James Gordon has been there. He’s done that. He has had a remarkably diverse and resilient career in the Canadian cultural sector. As a solo singer-songwriter and with the ground-breaking trio Tamarack, he’s recorded 42 albums and toured relentlessly around the world. He’s written for symphony orchestras, musical theatre and dance works, scored films, and for more than ten years was heard on CBC radio as songwriter-in-residence for the ’Basic Black’ and ‘Ontario Morning’ programs. Between tours, James is a record producer, playwright, community activist, theatre director and he was a Guelph City Councillor for eight years.

After a long break because of you-know-what, Gordon is touring again either solo, as a duo with Katherine Wheatley, or with his band consisting of David Woodhead, Katherine Wheatley, Anne Lindsay, Ian Bell and Randall Coryell on drums if the situation allows!

https://jamesgordon.ca

Lucy has been performing with the Barra MacNeils for 37 years. They come from a long tradition of Cape Breton music and dance that has been the foundation of creative pursuits over their musical career.

Alongside her brothers she has travelled to Europe, Scotland, England, Wales,Ireland, the United States, Barbados, throughout Canada from Fogo Island, Nfld. To Iqualuit and a northern Quebec community, Puvirnituq.

During the pandemic which was a very quiet time for many Lucy started working on a solo album. Something she had wanted to do but the time never presented itself. She also felt in these uncertain times watching a world that was going through immense change and upheaval she wanted to leave something behind of herself and her lifetime attachment to traditional music and song.

https://lucymacneil.com

RPR is a Canadian folk-rock band known for engaging live shows, soaring vocals and huge harmonies, all showcasing the music of this powerhouse band. Running the spectrum from stirring anthems to whisper-gentle ballads, RPR’s songs evoke joy, tears and laughter with a dynamic tapestry of musical styles that range from folk, rock and blues traditions in unique and refreshing ways. It’s cinematic storytelling from four captivating songwriters.

Together since 2012, RPR have regularly played throughout Canada and the US, as well as three UK tours to date. Appearing on festival stages, concert series, music halls, theatres, town halls and beyond, RPR continue to win new fans along the way. The band has released two CDs, Trans Atlantic in 2013 and the latest, Longview. The new record, nominated for Blues and Roots Radio 2019 Album of the Year, features twelve songs that showcase the songwriting and musicianship like never before.

Celebrating 14 years together as a band, Celtic-American Roots music “super group”, RUNA, continues to push the boundaries of Irish folk music into the Americana and roots music formats. Interweaving the haunting melodies and exuberant tunes of Ireland and Scotland with the lush harmonies and intoxicating rhythms of jazz, bluegrass, flamenco and blues, they offer a thrilling and redefining take on traditional music.

Seeking to preserve and continue a traditional culture in a modern age, RUNA creates the backbone of its signature roots sound from the musical and geographical diversity of its individually established band members. Their strive for excellence and creativity blazes a trail for the future of folk music, earning them the reputation as one of the most innovative Irish folk groups of this generation.

https://runamusic.com

Lynn Miles has the kind of voice that insists that you pull the car over. Call the radio station. Change your citizenship. Buy a home in Toronto. She’s been blessed with such a drop dead beautiful honey smooth voice that it’s impossible to not fall in love with it. It rides along the ebb and flow of a gifted sense of melody. She’s the kind of lyricist that renders whatever heartache you feel into something both beautiful and aching. She also is extremely funny. Like she’s carrying an antedate to inject you with between songs to cure you of the snake bite.

Ellis Paul

https://lynnmiles.ca

In 2007, Albertan songwriter Scott Cook quit his job teaching kindergarten in Taiwan and moved into a minivan. He’s made his living as a troubadour ever since, touring almost incessantly across Canada, the US, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere, averaging 150 shows and a dozen summer festivals a year, and releasing seven albums of plainspoken, keenly observant verse along the way. His latest collection Tangle of Souls comes packaged in a cloth-bound, 240-page hardcover book of road stories and ruminations, equal parts introspection and insurrection. The album spent two weeks at #1 on Alberta’s province-wide community radio network CKUA, and earned Scott his third Canadian Folk Music Award nomination, for English Songwriter of the Year. Its second single “Say Can You See” was the second most-played song of 2020 on Folk Alliance International’s folk radio charts, and took top honours for the folk category in both the 2020 UK Songwriting Competition and the 2020 Great American Song Contest. He’s been back on the road full-time since January of 2022, living in a campervan named Roadetta with his sweetheart Pamela Mae on upright bass and vocals, visiting 43 states and 8 Canadian provinces, and broadcasting solar-powered livestreams from the back of the van. In 2024 they’re touring Australia and North America, and recording an eighth album for release in the fall.

https://scottcook.net