We’re still coming down from a great weekend at Tranzac Club for the 23rd annual Winterfolk Blues & Roots festival in Toronto. While we could’ve done without the epic snowstorm that barrelled through over the last couple days which hindered the ability for some of the performers from getting into the city, that didn’t stop the good vibes for those that were able to make it in.

I was on hand all three days doing sound for a couple of the rooms which is always a big treat for me; I love getting to play a part in this part of the events world not just because I get to watch so many incredible performances, but because I love being part of the entire experience for the musicians and attendees alike.

Overall everything went off without a hitch and while I didn’t get a chance to see absolutely everyone who was set to take the stage, I do want to highlight a couple artists in particular that really moved me or had me sitting off the edge of my seat with their very cool stories that accompanied their songwriting.

Short video clips were posted to the Crooked Forest Canada instagram page, but if you missed out on those I’ve pulled some videos from the artists’ YouTube pages. Be sure to subscribe and sing up to their mailing lists if you like what you hear.

Tannis Slimmon and Lewis Melville

Tannis and Lewis gave an incredible show on Friday night in the Southern Cross, if you get a chance to see them live, do not pass it up. Tannis’ vocals are truly mesmerizing and Lewis is an absolutely killer guitarist.

Sandy Harron

I can’t talk up Sandy Harron enough. She performs as a one woman band tackling acoustic guitar, harmonica, tambourine and kick drum all at once and has a wicked power to her voice. And the songwriting? Phenomenal. Check her out and then make sure you catch a show to really understand how powerful her performance is.

Howard Gladstone

It was my first time cartching Howard Gladstone and his band and they had the audiences complete attention. All total pro’s who are remarkably talented in each of their given instruments, or many instruments in the case of some!

D’Arcy Wickham

D’Arcy Wickham is an insanely talented finger-style guitar player who also might have the best sounding guitar I ever did hear. He teaches, so be sure to reach out if you want to learn to kill it like D’arcy does!

Brian Gladstone

Brian Gladstone himself was the final show I was working sound for at the fest and I couldn’t have ended it on a better note. Performing with Brian Morgan (fiddle, bass) and Tony Quarrington (guitar), he gave a fantastic set late on Sunday afternoon. These three in particular were working tirelessly all weekend long, but everytime I caught them performing they were a real treat. I particularly enjoyed Brian’s retelling of the experiences that inspired some of his songs and the only thing I can say is I wish we had more time to hear some more.

In addition to the Winterfolk festival that Brian organizes, he also hosts Dr. B’s Acoustic Medicine Show the first Saturday of every month at Free Times Cafe; this open mic is actually where I met all of these great songwrtiers for the first time and I can’t speak highly enough about how kind and welcoming they’ve been to me and what a joy it’s been to also be able to play with some of them now and be part of this folk community.

There’s obviously way more I could highlight but for the sake of length, I’m going to cap it here and just encourage you to go to Winterfolk next year so that you can take in all the talent in person yourself!

Special thanks to all the wonderful staff at Tranzac Club for taking such good care of us this weekend and all of my fellow volunteers at the fest who make this entire thing possible. Your efforts do not go unnoticed over here!

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Photo Gallery

Whenever I was able to I tried to sneak some photos at the fest. Here’s a little gallery of what went down.