WITH VIOLET IS AN EAST COAST ALT/POP BAND FROM ST.JOHN’S NEWFOUNDLAND, CANADA. REFORMED IN (2021)

East Coast alt-pop band, WITH VIOLET, is an eclectic musical experience. Based out of St.John’s Newfoundland, this proudly Canadian group has wowed audiences since their formation in 2018. In the years since, WITH VIOLET, has become a popular growing name around Newfoundland. Receiving 3 MusicNL nominations, performances at festivals [IceBerg Alley, Campilfy, and Best Kind Barbecue], and playtime on multiple radio stations.

Together, Sarah Newell [Vocals & Saxophone], Pete [Vocals & Keyboards], Matthew Cadigan [Guitar], Spencer FitzGerald [Bass], and Hunter Madden [Drums] create a radio pop sound you can lose yourself in musically. Their catchy hooks, cohesive musicality, nuanced songwriting, and sheer energy has been a driving factor of the groups success, helping them to receive nominations for CBC’s Searchlight in 2022.

In 2021 the band released their debut album, Long Story Short, a high energy pop/rock record, funded partly by the generosity of MusicNL. The album has seen great success, with over 3000 streams on spotify, two MusicNL nominations, and can be heard at the ECHL games in the Mary Browns Centre. Their Holiday Special, featuring two brand new Christmas singles, is a new winter tradition for many. Being played for the holidays on radio stations across Newfoundland

(Photo by Evan Foote)

The Irish Descendants are a folk group from St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. All the members, born of Irish emigrants, were workers in the Newfoundland fishing industry.

The Irish Descendants played a pivotal role in introducing traditional Newfoundland music to a broader Canadian audience during the early 1990s, sharing the stage with other iconic bands like Great Big Sea. Their authentic renditions of timeless tunes from the East Coast, blended with an Irish twist, have made them a cherished part of Canada’s folk music scene. Their popularity soared to such heights that they were chosen as the official band for Newfoundland and Labrador’s 500th-anniversary celebrations, where they had the honour of performing for Her Majesty the Queen. This landmark event marked a turning point for the band.

The Old Contemporaries are a folk/bluegrass band who have been playing consistently in St Johns for over 5 years. Andrew, Maria, Josh, Yeaton and Lucas take all of their musical influences and fuse them into what is now their own unique offering in the tradition of roots music.

Tombolo Multicultural Festival Newfoundland and Labrador Inc. (TMFNL) is a non-profit organization committed to promoting cultural diversity, intercultural understanding, anti-racism, inclusion, music, arts and culture, immigrants integration, business development and tourism in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Zay Nova is a new Canadian country singer-songwriter and radio producer. He was born in a small village called Sempan on Bangka Island, Indonesia. As with many kids, one of his teachers asked, “When you grew up, what do you want to be?” He answered the question by saying, “I want to be a songwriter!” As a 7-year-old he knew nothing about songwriting. Zay Nova was just a poor country boy who didn’t know music except for the lullaby his mother sang before he went to bed. He never saw musical instruments and did not know music at all because there was neither radio and nor TV at home where he grew up.

Electricity didn’t come to his village until 1990. However, Zay Nova left his hometown at the tender age of 17 and went to Madura Island in Java to study at an Islamic Boarding School. He was introduced to country music while Shania Twain was very popular in country music around the world. He started to learn and memorize some lyrics from the cover of her album and taught himself more English by listening to western country music.

After finishing school in 2002, Zay moved again to the Special Region of Yogyakarta close to central Java to study Arabic Literature. Shortly thereafter, he moved to the Communication and Broadcast faculty at the State Islamic University, Sunan Kalijaga, in Yogyakarta. In that city, Zay discovered western country music which was broadcast by a local Christian radio station. He fell in love right away with the music and started to teach himself to be a radio announcer and scriptwriter. When he felt confident enough, he applied for a job at the same radio station that played western country music. He was successful in his job application. From the very first day he was hired, he improved his English by bringing a dictionary to the station and practicing how to pronounce each word from many country songs on the daily radio playlist. In 2005, while attending university, he kept working at the radio station as a means to pay his university tuition. At the same time, he started a band and wrote many songs.

After the band broke up in 2010, he played solo at some local events and then moved to Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, in 2014. Zay started a new career in TV and as a radio producer, audio commercial production, and video producer. He also worked as a host for a Jakarta TV program. He decided to move to Canada in 2017 to start a new life and adventure. He chose St. John’s, Newfoundland, as his home. To this day, St. John’s is where his heart is. 

From the rocky shores of Newfoundland, Canada The Navigator’s formed in 2000 based on a unique combination of baritone voices and instrumentalists into a folk band that is as much known for its own original contemporary trad as it is for the traditional music. With four full studio albums, Bay Bulls Cove (2023); Soldiers and Sailors (2011); Sea Miner (2009), Dance and Sing (2001), and a number of other recording contributions, the group has toured all of Canada, much of the US and Europe. 

As Music NL’s  Award for Folk/Roots Group of the Year (2002), the band has created a name and following across the province that just gets stronger every year.  As part of the successful “Celtic Christmas” Yhe Navigators has enjoyed 13 years of touring NL and even put together a popular CD of the same name along with The Irish Descendant’s (2010).

The band’s first CD Dance and Sing was the longest running #1 selling CD at Fred’s Record’s in St. John’s, holding the spot for almost a full decade and is still the #4 best selling CD of all time!  In 2021, The Navigator’s were invited to record a song from the Broadway musical Come From Away by its producers. Their version of Welcome to the Rock became an instant favourite and was released early as a part of Apple TVs movie version of the musical.

The Mummers and the Paupers is a 10 member mummers troupe with a repertoire of music, skits, stories and recitations, as well some piano moving skills when needed. Somewhat unruly but generally well mannered, they have graced nearly every Wassail so far and..well…it wouldn’t be Christmas if they weren’t allowed in.

Tyler is a singer/songwriter and guitarist from Clarenville NL. He plays a wide variety of tunes. From country/folk, to traditional Irish Newfoundland music, to classic rock. His original tunes are built around storytelling and the arrangements built around the arc of each story. His goal is to create music that is authentic to myself, resonates and stirs up memories, emotions and nostalgia through all of his listeners.