A group of nine musicians from Ireland, plus our own Billy Sutton, featuring accordion, fiddle, banjo – this trad session will be scorching hot!

Valmy is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Ontario who has been following the ocean and finding home on the East Coast. In the weaving of melodic swells and atmospheric harmonies, she explores humanhood, navigates grief, and greets forms of healing. Now based in St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, Valmy uses her folk-influenced music to tell stories about loving and stumbling your way through the dark. While working towards her debut full-length album, Valmy continues to create and perform from a place of honesty and wonder, to let the light in.

A modern indie folk trio from Newfoundland, The Once have collected a trio of Canadian Folk Music Awards, numerous ECMA awards, and was named Artist of the Year by the Newfoundland & Labrador Arts Council. They have earned not one, but two JUNO nominations for Roots Album of the Year and continue to take their music around the world.

With the release of 2024’s Out Here, The Once have delivered a thoughtful and playful assembly of songs mingling their musical roots from Newfoundland along with folk, bluegrass, country, Americana, and modern indie rock. Members Geraldine Hollett, Andrew Dale, and Phil Churchill have created a sound representative of their home province of Newfoundland while pushing the boundaries on the great Canadian songbook with their soothing vocal harmony and acoustically rich core.

Lyrically, The Once’s newest collection of songs encompass an arresting sense of loss with the belief that the good can be found in all people, and a desire to bring it out here for everyone to enjoy. A ray of hope in a confusing time. A port in a storm. A provocation with a grin.

This material is soaked with the poetic charm and sunny sadness of the trio’s collective disposition. Written across Newfoundland and recorded in the band’s GingerBeard House studio the band took their time creating this record. “Sometimes music takes a while to flow”, Geraldine Hollett explains. “If you don’t panic and instead surround yourself with people who love you that you can trust, magic can happen.”

The first single “Oh You” was written in the Gros Morne mountains. “A place where you can catch all the stars looking down on us looking up and wishing on them” Phil Churchill reminisces about the experience. “Oh You” is a lilting song of resiliency featuring the lush vocal harmonies fans of The Once have been drawn to for almost 20 years. 

For their first album of new material since 2018’s Time Enough, taking the time to find the songs and record them at home can be heard across the material on Out Here. 

“Anytime anyone felt stressed, we took a walk, a nap, or made a meal together. We let it all come easy. No stress. No ego. No space for negativity. Just love and care. Soon enough, negativity gave up and went elsewhere” Geraldine says. After eight records over 15 years “it was amazing. We have finally found the love of the process.”

The group formed in the tiny ex-fishing village of Trinity, Newfoundland and ‘the once’ means ‘imminently, but not necessarily so’ in local vernacular. “We wanted something that would embody who we are, where we’re from, and would elicit a smirk and a nod amongst Newfoundlanders back home, but would forever require an explanation literally anywhere elsewhere” Andrew Dale offers. It is a story well worth explaining. 

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.

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.

Influenced by the aesthetic of home recordings, Thom Coombes began recording his own songs in a basement with a boom box and a built-in mic. For the past 20 years, Thom’s recording process remains much the same, traversing bedrooms, basements, and bathrooms with a Tascam 4-track cassette recorder, capturing a unique, lo-fi sound ranging from country and folk, to stripped down keyboard-based sour-pop songs.

Thom’s sound is gentle and earnest. With mesmerizing guitar and lyrics that echo everyday life, Thom turns the mundane into heartfelt stories with a touch of comedy, and a whole lot of honesty.

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.

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.