The 2020 season featured vocal harmony in a big way, but was also sadly truncated by the onset of the pandemic.
January 18, 2020
The Good Lovelies with special guests The Space Between
The Good Lovelies could very well be Canada’s sweethearts. This will be an intimate, stripped-down, trio show with a focus on harmony.
“Kerri Ough, Sue Passmore, and Caroline Brooks – immensely talented vocalists and songwriters in their own right; however, it’s their voices interwoven in harmony – powerful and pure, organic and inspiring – that elevates the Good Lovelies from impressive to peerless.”
The Good Lovelies won a Juno in 2010 for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year and are four-time Canadian Folk Music Award winners.
Special guests The Space Between will be opening. Hometown girl Sonja Seiler brings her duo project, The Space Between, to Almonte. Nestling in a rootsy pocket somewhere between Appalachia and Toronto, their sound is clean and pure.
February 29, 2020
Leap Day Double Bill with Campbell Woods & Kate Weekes
This will be a lively evening of singing and storytelling.
Campbell Woods is a troubadour with roots in the Ottawa Valley, currently based in Montreal. He’s a listener and a storyteller; his songs bring out the secret joys and ordinary tragedies of life with carefully crafted melodies and seemingly simple turns of phrase. He gets compared to Townes Van Zant and John Prine a lot; he also reminds us of early Fred Eaglesmith.
Kate Weekes seems to live stories on the way to telling them. She hitchhiked her way to the Yukon, collecting stories along the way. She has been a dog-musher in Norway, toured China with a swing band, and has paddled from Whitehorse to Dawson City. Weekes describes her latest album, Taken by Surprise , as the sonic scrapbook of a bold life lived to the fullest. “Wherever I am traveling comes out in my songs,” she says. For this evening, Weekes will be accompanied by multi-instrumentalist and producer James Stephens. Kate is bringing a trio or quartet including fiddler James Stephens.
March 28, 2020
Ian Sherwood with special guests Evangeline Gentle
Ian Sherwood is a singer-songwriter, storyteller, and multi-multi-instrumentalist. He is charming in person and funny as heck on stage between songs.
“A born story teller and a constant creator, his music dances the line between folk and pop. His live performances thrive on intimacy. Whether it’s a theatre show or large festival stage, his persona is irresistible and completely destroys fourth walls.”
Opening for Ian Sherwood will be Evangeline Gentle, a rising star from Peterborough. Evangeline brings a stunning voice and introspective songwriting to the stage. Their self-titled LP was recorded just down the road at Jim Bryson’s Fixed Hinge Studios.
April 25, 2020
Double Bill: A Leverage for Mountains and The Pairs
This will be an uplifting night of vocal harmony. Both bands feature trios of fabulous singers, and when they sing, you can hear how much they love to make music. They really will sing at the drop of a hat – we will try for a double encore.
Leverage for Mountains are based in of Val-des-Monts, Quebec. Nick Loyer, Jay Trepanier and Jay Flynn focus on crisp harmonies and subtle, catchy melodies. They have released a first EP, The Essence Project, and are working on a new album.
The Pairs are a female fronted folk pop group hailing from London, Ontario, powered by three classically trained vocalists, Renee and Noelle Coughlin, and Hillary Watson. Former punk rock drummer Steve Plimmer adds his own spicy beats. Their unique blend of harmony and rhythm will hug your eardrums and inspire you to dance. They have just released their first album, Noise.
Folkus Concert Series 