East Coast songwriter Lennie Gallant has released fifteen albums of original songs which have won him a host of awards and nominations from the JUNOs, Les Prix Éloizes, and The ECMAs. His songs have been described as “true slices of life delivered with a poet’s flair and a rugged emotional sensibility”. His multimedia production, Searching for Abegweit, ran for 190 shows in Eastern Canada. His song Peter’s Dream, from that show, was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. Lennie is an international artist who has performed all over North America and Europe. His songs have been covered by many artists and he has shared the stage with several orchestras and with performers such as Lucinda Williams, Patti Griffin and Roger Hodgson. He has performed with the late Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefers and with David Foster and his band. Lennie struck up a friendship with Jimmy, has two co-writes on his last album, and was invited to sing on it as a featured artist. Lennie’s albums also went up to the international space station and circled the planet 248 times. His album, Time Travel, was voted a top ten Album of the Year by a panel of Canadian music industry personnel, and his recent all original Christmas album has received rave reviews. Lennie Gallant is a member of The Order of Canada and has been recognized for his humanitarian efforts.

The Arrogant Worms have spent over three decades making fun of a big dumb world. Their songs have been played on the radio, the internet, and in outer space (on the space shuttle Endeavour). The Worms began at Queen’s University in 1991 when some members of the student cabaret group, The Queen’s Players, started writing songs and sketches for the campus radio station CFRC. Soon the group became The Arrogant Worms (Chris Patterson, Mike McCormick, and Trevor Strong) who have since toured ceaselessly across Canada (and select other parts of the world), released 13 albums, and recorded with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Their song, The Last Saskatchewan Pirate, has been covered by bands such as Captain Tractor and The Longest Johns, and their Happy Happy birthday song is a viral sensation with over one hundred million views of the various fan videos on YouTube. More than thirty years after they began, The Arrogant Worms continue to provide tuneful and silly escapism for everyone who needs it.

Katherine Wheatley and Wendell Ferguson are the best of musical pals - her heartfelt lyrical vision and poignant voice, and his honest yet irreverent humour make for both a moving and hilarious show. Here’s what one presenter said: “It was an absolutely transcendent concert…she didn’t leave a dry eye in the house and he didn’t leave a dry seat".

Six time Canadian Country Music Association Guitar Player of the Year, Wendell Ferguson has traveled the globe and accompanied a veritable who’s who in both the country field - (George Fox, Duane Steele, Tommy Hunter) and the folk arena - (Gordon Lightfoot, Quartette, Bob Snider, Cindy Church). He is one of the best loved and most respected guitar players in the country. Wendell performs his own, very funny songs at Folk Festivals and concerts.

Arresting vocals, fine guitar playing and a “down to earth” feel that some attribute to her years working as a geologist, mark Katherine’s work. As well as touring extensively, she has written music for film and television documentaries and has been a musical guest on many shows, including CTV’s Canada AM and CBC Radio’s Vinyl Cafe.

Bad ideas, VCRs, crumbling factories, hairy dogs, questionable tattoos…all are fair game for Nova Scotian funeral director-turned-songwriter Terra Spencer. And the songs are good ones, judging from the stack of awards her three albums have received and from the caliber of collaborators like Ben Caplan, Dave Gunning, and David Francey, who welcomed Terra as a co-writer and performer on his JUNO-winning album The Breath Between. Terra has just released her fourth solo album, ‘Sunset’, named the Penguin Eggs Album of the Year alongside Julian Taylor’s ‘Pathways’. Its dozen songs feature guests from East to West - Matt Andersen, The Bombadils, Ryan Cook, Ian Sherwood, Pillow Fite, and Stephen Fearing. Although her butterscotch voice, deft fingerstyle guitar, and gospel-charged piano make her a formidable musician, it’s her onstage ease and crackling homespun wit that make each show feel like a knee-to-knee conversation in a room of 5 or 500. “The real deal.” - Ron Sexsmith