It’s relatively quiet as I make my way into Lee’s Palace about a quarter after 8, though every seat in the club is already taken by those eager and wise enough to get in before me. A low murmur wafts through the empty space as friends catch up about their day and their upcoming holiday plans and I make my way over to glance at … Continue reading Ben Caplan Brought The Flood to Lee’s Palace And It Was… Biblical
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 … Continue reading Winterfolk XXIII Recap
Winterfolk Blues and Roots Festival returns for it’s 23rd year with another exciting and recklessly talented line-up of artists including Camie, Lynn Harrison, Michael Jerome Browne, Brian Blaine, Donné Roberts, Cathy Anne, Brian Morgan, Harpin’ Norm, Howard Gladstone, Laura Fernandez, Noah Zacharin, Sultans of String & so many more. This year the festival will be held across the rooms at The Tranzac Club from February … Continue reading Winterfolk XXIII Returns February 14th-16th 2025
After the difficult decision to cancel the annual Winterfolk festival, we were delighted to see that we will see the fest return after all with a special 1-day only Spring edition on June 8th, 2024. While this fest normally features a weekend packed full of great folk songwriters across a multitude of venues, this time it all goes down at the historic Redwood Theatre (1300 … Continue reading Winterfolk XXII
Warm. Inviting. Cozy. Those are just a couple of the feelings we get right off the top of Caleb Darger’s latest release. A clean picked acoustic guitar floats underneath his earnest vocals as he opens up about someone he might have hurt and he reflects on the experience while the wistful instrumentation that accompanies it provides a comforting safe space for us to give Darger … Continue reading Caleb Darger Has A Lot To Tell Us (and We’re Keen to Listen)
Like the steady rumbling of an unseen oncoming train, the latest by Toronto-based folk songwriter Danté Ravenhearst seems to emerge from the distance with a certain spine-tingling sensation that suggests there’s much more underneath the surface of this brooding folk-rock track. Its initial beatings are steady and purposeful as the drums provide an encouraging pulse to the bass that is casually bumping alongside before Ravenhearst … Continue reading Peel yourself off the Asphalt for Danté Ravenhearst
The latest by Alex Southey wouldn’t sound terribly out of place somewhere within The Arkells early repertoire; even vocally he almost takes on a style I can only describe as a sleepy and slightly slurring Max Kerman sitting on the floor of his McMaster dorm room after striking out while trying to pick-up at a college party he stayed much too late out at. Much … Continue reading I wanna tell you about Alex Southey’s God’s Green Earth
Okay, okay, okay everyone settle down and I’ll explain. In an effort to connect further to our Polish crooked forest tree roots, we’ve been working on our Polish and listening to more Polish bands… like this one! We came across Polish folk-punk/folkcore band Hańba! (which translates to Disgrace if we’re to believe Google Translate; We’re all learning something new today and I think that’s nice) … Continue reading Kryzys? Jaki Kryzys? Oh! To album polskiego zespołu Disgrace.
Your folk music fix today is brought to you by Wide Arches and their new album Farewell to All the Lovely Things that arrived on September 12th, 2023. Wide Arches is the debut singer-songwriter project of Toronto-based Juno-nominated multi-instrumentalist and composer Jacob Gorzhaltsan. The project began during the COVID-19 lockdown before Jacob realized the songs full potential utilizing the collaborative efforts of the Canadian musicians … Continue reading Your Folk Fix: Wide Arches – Farewell to All the Lovely Things
Hailing from Powers, Oregon, folk-duo Najas is made up of Myco Stassens (guitars, lead vocals) and his niece Meadow Stassens (banjos, vocals). After initially releasing a bare cut of their new single in early 2023, on July 7th a revamped and more polished version of Gift Horse was released across streaming services. We were pleased to be able to push a couple questions over to … Continue reading Spotlight On: Najas
Crooked Forest 