Roddy Campbell embodies the qualities most often associated with folks from the Scottish Highlands: brave, stubborn, and courageous. Fearless and fierce, sociable and friendly, he hails from Dingwall, home of his beloved Ross County Football Club and made Canada his permanent home close to 50 years ago. He’s played and worked in folk and roots […] The post Penguin Eggs founder Roddy Campbell talks about what’s next for him. first appeared on Roots Music Canada ..read more

Possessed of an elastic voice, formidable songwriting chops and a command of several genres, including country, soul and punk rock, Toronto’s Gillian Hay makes quite an impression with her debut EP, Magnolia Baby, the follow-up to just a couple of singles released since 2018. It opens with “Dancing Shoes,” an absolutely killer mixture of folk-pop […] The post EP review: Gillian Hay – Magnolia Baby first appeared on Roots Music Canada ..read more

The 19th annual Canadian Folk Music Awards (CFMAs) took place over the weekend of April 6-7 at the Majestic Theatre in St. John’s Newfoundland and Labrador, which I was very pleased to attend. We posted the winners at Roots Music Canada as soon as they became available; you can see the complete list here. Among […] The post Review: The Canadian Folk Music Awards – April 6-7 at the Majestic Theatre, St. John’s first appeared on Roots Music Canada ..read more

There are as many sources of inspiration for a song as there are songs themselves. It’s especially admirable when a songwriter can take a difficult time in their life and translate it into something we can all relate to and connect with. A case in point is “At the End of the Line’ from Cambridge, […] The post How Jay Linden’s new album grew out of his brother’s passing first appeared on Roots Music Canada ..read more

You know that old prairies joke about watching your dog run away for three days? Saskatchewan country/Americana singer-songwriter Tommy John Ehman certainly does. As a fifth generation grain farmer, his home province’s endless flat expanses shaped who he is, both as a person and an artist. It’s also territory he knows intimately through the countless kilometers […] The post The Chat Room: Tommy John Ehman first appeared on Roots Music Canada ..read more

When a child and a parent lose each other, the lines of communication are severed tragically and forever. Or are they? Indigenous folk-rocker Mike Bern volunteers his services as a spiritual middleman on his latest single, “New World,” an imagined declaration of anguish and devotion from a mother who was taken too soon. Mike’s raspy […] The post Mike Bern’s new single is inspired by his daughter’s connection with her deceased mom first appeared on Roots Music Canada ..read more

Montreal songwriter Brian Campbell digs deep to find inspiration from his topsy-turvy life as a poet and his practices as a Buddhist to spread joy and hope on his EP release, A Crystal Rim, out now. The EP features adaptations of poems by renowned poets such as Hafiz and Rumi as well as an original […] The post Brian Campbell sets Rumi and Hafiz to music on his debut EP first appeared on Roots Music Canada ..read more

A few months ago, a friend asked me if I had yet checked out a folk music club in Toronto, endearingly called Another Bloody Folk Club. At that point. I had not and was more than intrigued because what is on offer is in great part influenced by the style of the British folk revival […] The post Another Bloody Folk Club brings the British folk revival vibe to Toronto first appeared on Roots Music Canada ..read more

The Canadian Folk Music Awards weekend has just wrapped up in St. John’s, NL with news that next year’s 20th anniversary edition will take place back in Ottawa, the birthplace of the event, and its home base for the first decade of its existence. Richard Barry will have a full recap of the awards weekend […] The post Here are your 2024 Canadian Folk Music Award Winners (Full list) first appeared on Roots Music Canada ..read more

Get ready for a crash course in the miracles two hands can accomplish. Fingerstyle guitar legend Don Ross is embarking on a tour of Ontario and Quebec that will have jaws dropping at the sounds one man can make when there’s nothing but strings and frets to come between him and his vision. Twelve concerts […] The post Don Ross is touring Ontario (and Montreal) with Japanese up-and-comer Kent Nishimura first appeared on Roots Music Canada ..read more