The Burning Hell is the ongoing musical project of songwriter Mathias Kom and multi-instrumentalists Ariel Sharratt and Jake Nicoll, often including additional comrades and collaborators. Their densely populated genre-shifting songs are packed with an abundance of literary, historical, cultural, and pop-cultural forebears, heroes and villains, subjects and objects, stories and hooks. They move with heavy rhyme and a light step, incorporating a frequent fixation on apocalypse and ruin into work that celebrates participation in a surprising, delightful, and even occasionally beautiful world. Which is to say they’re good dance partners and they want to dance with you.
The Burning Hell are DIY in the best possible sense—underlining the “Do”—their albums and singles manifesting from the edges of the music industry as collaborations with independent labels and publishers, and their years of touring forming connections person by person, show by show, in town after town. They’ve famously ventured to every out-of-the-way island and inland neglected by the less adventurous, emphasizing presence and connection across latitudes, longitudes, and time, affirming a commitment to the political power of sharing music. It is a profoundly optimistic gesture, by way of killer tunes, exuberant hooks, and joyful live performances.
Garbage Island, The Burning Hell’s newest album, is a danceable romp through a fractured landscape of apocalypses near and far, celebrations of failure and escape, a dense medley of pop culture references, and plenty of birdlife. It was released on June 24 2022 on You’ve Changed Records in North America and BB*Island everywhere else, and the band will spend much of 2022 and 2023 touring it through Europe, North America and Australia.
**** “…funny, sardonic, and literate. Add in a new-wavey, Loaded-era VU sensibility, and it’s impossible not to be swayed by these acerbically funny story songs.”
– MOJO MAGAZINE
“…super literate and fantastically droll, over backings that range from bubbling synth pop and acoustic folk to rattly punk and even a spot of semi-calypso. Silver Jews and Jeffrey Lewis spring to mind on the terrific “Birdwatching”; “Bird Queen of Garbage Island” sounds like a glorious revival of Tom Tom Club.”
– UNCUT MAGAZINE
9/10 “Maybe The Burning Hell won’t be for everyone – I don’t think they’d even want to be for everyone – but if you like brilliant, thought-provoking lyrics, superb musicianship and killer tunes, you know what… you might just love this too.”
-AMERICANA UK
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.
The Ennis Sisters are a JUNO award-winning trio hailing from St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador. They have been captivating audiences worldwide for over 25 years with their seamless harmonies and compelling songwriting. Flavoured by Celtic and traditional Newfoundland influences, their music offers a broad mix of original songs as well as uniquely interpreted tunes and ballads.
In 1997, Maureen, Karen and Teresa Ennis took their first steps into the limelight with the release of their debut album, Red is the Rose. This recording not only marked the beginning of their musical career, but also showcased their innate talent and deep-rooted connection to the folk traditions of their homeland. They have since released 14 full length studio albums and have earned numerous accolades along the way, including a prestigious Juno Award, a SOCAN award and multiple ECMAs and MusicNL awards.
Throughout their career they have embarked on extensive tours taking them to stages across the globe, thrilling audiences with their powerful performances and leaving an indelible mark on the international music landscape. Their songs often reflect the resilience and warmth of the Newfoundland spirit, creating a meaningful connection with their listeners.
As proud cultural ambassadors, The Ennis Sisters continue to enchant audiences with their timeless music, proving that the melodies of Newfoundland & Labrador can resonate and echo across the world. Their musical journey remains an enduring testament to the power of family, tradition and the universal language of music.
St. John’s-based folk duo The Dandelion Few are Tiffanie George (NL) & Seán Bradley (IRL). Since 2018, they have carved out for themselves a niche place within contemporary folk music within Newfoundland & Labrador. The band, originating in Dundalk, Ireland, make music that is as varied as it is pure, from stripped down ghost ballads depicting dark stories of island life, harmony rich introspective lullabies drawn from seasoned poetic depth, and full band arrangements that steer more towards the experimentations of late 60s golden era of folk rock.
The Dandelion Few have garnered four MusicNL nominations (Folk/Roots Artist of the Year, Group of the Year and Global Artist of the Year) to their credit along with numerous accolades including the Banff Center for Arts & Creativity Rogue Residency 2022. The group released their third studio recording “Ovv Vrese & Suond” in September 2024.
Often working in collaboration with other musicians and artists of various mediums, their performances have been described as poetic, pensive and intimate. With a background centered on artistic prowess, they continue to move forward with their harmony fused lyrical songs to the next creative endeavour.
We like to kick off each month with a few tunes around the table for a casual evening of music. Each evening has a designated host and all tune players are welcome to join regardless of skill level so feel free to sit in and learn a few if you like.
Artwork: “The Session” by Caroline Clarke – https://carolineclarke.ca/
Tamsyn Russell is a musician most proficient In button accordion, but also dabbles in guitar, singing and flute. Tamsyn has performed with Terra Bruce Productions where she has taken part in projects such as the touring musical No Change in the Weather and concert series Sounds Like Home, among others. She has been performing all her life, whether it be at the NL Folk Festival, Beaches Accordion Festival, Harbourside Park Concert Series, and other performances such as Feast of Cohen and A Time in Pigeon Inlet. In the summer, she performs solo and with various local musicians aboard the Iceberg Quest Boat Tours, and plays various pub gigs singing blues, folk and country and playing tunes. Outside of her musical involvement with the arts, she currently works in social media marketing with the NLFAS.
Sean Panting is a songwriter, musician and actor from St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Over the course of a musical career spanning more than 35 years he has covered a lot of ground, serving as a founding member of East Coast 90’s alt-rock stalwarts Drive, trad/blues/cajun family band The Panting Brothers, and NL fiddle-meets-Black-Sabbath mashup Kelly Russell and the Planks.
As a solo singer-songwriter, Panting has released six full length albums and shared the stage with the likes of Ron Sexsmith and Billy Bragg.
His songs cover the usual topics of love, loss, sex, drugs and rock n roll, as well as some more unusual left turns into the world of vampires, sea monsters, poisonous sandwiches, and stackable washer-dryer technology. His crowd-pleasing “Panting Under Pressure” segments with CBC Radio allow him to flex his songwriting muscles by imposing a one hour time limit to write a satirical tune about a mystery topic submitted by listeners
