Raised in Bay de Verde, NL and influenced by his father Ray Walsh and the
singing and playing of his grandparents and extended family, Greg Walsh
became interested in music as a teenager and immediately took to learning
traditional songs and playing traditional instruments including fiddle, mandolin,
guitar, tenor banjo, piano accordion, bozouki, etc.
After moving to St. John’s in 1993 to attend university, he began frequenting
traditional music sessions and over the years went on to play, tour and record
with many groups including The Navigators, Irish Descendants, Foc’sle, Middle
Tickle and has appeared on hundreds of other musical projects, shows,
radio/television specials and events.
As a multi-instrumentalist and a singer of traditional songs, he has performed and
taught workshops around Newfoundland and Labrador, across Canada and
throughout Ireland with a variety of groups and as a solo performer.
A founding member of the Walsh Family Band, Greg is also a permanent
member of the Masterless Men (since 2007), the Corner Boys (since 2024) and
is a regular on the St. John’s traditional music session scene. He still records and
performs with a variety of groups and artists and currently resides in St. John’s,
NL where he works as Director of the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and
Labrador.

Featuring: Jenny Gear, Sandy Morris, Darren Browne & Erin Best

Gerry Strong is from Little Bay Islands, Notre Dame Bay and grew up between there and nearby Little Bay. His parents moved to Ireland just before he finished high school, which marked the beginning of his immersion in traditional music. Around the same time as his mother bought him a recorder, his older sister bought an album by what was then a brand new Irish traditional music group called Planxty. Along with the Bothy Band, Planxty would become a major influence on Gerry’s interest in music, and in no time at all he switched from the recorder to the tin whistle.

While working in Stephenville Crossing in the early 1970’s, Gerry became more involved in the local music scene through the influence of Stephenville physician, Dr. Kevin McCann, who introduced Gerry to several traditional west coast musicians such as Emile Benoit and Ed Doucette, among others. Around the same time, local bands Red Island and Figgy Duff were experimenting with and developing new and exciting ways of playing local music, and Gerry became part of the renewal of interest in the folk and traditional music of Newfoundland and Labrador.

In the 1970s Gerry became a founding member of the award-winning group Tickle Harbour. Gerry travelled throughout Canada and the US while playing with Tickle Harbour, and through Ireland, England and Australia with A Crowd of Bold Sharemen. Retirement from his job as an X-ray technologist at the Carbonear General Hospital has left him more time to pursue his love of music, sitting in on as many sessions as he can and performing solo or with What Odds, Cotillion and A Crowd of Bold Sharemen.

In November of 2017 Gerry was awarded the Slaight Music Unsung Hero award by the Canadian Folk Music Association for his contributions to the Canadian folk music scene.

Sherry Ryan, Andrea Monro, and Maria Cherwick bring their beautiful harmonies, instrumentation and songwriting together combined with the music of bluegrass legends Dolly Parton, Bill Monroe and Gillian Welch to name a few. Sherry’s songwriting has been winning hearts across the country and her song ‘Stop The Trains’ was voted best song in the province by The 2018 People’s Choice Awards. She was also awarded 2018 Music NL Female Artist of the Year. Andrea Monro is a singer/songwriter and multi instrumentalist who has performed in Canada and the UK. Her performance highlights include Juno, ECMA and MusicNL showcases, performances for the CBC and The St. John’s Folk Festival. Maria Cherwick is a highly trained violinist and musician versed in multiple styles and traditions. Music has taken her around the world as a performer of both classical and folk music. Maria was awarded 2018 Music NL Side Musician of the Year.

Ils sont peut-être croches, durs de la tête et légèrement rouillés, mais ils se tiennent debout devant l’immobilisme, le conformisme sans questionnement, la petite politique, la démocratie de façade, l’égo mal placé et le pessimisme face au rayonnement des cultures minoritaires.

Comment s’y prennent-ils ? À coup de Folk, de Musique Trad Endiablée, de Rock, et même d’un peu de Punk… En français en plus…

Avec Laura Penney (guitare rythmique), Benjamin James (guitare solo), Jenna Maloney (basse, violon, mélodica) et Etienne Beaulieu (batterie), venez les voir faire des flammèches avec le marteau et faire un pied de nez au pied de biche… voici Fred et les Clous Tordus…

Drawing from their backgrounds in classical, jazz and traditional Quebecois music, Élisabeth Moquin, Thierry Clouette and Élisabeth Giroux have come together in 2015 to create a new and exciting group. The instrumentation of their unique and modern sonority consists of fiddle, cello, bouzouki, voice, foot-tapping and step dancing. É.T.É’s performances and creations are dynamic and modern! No matter where they go, audiences appreciate their amazing energetic style, performance complicity and their up-to-date musical style.

Born in Dublin, Ireland, Fergus emigrated to Canada in 1967 and, while living in Toronto, became a founding member of the Irish folk band, Ryan’s Fancy. The group moved to St. John’s, Newfoundland, in 1971 and for the next fourteen years, Fergus toured extensively throughout North America and Ireland as part of the trio. They were featured on the CBC network series, Ryan’s Fancy, for five years, and on the Tommy Makem/Ryan’s Fancy show, which was syndicated throughout Canada and the world. Ryan’s Fancy was also featured in the CBC TV production of The Last Run, which is part of the Newfoundland curriculum for Music (Exploring Music) at the intermediate level.

Ryan’s Fancy recorded fourteen albums during its tenure and songs from these albums can still be heard on local and national radio playlists. As a solo performer, Fergus has performed on numerous anthologies and collections of folk music, and has contributed to recordings by Newfoundland artists such as Great Big Sea, Jim Payne, Minnie White, The Sons of Erin, and Christina Smith. He recently produced a double CD collection called Ryan’s Fancy: What a Time, featuring material culled from the Ryan’s Fancy vinyl recordings of the 70’s and 80’s.

In 1987 Fergus graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland with a degree in Education. Since then he has been bringing folk music to children both as a classroom teacher and a performer. He has developed a program of songs, stories and slides related to his native Ireland for use in schools and leads a series of initiatives around the province through the auspices of the St. John’s Folk Arts Society called Young Folk at the Hall, designed to get young people playing traditional music.

Fergus has served on the board of directors for the St. John’s Folk Arts Society and spent several years volunteering at the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival. He organizes the St. John’s Canada Day Concert on Confederation Hill, and was Chair of the Education Committee for the 2010 Juno Awards in St. John’s.

Fergus has been a member of the award-winning band Tickle Harbour, and is a past recipient of the NL Arts Council’s Arts in Education Award, as well as Music NL’s Music Educator of the Year Award. In 2004, Ryan’s Fancy received the ECMA’s Dr. Helen Creighton Award, in recognition of three individuals who had “a profound and lasting effect on the Atlantic Canadian music industry”.