Three time MusicNL award winner and two time ECMA nominee, Roddickton, Newfoundland and Labrador native Karla Pilgrim has spent the last 15 years winning over audiences from coast to coast. From performing for troops in The Middle East, May of 2007, to opening multiple sold out shows for country music superstar Tim McGraw in August 2015 at the Mile One Stadium in St. Johns, NL, Pilgrim’s experience as a performer knows no boundaries.
In June of 2009, after years of playing shows, writing and travelling, Pilgrim released her award winning solo album ‘I’ll Think of You’. Riding the success of her first record Pilgrim was selected to open for Alan Jackson when he rolled through town in August of 2010. She enlisted friends to join her for what would be three unforgettable nights. After rave reviews, they did the only thing that made sense – form a band.
Karla Pilgrim, Terri Lynn Eddy and Renée Batten joined forces in 2010 as country vocal trio The Secrets. In July 2012 they set out on a six week cross Canada tour which included stops at Saskatchewan’s Ness Creek Folk Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Stan Rogers International Folk Festival, World Pride Festival (Toronto), Harmony Bazaar Festival of Women and Song, Acoustic Maritime Music Festival and Cavendish Beach Music Festival.
Following the much anticipated June 8th (2014) release of their Nashville recorded debut album ‘Break Even’, produced by Peter Daniel Newman, they toured consistently and made multiple trips across Canada and into the US. Riding high on lots of success, their time together would soon come to and end. In 2019 Pilgrim co-produced Jackie Sullivan’s critically acclaimed and MusicNL nominated sophomore album ‘Find Your Light’.
In Jan of 2021 following the departure of Batten, The Secrets decided to close up shop. In fine fashion Pilgrim and Eddy wasted no time and formed a brand new duo and headed into the studio. LadyLike released their new single Princess Charming in May of 2021
Karla continues to perform as a solo act as well as with duo partner of 18 years, Jackie Sullivan. 2021 onward has been very rewarding for Pilgrim – hitting the road with Sullivan and recording new music with LadyLike as well as making her debut with the Spirit of Newfoundland. 2023 is looking to be off to a promising start with Karla and LadyLike releasing their third single on the heels off a performance with The Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra.
Katie Anne Colbourne is a singer-songwriter from Corner Brook, Newfoundland. At 18 years old, she performs covers and original music, singing and playing the guitar and piano. She can attribute her vocal tone and musical understanding to many years of studying and performing classical music, although her recent songwriting could be described as a blend of indie-folk.
Karen Carroll is a storyteller, writer, playwright and recitationist living in
Logy Bay. Born and raised and raised on the North Shore of Conception
Bay in Carbonear, NL, Karen writes stories of Newfoundland based on
stories of her family, her personal experiences and those shared by friends.
She also shares other stories of NL. Karen released her first E-album,
Molasses & Homemade Bread, in 2021, which is currently available on
Spotify, Apple and Amazon Music.
A frequent performer with St. John’s Storytelling at Storytelling Circles,
Festivals, and other events, Karen is a familiar face to many in the
storytelling community locally.
Karen has been a member of the St. John’s Storytelling Board since 2017.
She is privileged to be the current President of St. John’s Storytelling.
Since launching his career in early 2020, Justin Fancy, who hails from Conception Bay South, Newfoundland, has quickly become one to watch on the Canadian Country Music scene.
Masterfully combining classic country songwriting with his own take on today’s country sound, Justin’s music is both fresh and familiar.
After releasing two stand-alone singles in early 2020, Justin released his debut album, Sure Beats a Good Time, which became the catalyst for Justin winning Music Newfoundland’s 2020 Country Artist of the Year
and Rising Star of the Year. It was the first time in the history of the awards that the same artist has won both categories in the same year. Fresh off his most recent win at the 2022 MusicNL Awards for Fan’s Choice Entertainer of The Year, Justin was also crowned the 2022 ECMA’s Fan’s Choice Entertainer of the Year back in May.
In June 2021, Justin’s single “Makes Me Wanna” was chosen as Rogers One to Watch, propelling the single to #42 on the Billboard Canadian Radio charts. In addition, the single secured the #1 spot on Sirius XM Canada’s CBC Country chart and held the position for three consecutive weeks. His latest single “Better Than You” also just hit #1 for two consecutive weeks on the same chart.
In October 2021, Justin became the first-ever Canadian Country Artist to be invited by The Recording Academy to take part of their Press Play at Home concert series on Grammy.com (watch it here).
Fancy’s debut album, Sure Beats A Good Time, debuted in the No. 3 position on Apple’s iTunes Canadian Country music chart. The record would go on to rack up more than a half-million streams across major streaming platforms. In addition to his single “Makes Me Wanna” peaking at #42 on the Billboard radio charts and being played at over 70 radio stations across Canada.
Jing Xia is a professional guzheng artist and scholar based in Newfoundland, Canada. Born and
raised in Hunan, China, Xia started to study the guzheng at six years old and has degrees in
Music Performance (B.A.), Arts Management (M.A.), and Ethnomusicology (Ph.D.). As a
performer of all styles, her musical journey on the guzheng has encompassed Chinese traditional
and folk music to intercultural ensembles, improvisation, rock music, and beyond. Xia has been
active in the music scenes in North America and performed in diverse musical events. Her most
recent activities include world-premiering Jubilant Entanglements, a guzheng concerto by
Canadian composer Andrew Staniland with Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra in January
2023. Xia is the winner of the 2022 MusicNL award “Rising Star of the Year,” the 2022 Artist in
Residence at Lawnya Vawnya, and a nominee of two ECMA 2023 awards (Global Recording of
the Year; Roots/Traditional Recording of the Year).
“If I knew what I was doing, I’d be doing it every day,” says Ottawa-based singer, songwriter and producer Jeremy Fisher. “Most of the time I’m chasing ghosts and running into walls, so when I get my hands on a song that feels right and provokes emotion in others it can feel like the first time and that’s exciting.”
It’s been over 15 years, 6 studio albums, 4 JUNO nominations and countless tours since Fisher released his debut album Goodbye Blue Monday, a scrappy collection of acoustic folk pop produced by Hawksley Workman.
In 2007, Jeremy Fisher released Goodbye Blue Monday, including tracks such as the upbeat “Scar That Never Heals,” contemplative ballad “Fall For Anything,” and “Jolene” which features his penchant for fingerpicked guitar and hushed harmonies. The homemade stop-motion video for the song “Cigarette,” featuring an anthropomorphic title character, became a viral phenomenon in the early days of YouTube. The album was nominated for two JUNO awards in 2008 (Best New Artist, Adult Alternative Album of the Year), and gave Fisher the opportunity to tour extensively throughout his native Canada, Australia and the USA, where he appeared twice on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
Fisher’s most recent studio album, The Lemon Squeeze, garnered him a 2015 JUNO nomination in the Adult Alternative Album of the Year category, with two singles landing in the CBC radio 2 Top 20. He played sold-out shows and festivals all across Canada in support of the release.
In 2015, Jeremy built a small studio in his back yard called “The Sugar Shack” where he has produced albums for other artists (Great Big Sea’s Sean McCann, Adam Kagan) as well as in-episode songs and the theme for the Disney TV cartoon Billy Dilley’s Super-Duper Subterranean Summer.
He is a co-creator, songwriter and voice actor in the new CBC animated children’s series Jeremy and Jazzy, a show about how feelings become songs, songs become stories, and music, friendship, and collaboration create joy. Jeremy tours the music from the show as a duo, in concert as Jeremy and Jazzy Singalong.
A native of Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland, Jim Payne is a leading performer, collector and producer of Newfoundland traditional music. He is also one of the province’s most prolific songwriters, as well as being a singer of traditional songs, a storyteller, writer, actor, and instructor and caller of traditional Newfoundland set and square dances. He has directed, composed and performed music for some of the most popular theatre productions of the past three decades, as well as creating soundtracks for plays, documentaries and videos. He has performed extensively on radio and television in Canada and abroad, in feature films, and has toured throughout North America, Europe, Japan and Australia.
Folk Night presents Jenny Gear and Sandy Morris!
A Folk Night fave, we are pleased to present the fantastic Jenny Gear and the man himself, Sandy Morris. Two of St. John’s finest on the Folk Night stage, ya better come early if ya wants a seat!
