Juno award winning singer-songwriter-musician Cara Luft is that rare artist steeped in folk and traditional roots music almost from birth, yet willing to alter the fabric, stretch the boundaries and fearlessly bend genres and styles. A founding member of Canadian folk super-group The Wailin' Jennys and the brainchild/bandleader of Winnipeg's acclaimed powerhouse duo The Small Glories, Luft deserves her solid reputation as one of Canada’s finest live performers, armed with amazing tenacity, vision, energy and a contagious hilarity. To quote the roots magazine No Depression, “Luft has a rich tradition in folk music – it’s safe to assume that she knows her stuff – and upon listening it becomes quite clear that she is indeed a formidable songwriter and performer... [The] lovely Ms. Luft sets the bar for the talented few who’ll follow in her footsteps.”

Luft has a spirit that drives her to connect with people, and for this she is loved everywhere she goes. Reviewers of her live shows talk about her powerhouse vocals, superb musicianship, humourous anecdotes, her ability to switch between styles, her accomplished songwriting, and the charm of her stage presence. Cara’s the real deal, there’s nothing pretentious about her. And that sense of honesty, integrity, personality and spontaneity permeates both her music and her live shows. “Long may she reign!” (Lonesome Highway)

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Homey, approachable, irreverent, and uplifting are all words that describe the Doggone Brothers Band well. The music is acoustic-grassy, with a dash of old country and a side of old-time music throughout their set of original, traditional and cover tunes. Known for their spontaneous laughs, cheeky off-the-cuff banter, and all-in stage presence, the Doggone Brothers Band round out their sets with incisive breaks, blood-style harmonies, and thoughtful tunes. This group brings a unique flavour to any stage—you can count on it being a doggone good time!

In 2023 the band hit some great festivals like Cowichan Valley Bluegrass Festival (Vancouver Island, BC), SoulFest (Twin Butte, AB), Blue Heron Music Fest (Revelstoke, BC), Waynestock (Wayne, AB), and BlizzardFest (Rossland, BC)… carrying on momentum from 2022 at Tiny Lights (Ymir, BC), Northern Lights Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival (Ness Creek, SK), Peak Music Fest (Cranbrook, BC), Shady Grove Bluegrass Festival (Sundre, AB. 2021). Dotted amongst those events were headlining performances at some of Western Canada’s prime acoustic music venues like The Heatley (East Vancouver), The Ironwood (Calgary, BC), The Owl (Lethbridge, AB), The Duncan Showroom (Duncan, BC.) the Foothills Bluegrass Music Club (Calgary, AB) and The Northern Bluegrass Circle (Edmonton, AB).  

This Kootenay-based band is Clayton Parsons (The Good ‘Ol Goats, The Parsons) on banjo, guitar and dobro, and Michael Hepher (Craig Young Band, RedGirl, As The Crow Flies) on mandolin, octave mandolin, and guitar. Rounding out the sound is Leah Gardner on fiddle, and Rhonda Shippy on upright Bass.