FOLK MUSIC ONTARIO

Alysha Brilla is a 3x Juno Award nominated artist, songwriter and music producer with a special interest in sound as a healing modality. 

Brilla is the first female artist in Canada to receive multiple Juno Award nominations for her self-produced albums. Brilla's work is driven by a deep belief in music's power to transform ourselves and our world. Brilla's unique global roots x folk fusion is inspired by growing up with parents from two different cultural and religious backgrounds; an Indo-Tanzanian father and a European-Settler Canadian mother.

The sound of Amai Kuda et Les Bois has been described by NOW Magazine as a “tantalizing Afro-soul combo of folk, roots, desert blues and African continental music.” AfroSoul Volume III: Re’ is their new EP, formerly known as Amai Kuda and Y Josephine. It is the powerful follow-up to their full length release, AfroSoul Volume II: MaZai, which was hailed as “earthy and rootsy and good for your ears” by CBC’s Errol Nazareth.

Amanda Rheaume’s rootsy, guitar-driven songs introduce crucial dimensions to the world of Heartland Rock. In a genre characterized by anthems of underdogs, assumptions and unfair advantages, Rheaume’s sound and story crucially and radically expand the boundaries, geographic and cultural, to make space for new perspectives on resistance and resilience. 

A Citizen of the Métis Nation, and an active and proud member of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, Rheaume’s music is indeed from the heart, and the land. 

Angelique Francis is a versatile and exceptionally gifted multi-instrumentalist, multi-genre singer-songwriter and composer, wowing audiences across the globe with electrifying performances, and powerful textured vocals. Angelique has shared the stage with well-known musicians such as Gary Clark, Joe Bonamassa, Eric Gales, Keb’ Mo’, Beth Hart, Tom Cochran, Burton Cummings, etc.

Oji-Cree, Sucker Clan of the Sandy Lake First Nation, Aysanabee currently lives in Toronto. Moving off reserve at the age of three, Aysanabee lived in several small towns across northern Manitoba and Ontario before settling in Kaministiquia outside of Thunder Bay with his mother Therese Aysanabee and two siblings. It was there he learned how to play guitar and developed skills in songwriting and composing original arrangements.

Bad Actors are a folk music duo based out of Sudbury, Ontario. As former members of Murder Murder, Barry Miles and Jonathan Danyliw have been mining the annals of Appalachian, Americana, and bluegrass traditions for over a decade. This is folk music in the truest sense of the term, music that borrows from a centuries long catalogue of resources in an effort to both honour the genre's history and also examine the unique experiences of contemporary life. Sometimes the best way to process the present is to filter it through an old lens. Debut album out autumn, 2022.

Toronto-based folk band, Basset, will take you from a beekeeper’s fields to the haunted basement of a second-hand store, in a style all their own. Basset bring a deep love of the natural world to their gorgeously meditative debut album, In The Clay, set to release in Fall 2022.

Callahan and the Woodpile are an Indie Folk group from Montreal, Quebec. Fresh off the heels of their new album "Burning Each Light", the band are excited to bring their thoughtful, catchy, and energetic folk sensibility to the FMO stage. For fans of City and Colour, Pinegrove, and Phoebe Bridgers.

Chris Ronald’s “keenly luxuriant voice and immaculate songcraft” (The Georgia Straight) have won him many accolades including a nomination for “Songwriter of the Year” at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. Ronald emigrated from England to Canada in 2002, and his music has been described as Canadian folk with British roots. In live performance, Ronald draws on his abilities as an accomplished singer, storyteller, and multi-instrumentalist to deliver a captivating show.

Colleen Brown tears at our hearts as she does her own, with versatile songs and a captivating voice. On her brand new album ‘Winging It’ out this fall, she offers humour and catharsis as she sifts through her past. Brown has opened for Jim Cuddy, Rufus Wainwright and Kathleen Edwards.

Back on stage, percussionist, composer, arranger and archivist Daniel Bellegarde presents Pastourelle, the second album in his trilogy of his own Haitian roots and Celtic and Brazilian musical influences. 

The recording is a tribute to the quadrille, the contredance, the waltz and even the Creole polka. Also tribute to the resistance to slavery, the artist seeks to revive a bit of history linked to his own Haitian-Canadian identity.

Juno nominated artist Dayna Manning exemplifies the very best that Canadian Folk music can be. Her cool, clear voice along with her insightful songs represent a history of Canadian musical art that goes back to the early ’60s and sounds just as vital today. A modern renaissance artist, Dayna self-produced the last three of the seven records she has released, including her most recent chamber/folk album, "Morning Light” which earned her a nominated for “Producer of the Year” at the 2021 Canadian Folk Music Awards. Her first book, “Many Moons: A Songwriter’s Memoir” includes a forward by Col. Chris Hadfield, and was listed as one of the best books of the season by Canadian Living Magazine upon its release by Blue Moon Publishers in 2019. 

Diogo Ramos is a singer-songwriter from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Ramos’ music is part of a long tradition of Brazilian folk singers. Having studied music, particularly guitar, since the age of 13 – Ramos has been working professionally for 25 years as a music producer, having released 20 albums between composition and production. 

The EP Raro Efeito is a mix of samba funk and electronic hip-hop, interweaving lyrics in Portuguese, French, Haitian Creole that encourages you to dance under the sign of beach vibes and modern urbanity. 

Dumai Dunai is a dub-punk Slavic folk band from Montreal formed in 2021. Rooted in the folk singing traditions of singer Natalia Telentso’s homeland of Ukraine and melodies inspired by Juno-nominated bandleader Eli Camilo’s extensive adventures in the lands of the Danube, the band powers these influences with deep dubbed-out grooves and the energy of punk rock.

Janice Jo Lee is a dynamic soul-folk musician and poet of Korean settler ancestry. Her new record Ancestor Song is epic folk–powerful and cathartic, with jazzy melodies, cascading harmonies and social justice anthems for the people. Lee is a hard femme queer radical and is known for being disarmingly hilarious, off-the-cuff and fearlessly honest.

John Muirhead is a Canadian troubadour, a campfire storyteller, and a big-hearted folk-rocker based in Toronto, ON. From fingerpicked folk confessionals to top-of-your-lungs singalongs, John’s award-winning songs have touched audiences worldwide, resulting in tours across Canada and Europe and a growing community of over 50,000 fans online.