SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 21 2019 | 8:00PM | $30
Ken Whiteley & The Fabulous Levy Sisters
Ken Whiteley is a Canadian roots music legend. His musical journey has taken him from jug band, folk and swing to blues, gospel and children’s music. Among numerous accolades, he’s been awarded a Canadian Folk Music Award, Genie Award for Best Original Song in a Canadian film, Lifetime Achievement recognition from Folk Music Ontario (Ontario Council of Folk Festivals) and Mariposa Folk Festival. The Fabulous Levy Sisters (Amoy and Ciceal) are respected for their groundbreaking work within the gospel community in Toronto. They have been singing with Ken for over 15 years and have also performed with people as diverse as Pete Seeger, Celine Dion and Kirk Franklin. Amoy’s gorgeous soprano and Ciceal’s rich alto have graced many of Ken’s recordings, most recently ‘Freedom Blues’, and they are always audience favourites wherever they sing.
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24 2019 | 8:00PM | $20
The Well Pennies
A Folk/Pop duo consisting of husband and wife team, Bryan & Sarah Vanderpool. The pair have racked up over 30 million streams on Spotify and Apple Music, dozens of placements on Television shows, and their new album has been widely praised, most recently by Billboard Magazine and No Depression, who called it “Folk Pop Perfection”. After a move to the midwest, the duo spent last summer as the opening act for Diana Krall’s Turn Up The Quiet tour and it was on that trip that they were introduced to house concerts and instantly fell in love with them. They travel with a sound system, a guitar, a banjo and two voices. The band explains, “Our goal is to write songs that inspire something – however simple – to smile, to love, to get out and experience life.”
TueSDAY OCTOBER 1, 2019 | 7:30PM | $10
Basset
Basset is a contemporary folk group fronted by Yasmine Shelton and Sam Clark, along with brothers Aaron and Noah Philipp-Muller. The quartet’s innovative sound reflects their interest in the way acoustic folk music evolves, with original songs that recall both the very recent and the very old. Shelton’s mesmerizing voice leads the way, supported by tight arrangements, inventive lyrics, and the odd bluegrass turnaround on a mandolin or cello. In performance, the group endear themselves to audiences with their down-to-earth approach.Basset recently made their festival debut as Youth Showcase Performers at Summerfolk in Owen Sound.
THURSDAY OCTOBER 3 2019 | 7:30PM | $15
Noah Derksen
An American-citizen born and raised in the heart of the Canadian prairies and maturing on the west coast of British Columbia, Noah Derksen writes with the groundedness of harsh Manitoba winters mixed with the optimism of British Columbia’s coastline. Ever seeking motion and progression, Noah has spent the past three years honing his live performance skills across Canada and the United States, playing concerts from BC to Nova Scotia, and New York to California. In 2018 alone, Noah played at renowned venues and events such as the National Arts Centre (Ottawa, ON), Northwest Folklife Festival (Seattle, WA), Trout Forest Music Festival (Ear Falls, ON), and the Winnipeg Folk Festival (Winnipeg, MB).
Noah often performs as a duo or trio, alongside Vancouver-based vocalist Abby Wale and Juno-nominated fiddle-player Elise Boeur. Plus, Noah has long, flowing Auburn hair and a twinkle in his eyes. What’s not to love?
TUESDAY OCTOBER 8 2019 | 8:00PM | $15
Adrian Chalifour
Adrian Chalifour has been performing his distinct brand of ‘Heart Rock’ for nearly two decades, most notably as the founder and charismatic frontman of Towers and Trees – a solo home-recording project that grew into one of BC’s most notable independent acts. His music has charted on Canadian radio and found notable success with licensing and streaming platforms. He has toured Western Canada and the country extensively with Towers and Trees, performing showcases and festivals like Canadian Music Week, Indie Week, Rock The Shores, Breakout West and Canada Day celebrations in Victoria, White Rock and Tofino BC.
SATURDAY OCTOBER 12 2019 | 8:00PM | $20
Twas Now
For anyone who has lived in Kitchener, Ontario since the 1980s, it’s a safe bet they know the enigmatic graffiti adorning a prominent railroad bridge that simply states, “Twas Now.” No one really knows who put it there or what it means, but for the duo of Mike and Diana Erb, they’ve found a message within it that has come to embody their approach to making music. In adopting the name Twas Now, the Erbs felt it encompassed their vision of combining the oldest forms of folk and country music with modern lyrics and attitude. They proved definitively how capable they are at mining the past with their 2018 Canadian Folk Music Award-nominated debut album Old Fashioned Way, which featured songs by the Carter Family, the Louvin Brothers, Hank Williams and others. Now with Flesh & Bone, the pair put their own songwriting talents on display while musically adhering to roots traditions.
FRIDAY OCTOBER 18 2019 | 8:00PM | $20
Alan Cross
Alan is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. If you’re into music discovery and would like to make your music collection more interesting, you came to the right place. On Alan’s website (www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com) and radio show, The Ongoing History of New Music (also available on as a podcast through Apple, Spotify and everywhere else), he focuses on the world of alternative rock and what that music means to the music of today. Alan also spends a considerable amount of time observing and commenting on the intersection of music and technology.
THURSDAY OCTOBER 24 2019 | 7:00PM | $25
Lion Bear Fox
A musical brotherhood going to vocal war every night in search of hope and redemption. They are three voices searching for their place in the world. A world where harmonies and melodies are the healing power of the Universe. They sing in all colours. Lion Bear Fox.
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 1 2019 | 8:00PM | $15
The Sun Harmonic
The Sun Harmonic is the creative outlet for Canadian musician Kaleb Hikele; an eclectic songwriter and adventurous recording artist who comes from the small town of St. Thomas, Canada. Classical-trained pianist first, folk/rock songsmith second, The Sun Harmonic has been performing since 2009 as a solo artist, later accompanied by his rock band and even string orchestras. At his home studio in Toronto he continues to carve his songs into powerful indie album creations, his recordings have been played across the country on CBC and community radio. His eighth album, Coast to Coast, will arrive in late 2019.
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 19 2019 | 8:00PM | $20
Skarni
‘Skarni’ is releasing his third record, ‘Then To Now’ summer of 2019, music inspired from his life in small-town Ontario and coast to coast Canada. Performing also as ‘Jimmy’s Old Time Radio Show’, he is Canada’s #1 entertainer for seniors care homes. With amazing stories about beautiful people, great classic covers and inspired originals, it’s a unique show every time.
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29 2019 | 8:00PM | $20
Ian Foster & Nancy Hynes
Ian and Nancy’s live show is intimate and interactive: full of stories and songs.
Ian Foster, native of Newfoundland, Canada, is a storyteller. That music is the way he tells those stories only makes the telling richer still. Modern folk wrapped in Canadiana, Ian’s writing style belies a love of history, home and the humble tale. CBC’s Bob Mersereau described him as being “a fine example of what a 21st century folk performer should be doing.” Often likened to Canadian songwriting icon Bruce Cockburn in both writing and guitar style, and artists like Daniel Lanois for his atmospheric approach to sound, Ian’s music has been described as thoughtful, introspective, cinematic, hopeful, atmospheric, and cathartic by critics and fans alike. He has numerous awards, nominations and co-writes to his credit, including SOCAN Songwriter of the Year nominations, Lyric finalist for the International Songwriting Competition (Nashville, TN), and a co-write with Canadian songwriting legend Ron Hynes.
Ian has toured in Canada, the U.S, Germany, The Netherlands, Austria, and Italy, and has had his music played on radio internationally. He teamed up with his longtime partner and harmony singer Nancy Hynes in the fall of 2018 to release ‘Ian Foster and Nancy Hynes: A Week in December’ – a seasonal album that they are touring again Christmas 2019. They will also be on tour in Western Canada in the spring of 2020.
SATURDAY DECEMBER 7 2019 | 8:00PM
A Quartette Christmas
Since their debut in 1993, the four members of Quartette have been both publicly and critically acclaimed for their lush harmonies and delightfully diverse repertoire. Cindy Church, Caitlin Hanford, Gwen Swick, and Sylvia Tyson are seasoned singer/songwriters whose influences range from blues and gospel to folk and country to jazz and pop.
Quartette has received several Juno nominations, won a Canadian Country Music Award for best vocal collaboration, performed with major symphony orchestras across Canada, and recorded the CMT-TV special, “A Quartette Christmas.” They have also released two Christmas CDs, “It’s Christmas!” in 1996, and “I See A Star” in 2002, both of which are collections of traditional and original Christmas songs, and their Christmas shows have become a tradition with audiences across the country.
An evening with Quartette is always a magical musical journey.
