Native de Terre-Neuve, Mary Barry est une auteure-compositrice-interprète bilingue qui a remporté plusieurs prix. Avec plus de trente ans d’expérience de scène, elle a chanté dans plusieurs salles de spectacles et festivals à travers le Canada et à l’étranger.De Victoria à Paris en passant par Magnolia Springs en Alabama et l’Allemagne, elle a emballé les auditoires avec son mélange unique de jazz, folk et « chanson ».Son esprit vif, son humour et son cœur grand ouvert savent toujours tourner les petits moments imprévus en moments mémorables.Mary Barry sera en spectacle le 12, 13 juillet avec Andrew Dale à la basse et Charlie Barfoot à la guitare.
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A native of St. John’s, Mary Barry is a multiple award-winning singer, composer and teacher. She is a multilingual artist with a diverse educational and work history that comprises more than three decades of performing and teaching workshops in music, theatre and storytelling festivals, conferences, international symposia and as a visiting artist in the schools. From Victoria to Paris via Magnolia Springs, Alabama, she has been thrilling audiences with her unique blend of jazz, folk, and ‘chanson’, along with endearing stories, personal anecdotes and spontaneous moments that lift audiences with humour and a genuine sense of open heartedness.In September, 2017 Mary Barry was inducted into the Wreckhouse Jazz & Blues Hall of Fame. In addition to being a multiple Music Music NL and NL Arts & Letters award winner, she took first prize in the CBC Atlantic Song Contest and is a three-time ECMA Nominee.
Mary Barry will be performing on July 12 & 13 with Andrew Dale on bass and Charlie Barfoot on guitar.
Maryna Krut is the world’s first soul bandurist artist, which combines incredible vocals with the traditional Ukrainian folk instrument, the bandura.
Maryna was a finalist in the national selection for Eurovision in 2020 and 2023, and also a finalist in TV shows such as The Voice and X-Factor. She has performed at a variety of events, from official receptions such as the Edinburgh International Culture Summit, to bomb shelters to uplift Ukrainian citizens, hospitals, and frontline cities to support Ukrainian soldiers by playing traditional Ukrainian folk songs.
On their fifth studio album, From Nowhere, Mo Kenney embraces the textures of ambiguity and the rich blur of being, failing, and becoming. As they shift through lush arrangements that touch on dreamy folk, sparse alt-country, and warm, hazed-out lo-fi pop, everything is up for interpretation and nothing is fixed. In their lyrics, Kenney opts instead to defy definition, making room for non-linear and fragmentary sentiments that challenge their own feelings about personal growth, acknowledge the slippery and shadowy nature of memory, and build love songs that conjure the bonds of friendship just as much as they hint at romance.
They evade easiness right from the start in the glowing chorus of opening track “Bad Times,” admitting, over sparse piano and despite TK years of sobriety: “I know it ain’t right, but I miss the bad times sometimes.”
“I sort of thought that getting sober was going to fix all my problems with relationships, and then I would just be fine,” Kenney laughs. “Drinking was causing all the issues I was having, but it was just the tip of the iceberg; quitting made all my problems more clear but didn’t resolve any of them.”
Kenney’s subsequent investigations into the root causes of their interpersonal dramas obscured nearly as much as they revealed, encouraging acceptance but also emphasizing the frequently frustrating uncertainty and temporality of things. From Nowhere occupies that liminal and trepidatious time when one is compelled to move but unsure where they might be headed. The driving “Evening Dream” has all the hallmarks of a post-summer come-down as Kenney reminisces about the nebulous feelings of flings: “Bathing in the pale green light, no thought of what goes on outside,” they sing. “No thought of what it all might mean, it doesn’t have to meet a thing.” On the darker sounding “Signs of Life,” they address an unbearable and obscure fissure; with the title track, they recall a loss of innocence in idyllic rural Nova Scotia, mixing sun-kissed organ with cryptic, unsettling choruses.
With the stark and devastating pairing of “Honey Come Home” and “Self Doubt,” Kenney makes it clear that there’s no glory or revelation in sitting with your feelings. While the former distills the loneliness and alienation of a partner’s absence, the latter finds Kenney struggling with the crippling second-guessing that can accompany certain acute kinds of clarity as they barely raise their voice above a whisper in what sounds like the saddest honky-tonk on Earth. Through the hazy atmospheres of “That’s Not Me,” they conjure a slow motion crawl through a dim club and question their identity. And the similarly unhurried “With You” delivers a crushing post-mortem about a relationship that, despite its sweetness, just didn’t work.
From Nowhere’s intimate subject matter was handled with deft hands by some of Keney’s nearest and dearest collaborators—Joel Plaskett, Rose Cousins, Victoria Cameron, Siobhan Martin, and Jordan Murphy—and recorded, mixed, and engineered by Thomas Stajcer at Plaskett’s Fang Studios in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
In contrast to its heavy predecessors, the airy “Love You Better” offers a featherweight finale to From Nowhere; in earthy reverie, Kenney acknowledges their past failures and that they’re not always going to get it right, but resolves to do the only thing they can: keep trying. “Staring at the ceiling, trying to find the meaning,” they sing over eddying acoustic guitar. “Put it all together; I will love you better.”
Liz Fagan is a multilingual singer/songwriter from St John’s. Their find song ideas in bits of conversations, from the experiences of love and pain, and the complex world of communication. Liz Fagan Band’s debut bilingual EP “Leaning In/Se pencher vers” was released March 22nd.
Monica Walsh is an actor, writer, producer and singer. She has appeared in over 20 films, 15 theatre productions, and teaches theatre regularly. Monica is artistic director of Kanutu Theatre, which she founded in 2011 to produce an annual festival of Anton Chekhov’s comedies (2011-2014) She holds a BA in English Drama/ Russian Literature from Memorial University, as well as a diploma in Performance and Communications Media. In 2015, Monica founded “Scene, and Blurred” an open mic performance series for writers, actors and performance artists. These open mics have taken her on the road to Ontario, Alberta and Quebec. Monica has been published in the Newfoundland Quarterly and The Newfoundland Herald, and in 2017 she wrote and starred in the film Lamenting Pluto, soon to be screened at select film festivals.
Len O’Neill, a singer-songwriter from St. John’s, Newfoundland, began his musical journey in the local pub and bar scene, playing guitar and bass in rock bands and leading the award winning indie rock band Green & Gold through two albums and several east coast tours. Influenced by a diverse range of artists spanning classic rock legends to poetic songwriters, Len crafts introspective, lyric-driven compositions exploring themes of ambition, sorrow, and personal growth.
When Matt Andersen steps on stage, he brings a lifetime of music to every note he plays. His latest album, The Hammer & The Rose, is a veritable garden of heart; a (mostly) delicate collection of tender folk and stirring soul numbers that find the New Brunswick-born songwriter thoughtfully tending to the most important things in life. Andersen’s stage presence is informed by decades of cutting his teeth in dusty clubs, dim-lit bars, and grand theatres all over the world, delivering moving performances that run the gamut from intimate to wall-shaking. In the studio, he’s always brought the same attention to detail and commitment to craft as he has to his live show, and the result – a multi-faceted and poignant body of work – has led him to amass over 33 million streams on Spotify and 30 million views on YouTube.
In addition to headlining major festivals, clubs and theatres throughout North America, Europe, and Australia, he has shared the stage and toured with Marcus King, Beth Hart, Marty Stuart, Greg Allman, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Randy Bachman, Serena Ryder, Tab Benoit, and more.
Andersen nabbed the 2013 and 2016 European Blues Awards for Best Solo/Acoustic Act, was the first ever Canadian to take home top honours in the solo category at the 2010 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, won the CIMA Road Gold award in 2015, and has won multiple Maple Blues Awards. Matt Andersen & The Big Bottle of Joy was nominated for a Juno Award in 2024.
A French Canadian singer/songwriter, Louise has just released her debut album. She moved to Newfoundland 14 years ago with the goal to explore the music scene. She has been writing songs and working as an actor for 35 years across the country. She embraced the music scene of Corner Brook, connecting to local musicians and bringing her francophone flavour and style to the stage in cabarets and tributes which have led to a project that has been co-produced by artists from two provinces, Newfoundland and Quebec the Ginger Beard Studio. After being awarded the 2018 & 2020 Arts and Letters award for Senior Original Composition for her original composition Petit Coeur & Il S’en Va, supported by pianist Louis McDonald, she connected with musician and composer Lucie Cauchon of Montreal. They have been collaborating creatively ever since! Lucie and Phil Churchill have co-produced Louise’s debut album “Petit Coeur”. Her album reflects the romantic and story telling musical styling of “la Chanson Francaise”.
Les chansons de Louise evoquent !’atmosphère romantique et sensuelle de la “Chanson Française”, avec les influences éphémères et mélancoliques d’Edith Piaf et de Serge Reggiani. Les arrangements musicaux superposés donnent aux chansons une touche plus contemporaine, avec des sons de guitare ambiante comme toile de fond à des progressions de piano intimes. Avec une formation en théâtre et en art clownesque, elle joue avec intention et écrit avec le coeur, partageant des histoires personnelles avec une voix poétique qui tire sur les rêves, révélant un sens profond de l’empathie pour un monde qui a besoin de plus d’amour et d’attention.
Lindsay Ferguson, a Canadian now living in Switzerland, lived in St. John’s for a few years, many moons ago! She bought her first guitar while traipsing up and down those hilly and colourful streets and has been traveling with her music for over fifteen years, across Canada and Europe. Self taught on guitar, she uses it as rhythmic accompaniment to the profound melodies she hears while in song-writing mode. Lindsay has been singing and honing her voice from a very young age, so her musical style is a varied mix of folk, roots and pop. Gaining strength and wisdom from her audiences across the world has led Lindsay to have quite a diverse and soulful sound. She writes about love and joy, loss and sorrow with a touch of “tongue in cheek.” Lindsay has been compared to many great artists over the years, including Joni Mitchell, Cheryl Crow, Brandi Carlisle, Adele, Tracy Chapman and more. The best part of being a musician is in the song-writing which brings a significant connection between the audience and herself. Lindsay may have the crowd laughing and crying in the same five minutes. Her musicianship is a force to be reckoned with, her songwriting is an elegant mix of passion and sincerity and her dynamic voice will touch the depths of your soul sending shivers down your spine. Lindsay will be joined on stage by local musical legends, Don Ellis, Phil Winters and Xander Pierson. This will be a set not to be missed.
