Wild Son is a groove based folk rock quartet out of Kelowna, BC. This band was born as a two piece acoustic/percussion group 2 years ago in Winnipeg, MB. Since migrating west there have been two new members join. Wild Son is now composed of various musical personalities. This includes the funkiest drummer/bassist combination throwing down the freshest grooves, locked in with a high energy violinist/fiddler that you will never forget, with a catchy singer/songwriter identity. The moment these four musicians collaborated they knew they were meant to write and perform music together. From a mellow, sit down acoustic style to a high energy, dance til’ you drop feeling, Wild Son has an ear to please a crowd on any occasion.

Buckman Coe was recently voted second for Best Unsigned Band in the Georgia Straight Reader's Choice Contest. By TheMountain's Feet, the new album, is a collection of conscious roots rock that feels as good as the sun beating down on your face. His songs are progressive and contemporary, and convey an appreciation for life that's seldom expressed with such genuineness and depth.

"Pure melodic upbeat guitar-driven pop music played with style and passion."

Will Hunter hails from Toronto/Kingston Ontario.  He's has been writing music for a few years and felt the pull of the road so he started playing live shows. the diversified Will Huner plays guitar, cajon drum, harmonica.  His major influences were Bedouin Soundclash, Mumford and Sons, Andrew Bird, Arkells, Foster the People...to name a few.

CHRIS CULGIN is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Peterborough, Ontario. His influences are steeped and rolled in the roots country traditions that are prevalent in the musically rich environment that is Peterborough. The last few years have taken him on several cross Canada tours reaching from St. John's, Newfoundland to Dawson City, Yukon as a band leader in The Avenues, as well as a supporting player for various other Canadian projects. He has performed everywhere in Canada from festivals to bars to living rooms.

His first solo release will be this January 2013 with 'Good Night, Good Morning', a full length album recorded in Peterborough and Toronto by producer James Bunton (Ohbijou, Evening Hymns, Light Fires, etc). This is by far the most ambitious of Culgin's releases, featuring songs that soar with lavish string arrangements by Mika Posen (Timbre, Timbre) and lush horn sections by Shaun Brodie (Evening Hymns). The recording wanders around the terms country and roots music and has songs about the darker stuff of life; sorrow, heartbreak, regret and bitterness, without sounding apathetic.

 Culgin's backing band features Peterborough's finest with Sean Conway on electric guitar, Rob Foreman on upright bass, Matt Greco on drums with Chris playing acoustic guitar and mandolin. Their live show is high spirited and will get you moving, as well as moved.

Once upon a Washboard

A 3 Car Pile up of Old Crow Medicine Show, Steve Earle, and Drive By Truckers. Canada's only 7 piece Outlaw Bluegrass Band. 4 vocalists/songwriters together for a one of a kind live show. The band was recently featured for 3 shows at Canadian Music Week and received multiple best of the fest nods.
 
IN the fall of 2010 the band met one of Canada’s top producers, GGGarth Richardson. After hearing the band for the first time Gggarth decided that what the UNION was doing was so different from what he was used to that he signed on to produce The WASHBOARD UNION's album on the spot. Recorded at THE FARM studio in Gibson B.C. it would become Gggarth's first country album and the debut album for THE WASHBOARD UNION. Gggarth reached out to Bob Ezrin who produced the song Half Cree for the new album as well. With 4 distinct voices, The Washboard Union is a songwriting collective with one of the most captivating live shows on the road today.

Tanner James .., a singer, a runner, a traveller, a dreamer, a troubadeur and a guitar picker. Most of all - a storyteller.

Tanner James learned to write songs on a beach in Maryland when he was twenty-years-old. He was sleeping in a hammock in the woods on the edge of town trying to make a girl fall in love with him. Busking for change on a boardwalk on the beach will almost certainly put words in your mouth.  Riding horses and driving tractors in Southern Alberta was his childhood. He was a farm boy and he spent his days wandering with his dog, humming the songs he'd heard on the a.m. radio. His grandpa could spin a story out of anything and Tanner hung off of his every word. 

Tanner started an indie rock band.  They were together five years. They had an old red van and toured the country. Tanner fell in love with every town and city they ever played in and every highway line they passed.

His roots caught up to him as they often do as a person grows. He remembered all his time on the farm and all the stories his grandpa told. Folk and country music started to call his name.

Devon Coyote is a multi-instrumentalist gunslinger with an infectious sound. He’s a passionate player and the fun he is having spreads like wildfire into the hearts of every crowd. He is a quickly emerging Canadian artist, who is jamming with colleagues to create the best and most inspired music. It breeds a free flow style that adapts to diverse environments and promotes live connection with any given audience. It is a rollicking good time with a revolving door of talented musicians backing Devon Coyote, and live performances range from acoustic singer/ songwriter/stomp-box style to full band rock and roll. Think Dave Matthews meets Pearl Jam, John Mayer solos, Ben Harper lap-steel slide guitar, and the salty swagger of Gary Clark Jr.

Devon Coyote released his first album ‘Blue, Back and Grey’ in September of 2011. His much-anticipated follow-up album is due out this spring and he is excited to share some new killer tracks. His lively sound, loyal fans, and extensive touring have earned him stage rights to perform with Juno Award winners Alex Cuba, Dan Mangan, Amelia Curren, Said The Whale, The Sheepdogs and other industry favs such as Awolnation, Emerson Drive, Bif Naked, Yukon Blonde, Andrew Allen, Current Swell, The Steadies, Malibu Knights, Willhorse and The Wild.

Jordan Raycroft is a singer-songwriter and visual artist from Welland, Ontario who has a voice as big as he is tall, soothing and soulful all at once. Nominated for Male Vocalist and Folk Artist of the Year at the 2011 Niagara Music Awards, this indie/folk rocker is developing a strong presence around his story telling and foot stomping melodies. Recently touring Eastern Canada on his self-recorded demo, Jordan is establishing himself as a musician with a message; playing in living rooms, railroad cars, and venues across Canada, Jordan shares his passion for the abolition of modern-day slavery at any opportunity he gets. Whether he's singing about something personal as a love grown cold, a death in the family, or a world-scale issue such as the child sex trade, Jordan makes you feel like a close friend by the end of his set. With the anticipation of a Western Canada tour, Jordan is currently recording his first studio album.
 

John Antoniuk, aka "smokekiller", is a singer-songwriter from Saskatoon, SK. John's songwriting has been compared to Lou Reed, Van Morrison, Ryan Adams, and Wilco. "Out There" from the album "13" was selected as a National Finalist in the 2009 Radiostar Songwriting Competition. "13" was the first full length release for John with the smokekiller moniker and was mixed by Steven Drake (the Odds). John originally released two ep's under the Smokekiller name which he compiled and re-released nationally in 2006. It was the release of the Side A ep which quickly garnered John attention as a songwriter and saw him sharing the stage with Ron Sexsmith and Hayden. In 2011 John was awarded a 10k20 grant from Rawlco Radio, and recorded an album of new material produced by Leeroy Stagger. "Always With You" will be released September 2012 and a full North American tour will follow. John has also been very busy over the last 5 years managing and performing with the Jen Lane Band.

Cougars in America is the new alt-folk project of Canadian-turned-Bruxellois singer-songwriter, Scott Hamilton. Poet, multi-instrumentalist, and troubadour, he transforms his world into song. Taking his name from a cat that lives on only in popular myth, his lyrics express an image of humanity lost, tragic, comic and beautiful. Armed with his guitar, harmonicas, stylophone, loopstation and voice, he creates an atmosphere that is intimate, sincere, and overwhelming. His music has been compared to Bonnie Prince Billy or Sufjan Stevens, and serves in equal measures American Folk, Blues, and Indie Rock.

One part whiskey, one part roots, all heart. Vancouver-based roots-rock.

It all started to gel with Steve Berlin. With REM and The Tragically Hip in his past, it was no surprise when the veteran producer turned out to be a strikingly good fit for the band. His native feel for Americana with a nice fat groove—supplied in spades by bassist Mike Young— is right there in the southern rock redux of “Sweetwater” and “Let Her Go”, which recall countless roots-rockers from Ryan Adams to The Sadies.
 
But Berlin and band were both eager to colour outside the lines. The starlit “December Slumber” is like a widescreen sonic painting with pedal steel guitar, while “The Road” is a stadium built anthem that plows the middle ground between rural festivals and the urban hipster ground-zero of your choice. With a live show generally known to be an uproar of stomping, clapping, and blazing chops, The Matinée are in the rare position of being welcome at both.
 
Meanwhile, “Long Way Home” throws different time signatures into its chunky country-rock frame, “Who Stoned The Roses” allows guitarist/back up vocalist Geoff Petrie to highlight the bands attention to harmony, and throughout the album, drummer Pete Lemon helps take the listener into the outer reaches.

Ryan and Shannon started playing together after meeting at an open mic. Both were performing their own original material and it didn't take long to realize that they could compliment each others sound. They've since recorded an EP album which is avalable on iTunes.

Sometimes from bad luck or circumstance, amazing opportunities and transformations can arise. This is much the case for Maurice, a man, and a band, born and raised in Victoria BC Canada. From a major label signing, lofty expectations, and working closely with producer David Foster in Hollywood, to tumult and shattered dreams, out of a mishandled career path and naivety, Jean-Paul Maurice was able to pick up the pieces and take his music and art into his own hands.

Jean-Paul Maurice grew up as a MuchMusic kid, highly influenced by visions of rock stars and melodic love songs. A turkey baster was his first pretend microphone. Family photographs show him holding a plastic guitar while wearing a pink bandana and his sister's heart shaped sunglasses, professing at the age of 2 he wanted to be a rock star when he grew up.

The fall of 2011, saw Maurice release his second full length album, Songs In Sea. It showcases the monumental transformation of a sound. The album reflects and surmises the metaphoric irony which stands as a symbol for these recordings. The fluidity of the ocean and how it is always changing - the fluidity of music and how it is always evolving, the different emotions and stirring of life that emanates from the sea.

This album was born from very different circumstances then its David Foster-steered predecessor. Although the music still possesses the innate pop sensibilities that are Maurice's calling card, It is entirely independently made and self produced, having been recorded in a cabin, a bedroom and a basement, a huge step away from high end studios of Hollywood, the result of which was Maurice's debut release Young People with Faces, produced by Matt Hyde and David Foster, released in the spring of 2010.

This summer, Maurice was chosen to compete in Music BC's Peak Performance as one of the top 20 finalists vying for the $100,500 grand prize. Embarking upon another new chapter... this is Maurice.

2012 Canadian Folk Music Award Nominees Sweet Alibi have been captivating audiences with their alluring blend of soulful melody and folk/roots tradition. Playful sense of lyricism set to powerful vocal harmony set the stage for a performance which is upfront and personal and instinctively compelling.

Drawing influence from a vast array of musical references, Sweet Alibi apply a quirky pop sensibility to an eclectic set. Songs range in mood from hauntingly provocative ballads to left of centre takes on everything from Country and Soul to Old Time Jazz. Backing their vocals with electric guitars, banjos, hand percussion, ukuleles, upright bass, and whatever else they can get their hands on,  Sweet Alibi compliment a diverse set with an equally eclectic instrumentation.

Comprised of three core members (Jessica Rae Ayre, Amber Nielsen, and Michelle Anderson), and backed by an array of Winnipeg’s finest musicians, the group performs steadily both as a stripped down trio and with a fully fleshed out rhythm section. The band has  performed everywhere from intimate coffee houses and mainstay clubs to outdoor concert series and festivals. Having finished their highly anticipated debut album with Juno award winner Mitch Dorge, along with the release of their newest single ” Get It Right “ produced by Adam Young, Sweet Alibi are currently touring across Canada. Keep your ears open for when Sweet Alibi is nearest to you.

Born in Victoria, British Columbia and raised on a little island on the very west coast of Canada, Stagger spent most of his youth with his grandparents who exposed him to the world of country music. Developing his musical drive early on, Stagger formed his first punk rock band at age 18. Songwriting came shortly after with themes revolving around his childhood, traveling, relationships, substance abuse and the tribulations of life. Having collaborated with one of his icons, Danny Michel, Stagger found commercial success in the song, “Just in Case”, which was featured twice on the television hit, Grey’s Anatomy.
 
The life of being on the road and touring at a fast pace did not wear easily on Stagger, who at age 26, realized he had an alcohol problem that was affecting his ability to perform with the commitment and heart his songs demanded. Clean and sober since, Stagger has a strong desire to inspire young musicians that they do not have to succumb to the pitfalls of substance abuse, which can be prevalent in a musician’s touring lifestyle.

We're a three piece punk rock band hailing from Medicine Hat, Alberta. Consisting of Wade Hodgman on guitar and vocals, Kaleb Motz on bass guitar, and Kyle Hodgman on drums and BGV, our music is directed to our audience as well as ourselves. Lyrically, most of our songs discuss issues that everyday North Americans can relate to. Corrupt politicians, the distortion of the media, and the pressure to conform caused by marketing are issues we all deal with everyday. But we want a change. With our pointed lyrics and break-neck songs, we can start something. Join us.

There is a purveying attitude modern nostalgia and cautious optimism that weave its way through ‘Spider Milk’, the latest record by Singer-songwriter, Daniel Sky.  Blending elements of folk, rock, pop, punk, swing and blues Daniel Sky along with producer Derek Downham (The Beauties, Andy Kim, Serena Ryder) concoct a musical cocktail that is potently complex yet completely digestible.
 
Thrust into the limelight of Toronto’s bustling music scene with the release of his 2008 debut On the Round, produced By David Baxter (Justin Rutledge, Treasa Levasseur) Daniel Sky has been a regular feature in Toronto venues such as The Dakota Tavern, The Cameron House, Not My Dog, The Drake Hotel, The Local, has played at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern and Lee’s Palace, and had two national tours under his belt.
 
A native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Sky’s love of Canadian landscapes from the prairies to the mountains, to the coast comes alive in his lyrical images and emotional melodies that capture the austere majesty and timeless beauty of both inner and outer landscapes.

WillHorse - Southern Rock from the North

WillHorse is a high energy, riff driven, groove rock band with captivating melodies and thrilling harmonies. The band consists of Jeremy Borschneck (vocals, guitar), Branden Winterholt (guitar, vocals), Nick Petrowich (drums, vocals) and Todd Menzies (bass). Their sensual blues-rock sound is mashed up of influences such as The Rolling Stones, The Black Crowes and Steve Earl. This small town BC band has proven to be an exciting live act and is preparing to release their first EP. WillHorse brings old-fashioned southern rock to its modern shores.

Red Moon Road

Musical soulmates can be hard to find — so when you do find them, you hold on to them. Just ask the members of Red Moon Road.  The acoustic folk/roots trio came together in earnest in 2009 when multi-instrumentalist Daniel Jordan (aka Jonny Moonbeam, a University of Manitoba Jazz Orchestra alum/hired gun) began jamming with bilingual banjo/mandolin player Daniel Peloquin-Hopfner (one half of bluegrass outfit Fire & Smoke). Something clicked — but something was also missing.

"We played together for a year and a half and then, this past summer, we had Sheena (Rattai) join us and it was the lineup we’d been waiting for," Jordan explains with his bandmates over coffee.  Now, the trio is gearing up for the release of its self-titled debut at the West End Cultural Centre on Saturday night. A 10-song collection of down-home, kitchen-party anthems and heartstring-tugging ballads anchored by Rattai’s soulful pipes, Red Moon Road serves as the perfect introduction to a band for which songwriting is king.