Kicking off our new season!

"A national treasure." — That's how one veteran Canadian music critic described the striking original material and fresh acoustic sound of Steel Rail.

The trio's strong songwriting and blend of folk, bluegrass and country took the group to the top of the CBC Galaxie folk-roots charts in 2006. And River Song, the latest album by lead singer Tod Gorr, bass player Ellen Shizgal and guitarist Dave Clarke, has received rave reviews in such esteemed folk magazines as Dirty Linen, Sing Out! and Penguin Eggs.

The group has also been acclaimed for its lush harmonies, Dave's stellar picking -- he's been hailed as one of Canada's best acoustic guitarists -- and a sound that gets its sensibility from folk and its soul from bluegrass and old-style country.

Our originally scheduled artist, Mélissa Laveaux, is no longer able to perform this concert. We are tremendously grateful to Steve for filling in with such short notice!

Continuing in the singer-songwriter tradition of Bob Dylan, Kate Bush, Joe Strummer and Eric Idle – yes, all of them! – Steve Caston creates a genre-hopping meld of ear candy and rapid-fire lyrical flourishes with sweet tones and tongue-in-cheek delivery. Quick wit, nimble fingers and natural musicality coalesce in this raucous chocolate troubadour, with music that has been compared to that of the Barenaked Ladies, Leonard Cohen, U2, The Beatles, Sting and Monty Python

Steve has been writing and performing for over twenty years, appearing at numerous venues across Canada, including the Mariposa Folk Festival, Toronto's Canadian Music Week, the Brampton Folk Festival, and a Quonset in Saskatchewan.

As part of a year-long online music project, Steve is presenting a new original song approximately every two weeks on his website, www.stevecaston.ca.

Special Holiday Show

Heather Dale cheerfully discards the stereotypical limits for both folk singer-songwriters and Celtic balladeers. Tapping into the continuing evolution of Celtic peoples worldwide, this Canadian singer-songwriter offers a new type of Celtic music for the 21st century: a playful, passionate and fearless blend of tradition and innovation. "Her music is powerful stuff, reminiscent of Loreena McKennitt and Sarah McLachlan but with a depth and resonance rooted in its mythic sources." (Vancouver Sun)

Heather fuses traditional stories with a healthy mix of Celtic folk, blues, jazz and world music influences. Particularly known for her interpretations of ancient legends, she excels at finding modern themes within old -- and often overlooked -- material. Her songs celebrate honest love and the personal search for meaning, as well as delivering cunning commentary on such modern concerns as self-image, sexual tensions, and even civil disobedience. "Although steeped in Celtic culture, Dale's approach to the music is contemporary; there's nothing faint or wispy about this Celtic folk singer." (Kitchener-Waterloo Record)

Her innovative live shows with fellow multi-instrumentalist Ben Deschamps feature over a dozen folk instruments, from bodhran drum to mountain dulcimer, along with Heather's rich and evocative voice. The performances feature original songs from Heather's CDs, along with traditional folk and Celtic material from North America and the UK.

OCFF's 2007 "Songs from the Heart" (Historical) award-winner .

Jon Brooks is part unrepentant idealist, part fallen mystic, part secular preacher, part Gen X Cohen, Cave and Cash — he is a troubadour wholly devoted to the song as being a necessary means toward greater social justice. His inspiration is taken from those on the outside of the circle of approval. Brooks maintains only a stranger will save this world.

Brooks's 2005 release, No Mean City, is a 13-song novel set amid the homelessness of Toronto streets, and is aimed without caution at what Brooks considers "our contemporary moral fatigue and lack of inner life". His new CD, Ours and the Shepherds, is a collection of songs examining Canada's war experience.

Brooks was named "2006 Songwriter of the Year" by the international Green Man Review, and was recently nominated as "Best Songwriter" for the 2007 Canadian Folk Music Awards. He is also a published essayist, with his contribution to Barry Callaghan — Essays on His Works, which includes the likes of Margaret Atwood, William Kennedy, Patrick Lane, Joyce Carol Oates, Noah Richler, and others. Brooks will be releasing his next CD Moth Nor Rust in April.

Chase away the February blahs!

Some say he was born into it, some that he was born with it, while others claim he has earned it. With one foot planted firmly in folk music’s traditional roots and the other reaching into its dynamic future, Nathan Rogers isn’t entirely sure what ‘it’ is; singer, songwriter, guitarist, throat-chanter, percussionist, revivalist, or innovator. Whatever it may be, “Nathan has the ability to turn the folk world on its ears.”

Nathan’s performance style leaves the audiences wondering where the rest of the band is hiding. Singing, chanting, playing the guitar and stomping, he fills any stage with “magnificent powerfully clear lyrics and arrangements.” Described as ‘intelligent and witty’, Nathan will ‘move men and women to tears with his sound and conviction.”

In 2005 he released his debut album, True Stories. Produced by Rick Fenton (former AD of the Winnipeg Folk Festival), distributed by Festival and studded with such outstanding roots musicians as Nikki Mehta, JP Cormier, and Murray Pulver, True Stories was met with critical acclaim both at home and abroad. If multiple encores at every show are any indication, Canadian audiences coast-to-coast seem to like it too.

Nathan continues to earn his place in the Canadian folk and blues canon. As Fenton noted, “I have never seen any musician Nathan’s age who works so hard on his singing and guitar playing.” Nathan still finds the time to write and is hard at work on his second album tentatively scheduled for release later this year.

A FridayFolk favourite returns — with the family!

You've heard James Gordon at FridayFolk before. He's been around a while — 35 albums solo or with the ground-breaking roots trio Tamarack. Songwriter-in-residence for years with CBC Radio's Basic Black. Songs recorded by the Cowboy Junkies, Melanie Doane and many others. Songs featured on Canadian Idol and in film. He's toured relentlessly across North America, the British Isles, Japan, South-East Asia and Cuba, written symphonies, plays, and produced CD's for many folk acts.

His greatest achievement has been the co-production of two new musical forces to be reckoned with: Evan and Geordie Gordon. They haven't exactly been following in their father's footsteps. They are making their own in a big way. Evan has toured with two Juno-nominated indie-rock bands, The Constantines and Royal City, and his own group Evan Gordon and the Sad Clowns is making waves with an acclaimed new CD. Geordie is best known for his work with the Salt Lick Kids and the Barmitzvah Brothers, who toured Europe this year and are often cited as a 'next big thing'!

In a desperate attempt to maintain some 'street cred', James has enlisted the help of his two fine sons to tour and to record a collaborative CD. Evan produced, and plays bass, drums, guitar, ukelele, keyboards and horns. Geordie adds violin, cello, keyboards, mandolin, trombone, guitar, drums and bass. They've allowed their old man to play guitar, banjo, piano, trumpet, harmonica, mandola, accordion and tin whistle. The tour van is pretty full.

You'd like the James Gordon And Sons new sound, and they'd very much like to let you hear it in person.

2002 Juno nominee

A storyteller through song, Maria Dunn combines North American folk and country music with the influences of her Celtic heritage. Born in Scotland and raised in Ontario and Alberta, she writes songs inspired by historical and contemporary characters, capturing their struggles and triumphs in her lyrics. In 2002, Maria received a Juno nomination in the Roots/Traditional Solo category for her second recording, For a Song.

Her latest project, We Were Good People (2004), explores the stories of working people in Western Canada--tales of resilience and hope through experiences of immigration, internment, exploitation and The Depression. Producer: Shannon Johnson (2007 Juno winner for Bloom with Celtic Canadian group The McDades) with musical contributions by The McDades, Craig Korth (banjo, guitar, dobro), Byron Myhre (mandolin), Michael Jerome Browne (gourd banjo) and others.

For a Song (2001) was also produced by Shannon Johnson and features Maria's songs ranging from The Lingan Strike, a rousing tale from Cape Breton's labour history, to Take it Easy on Me, a gentle anthem for contemporary society. Maria's critically acclaimed debut release, From Where I Stand (1998), also finds a beautiful balance between the past and present. Its musical settings range from the Scottish inspired melody of Shoes of A Man, a song about her grandfather's life in Glasgow, to the upbeat bluegrass feel of Distant Whisper, a travelling love ballad.

With special guests Steve Briggs and Denis Keldie

Toronto-based Cris Cuddy is the leader of popular Canadian indie roots-rock-reggae band Max Mouse and the Gorillas, whose ranks have included such stellar musicians as Dennis Delorme (Prairie Oyster), Roly Platt (Ronnie Hawkins) and Hugh MacMillan (Spirit of the West).

His first solo project is Come Along Carmelita, which features multi-instrumentalist Fats Kaplin (ex-Tom Russell) andmembers of Mary Margaret O'Hara and Big Sugar. Cuddy's mentor, songwriting great Mickey Newbury, chose the album's title song for inclusion as a segue on his masterful Long Road Home.

His latest solo release is a double CD Keep the Change / Nowhere Town. Keep The Change was produced by guitarist Andrew Hardin (Tom Russell) and also features Fats Kaplin, legendary guitarist Albert Lee, and the great Gene Taylor (Fabulous Thunderbirds) on piano, along with Keith Glass and Joan Besen (Prairie Oyster) and Kevin Breit (Cassandra Wilson, Norah Jones). Nowhere Town was recorded in East Nashville with Fats Kaplin and Memphis George Bradfute (Paul Burch, Phil Lee, Webb Wilder, Jason Ringenburg).

In addition to his own critically-acclaimed projects, Cuddy has contributed songs to albums by fellow Canadians Prairie Oyster and Tracy Prescott-Brown. The folk collector's LP Jeremy Dormouse" featuring Cuddy has just been re-released by Void/Hallucination USA.

Cuddy has worked in Nashville with legendary producer Brian Ahern (Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash) and their recordings are being re-mastered for release next year.

Leader of western swing band the Bebop Cowboys, Steve Briggs is a busy freelance musician and arranger in Toronto. On guitar, mandolin and vocals, he has performed, arranged and recorded with both local and international artists, including the Brothers Cosmoline, Gregg Lawless, Bill Usher, Russell de Carle and Carroll Baker.

On piano, organ, accordion, mandolin and guitar, Denis Keldie has been active in a wide range of music over the years, recording and performing with such artists as Prairie Oyster, Natalie McMaster, Jesse Cook, Colin James, Jann Arden & Ashley McIsaac, to name but a few. His own ensemble, the Denis Keldie Trio, released a jazz organ CD in 2001 entitled Northern Hammond.