. He can be reserved or edgy to the point no return. He speaks for soldiers, first responders, other artists, the forgotten and lost. He speaks sometimes only for himself and refuses rebuttal.

Of all the things he is, foremost he is an entertainer. I think one of the best.  After you’ve seen what he does, I’m certain you will too.

VIP Package includes:

- 1 General Admission concert ticket

- Early entry
- Early merch access
- Access to Pre-Show Soundcheck
- Photo Op w/ Tyler

From portraying Elvis Presley in Walk the Line and garnering a cult following as musician Chris Keller on the CW hit TV show One Tree Hill, to writing and touring with the likes of Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum and Joe Cocker, Tyler Hilton has enjoyed an award-winning career spanning music, film and television.

Born and raised in California, Tyler grew up in a family of talented musicians who had played for acts like Fleetwood Mac, George Harrison and Donovan. Performing with his family from an early age, Hilton became serious about songwriting at 14. At 15, he called into L.A.’s KLOS radio station to win concert tickets and ended up wowing the hosts with an on-air performance. The station made him a regular guest and helped launch his debut record, which caught the ear of Warner Bros. Records, who signed him to record his second album The Tracks of Tyler Hilton, earning him two Top 40 singles.

Tyler then landed the dream gig of portraying Elvis in Golden Globe-winning Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, opposite Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix. “I’d never done any kind of professional acting, but got quite the education from those two. They were pros, and so patient.” Two of his recordings featured on the film’s Grammy-winning soundtrack and his portrayal of the late legend helped launch an acting career which has since seen him star alongside Robert Downey Jr. in the 2007 film Charlie Bartlett and opposite Halle Berry in CBS series Extant.

However, it was Tyler’s musical role in One Tree Hill that helped build the devoted, global fan base he has today. The series heavily featured songs from his third album, 2012’s Forget the Storm, which reached #2 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums Chart. Tyler also featured on the show’s soundtracks with fan favorites like “When the Stars Go Blue” and “Missing You.” “I played the worst kind of person on the show, and still the fans totally took me in and connected with my music. It was an incredible fan base to be a part of!”

Following 2014’s Indian Summer, Tyler released his proudest body of work yet, 2019’s City on Fire, featuring a collaboration with Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley (an ex-roommate). The album, rooted in Hilton’s signature cinematic folk-rock stylings, was featured heavily in film and TV including Showtime’s Shameless. The star-studded video for the record’s gritty lead single, “City on Fire,” was directed by Tyler’s wife, Megan Park, an award-winning director, writer and actress. A video for the album’s second single, “When I See You, I See Home,” features footage of the couple’s 2015 nuptials and their baby daughter, Winnie, born in 2019.

Alongside working on his retro-inspired 6th studio album (expected Spring 2021) which will include a dark take on Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally” – released in early 2020, following the singer’s death – Tyler and longtime collaborator Jaco Caraco (Miley Cyrus, Kelly Clarkson) have been writing and producing new music for Billy Ray Cyrus’ soon-to-be released follow up to 2019’s record-shattering “Old Town Road.”

Hilton has been featured everywhere from Rolling Stone and People’s “50 Most Beautiful People,” to The Tonight Show and TRL. Additionally, he co-starred in a #1 MTV music video with Taylor Swift, a longtime fan, for her song, “Teardrops Drops on My Guitar,” which was nominated for an MTV Music Video Award. Tyler and Megan also starred in the #1 CMT music video for Gloriana’s “Kissed You Goodnight.”

Tyler currently lives in Los Angeles and Ontario, Canada.

This Internationally touring band of celebrated songwriters greet every stage with a genuine, quirky presence and unbottled chemistry. Their sibling harmonies and familial banter quickly connects them to their audience. Whether The Pairs are playing an intimate house concert or a sold out show at a performing arts centre, these classically trained vocalists make it their mission to employ three part harmony and honest storytelling as the mighty tools that soften and connect us. The Pairs will release their fourth studio album in spring 2025. This record aims to encapsulate the authentic, minimalistic, and acoustic style performances this trio has become known for.

Featuring a blend of acoustic instruments, rural soundscapes, and wistful vocals, Great Lake Swimmers are a critically acclaimed indie-folk group led by songwriter/vocalist Tony Dekker. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the group emerged in the early 2000s with a succession of heavily atmospheric albums recorded in old silos and rural country churches. The music developed in that pastoral warmth, performed and recorded in acoustically unique and historical locales with a revolving cast of personnel. They are renowned for their homespun folk and lush, intimate Americana in their live set.

Great Lake Swimmers celebrate their 20th anniversary in 2023 with “Uncertain Country,” an album where doubts are followed by discovery, demos end up as finished tracks, and themes of new beginnings, rear-view reflections, and ruminations on the fluidity of time form the basis of the eleven new songs.

It follows a prolonged period of collective anxiety. Recorded in different locales—and with a variety of musicians—a theme of questioning runs throughout. Even before the world turned upside down, Dekker felt mired in uncertainty: from the climate crisis to the ever-changing political landscape. The “uncertain country” chosen as the album’s theme is not a specific place. Rather, it’s a territory we, as humans, inhabit in the 21st century — a world that, more often than not, is confusing, unfamiliar and unsettling.

“Moonlight, Stay Above” epitomizes what Great Lake Swimmers represents. A 10-voice strong women’s choir (Niagara's Minuscule) lifts the lonely-sounding and wistful song up. As with that addition, the band on each album is fluid and always evolving.

Great Lake Swimmers were shortlisted for the prestigious Polaris Music Prize and nominated twice for Canada’s Juno Awards, with the CBC calling them “a national treasure.”

“Dekker's preoccupation with the Canadian state of mind flourishes in his lyrics. Few songwriters are able to convey the country's harsh beauty as well. …Canadian folk tradition personified in the 21st century” – Exclaim!

“Dekker has done a masterful job of finding that balance on The Waves, the Wake, which has enough connections to the past to satisfy long-time fans of Great Lake Swimmers even while the singer looks to the future and moves forward as an artist.” – The Georgia Straight

“A minimalist, atmospheric compendium of songs with a sonic environment the listener can easily get lost in.” – The Vue

“Ambient Zen Americana” - Mojo

Featuring a blend of acoustic instruments, rural soundscapes, and wistful vocals, Great Lake Swimmers are a critically acclaimed indie-folk group led by songwriter/vocalist Tony Dekker. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the group emerged in the early 2000s with a succession of heavily atmospheric albums recorded in old silos and rural country churches. The music developed in that pastoral warmth, performed and recorded in acoustically unique and historical locales with a revolving cast of personnel. They are renowned for their homespun folk and lush, intimate Americana in their live set.

Great Lake Swimmers celebrate their 20th anniversary in 2023 with “Uncertain Country,” an album where doubts are followed by discovery, demos end up as finished tracks, and themes of new beginnings, rear-view reflections, and ruminations on the fluidity of time form the basis of the eleven new songs.

It follows a prolonged period of collective anxiety. Recorded in different locales—and with a variety of musicians—a theme of questioning runs throughout. Even before the world turned upside down, Dekker felt mired in uncertainty: from the climate crisis to the ever-changing political landscape. The “uncertain country” chosen as the album’s theme is not a specific place. Rather, it’s a territory we, as humans, inhabit in the 21st century — a world that, more often than not, is confusing, unfamiliar and unsettling.

“Moonlight, Stay Above” epitomizes what Great Lake Swimmers represents. A 10-voice strong women’s choir (Niagara's Minuscule) lifts the lonely-sounding and wistful song up. As with that addition, the band on each album is fluid and always evolving.

Great Lake Swimmers were shortlisted for the prestigious Polaris Music Prize and nominated twice for Canada’s Juno Awards, with the CBC calling them “a national treasure.”

“Dekker's preoccupation with the Canadian state of mind flourishes in his lyrics. Few songwriters are able to convey the country's harsh beauty as well. …Canadian folk tradition personified in the 21st century” – Exclaim!

“Dekker has done a masterful job of finding that balance on The Waves, the Wake, which has enough connections to the past to satisfy long-time fans of Great Lake Swimmers even while the singer looks to the future and moves forward as an artist.” – The Georgia Straight

“A minimalist, atmospheric compendium of songs with a sonic environment the listener can easily get lost in.” – The Vue

“Ambient Zen Americana” - Mojo

Old Man Luedecke is the recording name of two time JUNO award winning and Polaris prize  nominated singer songwriter Chris Luedecke. A multiple East Coast Music Award winner  known for his high energy banjo driven stompers, touching guitar ballads and dry humorous  stories, Luedecke has been making a soundtrack to an authentic life for nearly twenty years.  

Born in Toronto and long time resident of the country near Chester Nova Scotia, Luedecke  began recording in the early 2000’s DIY folk scene of Halifax. He made his two JUNO winning  albums for Black Hen Music in the late 00s with Steve Dawson as producer at Vancouver’s  famed Factory studio. While on a tour of England in 2009, he met and supported folk roots  legend Tim O’Brien who produced Luedecke’s next two albums. Tender is the Night was  recorded at John’s Prine’s Butcher Shoppe Studio in Nashville in 2012 and 2015’s Domestic  Eccentric was recorded in a cabin Luedecke built himself at his home in NS. 2019 saw  Luedecke recording Easy Money at both the Banff Centre in Alberta and at Hotel2Tango in  Montreal.  

Songs like I quit my Job at the beginning of his career and the Early Days at the beginning of  his family and dozens of other fan favourites trace a warm line of effort, sadness and joy and  provide a soundtrack to many peoples’ own progress through adulthood, touching a rare place  of truth and charm in the holiness of the mundane. His performing style with his easy going  humour and storytelling creates a rare space of hopeful and intimate magic.  

Luedecke has kept up many worldwide concert appearances, playing in Europe and around  Canada and the USA and six trips to Australia, including a memorable tour where his whole  young family travelled with him around rural Queensland for the Festival of Small Halls.  

In May 2022 Luedecke was awarded an honorary doctorate from King’s University in Halifax for  his cultural contributions.