The Aurora Cultural Centre has become quite the cultural force — especially since Derek Andrews of Harbourfront and Luminato fame began working with the venue. It’s preparing to launch its new season on Sept. 25, but we already know what’s planned:  27 events in all. Here are the ones folk, roots and world music fans […] The post The Aurora Cultural Centre’s 2024-2025 season has lots to love for roots fans first appeared on Roots Music Canada ..read more

Talking about traditional country music, Americana and folk makes Bob Sumner a little prickly. His problem isn’t with the music itself, of course, as his sophomore solo album, Some Place to Rest Easy, clearly shows that the Canadian singer-songwriter appreciates the finer points of steel guitar, fiddle, and strong storytelling. Rather, Bob takes issue with […] The post Bob Sumner rewrites the country music rulebook on Some Place To Rest Easy first appeared on Roots Music Canada ..read more

Tim Readman bills Eighth & Eight as “A diverse collection of original, contemporary protest songs.” And hats off to the Vancouver-based singer, songwriter, producer, and music journalist. Topical songs, these days, are as rare as Republicans with spines. Having collaborated with a wide variety of diverse musicians in the past, the likes of Allison Russell, […] The post Album review: Tim Readman – Eighth and Eight first appeared on Roots Music Canada ..read more

Vancouver’s Rogue Folk Club kicks off the fall season with four shows, including a multiple Juno winner, some west-coast favourites, and favourite Indigenous artist from northern B.C. As always, the Rogue is offering the shows both in person and online, so those who can’t attend can stream them in the comfort of their own homes. […] The post 4 September shows to kick off the Rogue Folk Club’s fall season first appeared on Roots Music Canada ..read more

Tony Ivan O’Hara is a Vancouver-based bluesman, and his sound transports me back to the iconic Yale Hotel of the 1980s and 90s – the working-class bar built in 1889 that was Vancouver’s home of the blues in that era. This is vintage-sounding, Chicago-style bar-room blues in the best sense of the word. It’s got […] The post Album review: Tony Ivan O’Hara – Harder Times first appeared on Roots Music Canada ..read more

Singer-songwriter Erika Kulnys’ new single “Black Swan” is aching and melancholy, with introspective guitar and heartfelt vocals that go beyond typical grief or sadness. The song was written after an abusive relationship, one in which Erika suffered physical and emotional abuse. “It’s about reckoning with despair and finding the dawn after the long night,” she […] The post Erika Kulnys’ “Black Swan” was inspired by domestic violence in a queer relationship first appeared on Roots Music Canada ..read more

We may not have walked down Ben Arsenault’s road or suffered the same slings and arrows of outrageous fortune he has, but if you drop your guard and surrender to his words and inflection, you’ll know that when he moves up to the microphone, they’re not just his songs he’s singing. That feeling is embedded […] The post Ben Arsenault releases sophomore album, Make Way For This Heartache first appeared on Roots Music Canada ..read more

The summer festival season may be winding down, but folk club season is getting ready to kick off again, and The Rogue Folk Club is roaring back with some sparkling new talents and old favourites. All concerts occur in the beautiful historic Mel Lehan Hall at St. James Square in Vancouver and are streamed for […] The post The Rogue Folk club unveils its fall season of in-person and live-stream concerts first appeared on Roots Music Canada ..read more

As she marks the 25th-anniversary rerelease of an album she’s issued twice already — under two different titles — Indigenous Toronto blues-folkster Diem (D.M.) Lafortune has plenty of reasons to revisit the material again. The remastered edition of her Beauty and Hard Times represents a new lease on life for a record that was hailed […] The post D.M. Lafortune issues 25th anniversary edition of ‘Beauty and Hard Times’ first appeared on Roots Music Canada ..read more

As Bob Dylan figured out long ago, sooner or later we all need shelter from the storm. And that’s what we get on “Come On In,” the comforting new single from Manotick, ON roots-rocker James Leclaire. With his grizzled voice James reassures us that what lies within is a sanctuary where we can recharge our […] The post Roots rocker James Leclaire invites us to ‘Come On In’ first appeared on Roots Music Canada ..read more