Roots

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.

Jake Vaadeland is a self taught multi-instrumentalist and songwriter from Saskatchewan, Canada. His traditional sound and unique style could be defined as a blend of Bluegrass and 50s Rockabilly. Jake strives to write and play with a focus on storytelling and messages that he hopes his audience can relate to, all packaged in foot stomping, high energy performances with The Sturgeon River Boys.

In 2022, Jake received 2 Saskatchewan Music Awards, including Album of the Year for his album Everybody But Me, along with Roots/Folk Artist of the Year. He followed that up in 2023 by once again winning the Roots/Folk Artist of the Year. He was awarded four 2022 Saskatchewan Country Music Awards, including Fans Choice Entertainer of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Alternative Album of the Year & Emerging Artist of the Year, and again followed up in 2023 by winning the Alternative Album award for the 2nd year in row. Jake was also nominated for Roots/Folk Artist of the Year at the 2023 Western Canadian Music Awards.

Jake had another big year at the 2024 Saskatchewan Country Music Awards, taking home 4 awards including Male Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Video of the Year & Interactive Artist of the Year. He was also nominated for Best New Touring Artist at the Canadian Live Music Industry Awards and is nominated once again for Roots/Folk Artist of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards.

His new album, Retro Man…More And More (Expanded Edition) was released in April, 2024, This was followed up in May, 2024 when Jake joined Platinum selling Canadian country artist, Tebey for the release of their single, Wake Me Up (the Bluegrass Rendition). These releases are being supported by extensive tours in Canada, USA, UK and EU. Jake Vaadeland & the Sturgeon River Boys have developed a reputation as one of the hardest working independent bands in the business. True road warriors, they are passionate about taking their music directly to their quickly growing fanbase around the world.

Lance Anderson’s critically acclaimed performance of 

‘The Last Waltz - a Musical Celebration of The BAND - Live’ celebrates the 48th Anniversary of the historic concert Aeolian Hall, London ON 

Saturday Apr. 27th 2024

An all-star Canadian cast of award-winning blues and roots musicians, under the direction of Juno award winning producer and musical director, Lance Anderson, will perform selections from their hit show that recreates the atmosphere of The Band’s final concert, which was captured in Martin Scorcese's award-winning concert film, The Last Waltz.
2024 will mark the 14th year this cast of The Last Waltz has performed Live. The 2 hr concert will feature 4 guests. Chuck Jackson (Lead singer of the legendary Downchild Blues Band) Johnny Max, Matt Weidinger and Soul diva Quisha Wint. This will be a celebration and intimate experience of the music of the Canadian Music Hall of fame members The BAND in an wonderful venue - Aeolian Hall in London.

This crowd pleasing show that has thrilled audiences at the CNE Bandshell (Toronto), Casino Regina, Peterborough Music Fest, Century Casino Edmonton, Mississauga Living Arts Centre, the Shenkman Theatre (Ottawa), Centennial Hall (London ON), Showplace Theatre, Peterborough, Orillia Opera House, Huntsville Festival of the Arts (Algonquin Theatre), Regent Theatre, Oshawa, Victoria Hall Cobourg, Gayety Theatre Collingwood, Peter’s Players in Gravenhurst, and at Hugh’s Room in Toronto, will make any event an extravaganza! They have headlined the Mariposa Folk Festival , Kitchener Blues Fest, Southside Shuffle, Wasaga Beach Blues Festival, Stratford Blues and Ribfest, Norfolk County Fair (Simcoe) and Orillia Spring Blues Fest to name a few.

On the American Thanksgiving of 1976 at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom, The BAND invited many of their friends to join in their farewell concert celebration.  These friends included Bob Dylan, Ronnie Hawkins, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and others who performed with The Band on this historic night.  

In this homage to The Last Waltz, Anderson’s special guests will perform a few of the songs played and sung by these guest artists at the memorable 1976 concert.

Backed by a 9 piece band that includes Jerome Levon Avis (godson of Levon Helm) on drums and vocals, Terry Blersh on guitar, Wayne DeAdder (Jimmy Bowskill) on bass, Rob Gusevs (Blood, Sweat and Tears) on organ and Anderson (Matchedash Parish) on piano and vocals, this is a group of seasoned veterans who love the music. Anderson’s band also features a stellar four-piece horn section including, Londoners Dave Dunlop (trumpet and Simon Wallis (Lighthouse) Bari sax, and includes Gord Meyers (Blood, Sweat and Tears) on trombone and tuba, and Scott Marshall on Tenor sax. Truly an all-star band!

“What makes this performance special is the connection these musicians have to the music,” says Anderson. “They love the music and perform these tunes from the heart.” 

Anderson’s production of The Last Waltz has experienced rave reviews at the many festivals where it has appeared over the past few years and has consistently been referred to as the “best of the festival.” 

“It wasn’t just the musicianship, which was second to none; it was the energy … these musicians have brought forth a live music gem that is worthy of any stage I know of and probably more that I don’t,” said 

P. Rellinger of the Kawartha News after seeing Anderson’s show in 

Peterborough.

The Band is a Canadian national treasure, with four members of the legendary roots music group originally from southern Ontario. In the 1960s, they were initially brought together as 'The Hawks’ by Ronnie Hawkins and later gained international recognition as Bob Dylan’s band on his groundbreaking electric tours. This two hour inspired performance of The Last Waltz includes a wide selection of fan favourites, such as The Band’s ‘The Weight’, ’The Night They Drove Ol’ Dixie Down’, ‘Up On Cripple Creek’, ‘Life is a Carnival’, ‘The Shape I’m In’, ‘Rag Mama Rag’, 'Ophelia' and more, plus music from their special guests.

Don’t miss this opportunity in 2024 to join in our celebration of the music of this legendary group on the 48th anniversary year  of The Last Waltz.

[Note: guest artists are subject to change due to shifting schedules.]

2021 JUNO Award Nominees, Rum Ragged, take a bold approach to the distinct folk music of their home, the Eastern Canadian island of Newfoundland. With a reverence for their roots and a creative, contemporary edge, this young band has quickly become known as the finest performers of their great, living, musical tradition. Boasting bouzouki, fiddle, bodhran, banjo, guitar, and button accordion, these new champions of East Coast music enliven and enlighten audiences with their signature brand of Newfoundland folk. Always honest, thought-provoking, and often humorous, it’s Rum Ragged’s live show that makes them a fast favourite with any audience. Their combination of striking vocal harmonies, staggering musicianship, and captivating storytelling gives concert-goers an experience they won’t soon forget. Since their inception in 2016, Rum Ragged has maintained a rigorous tour schedule, performing at some of the world’s premier folk, celtic and roots venues all while managing to record four acclaimed, award-winning studio albums. Rum Ragged is not your run-of-the-mill folk band, they are the genuine article.

Guy Davis is a two-time, back-to-back Grammy nominee for Best Traditional Blues, a musician, Actor, Author, and Songwriter. Guy uses a blend of Roots, Blues, Folk, Rock, Rap, Spoken Word, and World Music to comment on, and address the frustrations of social injustice, touching on historical events, and common life struggles. His background in theater is pronounced through the lyrical storytelling of songs “God’s Gonna Make Things Over” about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, “Welcome to My World”, and “Got Your Letter In My Pocket”. His storytelling is sometimes painful, deep, and real, an earthy contrast to modern-day commercial music, meant to create thought, underlined by gentle tones from his guitar or banjo fingerpicking.

A self-taught “Renaissance Man”, he first heard the banjo at a summer camp run by John Seeger, the brother of the American Folk Musician, Pete Seeger, and soon after, asked his father for one.

His records, while terse and truthful, are softened by songs like “We All Need More Kindness In This World”, denoting lyrical inspiration from Pete Seeger’s “If I Had A Hammer”, then teased with lyrically strutting works nudged by Hip Hop and Honky Tonk, like “Kokomo Kidd”. The contrast between pieces provides a robust, balanced experience, while giving Guy and his audience a healthy outlet for frustration through song and dance.

Along with his music writing and performance, Guy has written several scripts for stage and film. He recently debuted his latest piece, “Sugarbelly and Other Tales My Father Told Me” at the famed Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ. He previously presented his other New York Foundation for the Arts winning play at the Crossroads, “The Adventures of Fishy Waters: In Bed with the Blues”, a one-man show whose Off-Broadway debut in 1994 received critical praise from The New York Times and the Village Voice.

Also at the Crossroads Guy appeared with his parents, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, in a show called “Two Hah-Hahs & A Homeboy”.  Guy also starred in the Off-Broadway production of “Robert Johnson; Trick The Devil” at the New Federal Theater which earned him a “Keeping The Blues Alive” Award from The Blues Foundation.  On Broadway, Guy was in the cast of the Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes play, “Mulebone”, which featured the music of Taj Mahal.  And in 2009-2010, in a revival of “Finian’s Rainbow”, Guy undertook the role that was originated by one of his musical heroes, Sonny Terry, who created the role in the original 1947 production.

Canadians Charlie A’Court and Suzie Vinnick, and Australian Lloyd Spiegel have commanded festival and theatre stages across the globe as solo artists.  Together, they have accumulated over 60 international awards in roots and blues and have released over 30 albums.

In 2023, they recorded a self-titled collaborative work that brought them across Canada for 7 weeks, touring communities from Whitehorse, Yukon to St. John’s, Newfoundland and are now returning Ontario.  A’Court, Spiegel & Vinnick bring their combined experience and personal friendships to this show, showcasing not just their individual talents, but a collaborative spirit and mutual respect that promises to deliver a truly unique performance.

 "The musicianship was off the chain, the songwriting was glorious and the stage banter hilarious. In terms of stage presence, these three delivered in spades." 

– North Sask Zine

Jordan Hart is a Gold-certified producer/singer-songwriter living in Toronto, Canada. His sound is often categorized as Contemporary/Roots with influences of Soul. Featured on YouTube performance platforms Mahogany and Alex Rainbird’s ‘Best of Folk’ series, as well as on Canadian mainstream television channels CTV, ETalk, Breakfast TV and Entertainment Tonight, Hart’s critically acclaimed debut EP ‘Only Pieces of the Truth’ struck a chord amongst tastemakers, and now has over 15 million streams across platforms. The emotive cinematic soundscapes of his EP made their way from studio to screen as his single “Whole” was featured on Grey’s Anatomy and single “Freedom” featured on award-winning animated short, ‘Free Bird,’ which doubles as the song’s music video.

While Hart's success during the pandemic was centered around his recorded music, his live performance is what he has come to be known for. In 2018 Hart completed a 100 – Day Busking Challenge in which he played on streetcorners across Canada, often garnering audiences in the hundreds of unexpecting passers-by. While Hart is now a veteran headliner and is selling out shows across the country, you can still find him playing outside on the odd summer day where he first fell in love with performing music.

Beyond his work as a solo artist, Hart is gaining an impressive track record as a producer and composer for other artists, working with the likes of Bulow, Kiesza, Lucky Rose, and Lonely in the Rain to name a few. While he continues to compose and produce for other artists, he has just begun working on his first full length album which is scheduled to be released in early 2023.

Authentic. Original. Inspired.

Maggie's Wake is a Canadian roots band that combines traditional Celtic instrumentation with a contemporary approach.  This exciting collaboration between Rant Maggie Rant co-founder Lindsay Schindler (fiddle, vocals) and Tara Dunphy (tin whistle, flute, fiddle, vocals), lead singer and songwriter of acclaimed country outfit, The Rizdales, is quite simply, a match made in heaven. 

United in their passion for fiery tunes, soaring vocals with rich harmonies, meaningful stories and beautiful melodies, Lindsay and Tara embrace their wide ranging influences and have built an exciting, new sound. From traditional celtic to cajun, early jazz to latin rhythms, Maggie's Wake is making musical discoveries at every turn, constantly building on the foundation of the music that  inspires them.

Rube & Rake engage audiences with a mixture of stories, intricate guitar work, and rich vocal harmonies. After working together for the past 6 years out of St. John’s, NL, Josh Sandu and Andrew Laite have fused an intimate musical connection that comes across in every new song and performance.

ECMA 2022 Songwriter of the Year and 2020 Music NL Folk/Roots Artist of the Year award winners, Rube & Rake’s music is an exercise in creating something beyond the sum of their parts.