VIRTUAL Songwriting with Joe Makoviecki

Wednesdays, 6:05pm – 6:50pm, October 20th through December 15th, 2021 (No Class November 24th)

In songwriting group, our goal will be to awaken the writer within you. We will spend time each session looking into one aspect of or concept within the art of songwriting and creating chord patterns. We will also work with words and learn to edit lines into lyrics and lyrics into songs. There will be no critiquing, just guided drafting and crafting. Come with an open mind and learn something about how musicians put together their compositions and leave with lyrics of your own.

Instruments are welcome and will be used part of the time!

REGISTER FOR VIRTUAL SONGWRITING HERE

PFS & PASA – Digital Open Mic Night 10/20/21 at 7pm EST

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Monthly PFS Member Livestream: Selections from the 51st Annual PFF Archives

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PFS Presents Presents The Accidentals + Sawyer Fredericks At Ardmore Music Hall

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VIRTUAL Beginner Ukulele with Christopher Davis-Shannon

Tuesdays, 5:30-6:15pm, November 16th, 2021 through, December 21st, 2021

Bring the Philadelphia Folk School to the comfort of your home with a crash course in the most adorable instrument around! On a week to week basis we will study and learn everything from the beginning, no prior music experience necessary. We’ll explore tuning the uke, proper posture, open position chords and learn a host of old folk music.

Register for Virtual Beginner Ukulele Here!

VIRTUAL Intermediate Ukulele with Christopher Davis-Shannon

Tuesdays, 6:30-7:15pm, November 16th, 2021 through December 21st, 2021 (No Class November 24th)

Getting beyond three chords. Take your ukulele a bit further as we dive into more complex songs and simple solo arrangements while expanding on the basics you learned in beginner class. Suitable for anyone that can strum confidently through easy songs without too much hesitation between chords.

Register for Virtual Intermediate Ukulele Here!

PFS Presents An Intimate Afternoon with Talisk

POSTPONED

Doors 2:30pm | Music 3:00pm

**Please note: This is a SEATED matinee show**

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CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF TALISK

About Talisk

In their five years, Scottish firebrands Talisk have stacked up several major awards for their explosively energetic yet artfully woven sound, including 2018’s Belhaven Bursary for Innovation & 2017’s Folk Band of the Year both at the BBC Alba Scots Trad Music Awards, and a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award.

Mohsen Amini – the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards’ Musician of the Year 2018, Hayley Keenan and Graeme Armstrong seamlessly meld concertina, fiddle and guitar to produce a multi-layered, enthralling signature that has effortlessly captivated audiences from the USA to Australia, and throughout the UK.

Appearances at world-leading festivals – including the Cambridge Folk Festival, Denmark’s Tønder, WOMAD UK and Las Palmas, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Celtic Colours, Milwaukee Irish Festival and five successive outings at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections – have amassed a die-hard following, whilst the world’s folk and world music media have also lauded high credits upon the trio. The release of their hotly anticipated second album, Beyond, in October 2018 was met with a five-star ‘Top of the World’ review in Songlines, praising the band as “incredibly infectious and endearing… fresh, invigorating, accomplished and playfully frisky.”

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO TALISK ON SPOTIFY

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PFS Presents Miss Tess & the Talkbacks

We will update this event with a new date as soon as possible! Thank you for your patience!
Doors 7pm | Music 7:30pm

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$10 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $12 Not-Yet-Members | $15 Doors

About Miss Tess

“Contemporary and timeless. More than merely emulating her obvious influences, Miss Tess effectively situates herself on a pedestal right beside them, resulting in a set of songs that swings, sways, rocks and evokes her own personal perspective. Baby, We All Know is an excellent compendium of modern Americana distilled in all its forms. Miss Tess is a sweet seductress, one whose charms are increasingly harder and harder to resist. Catch her while you can.” – No Depression

Miss Tess has always been known for creating an eclectic array of vintage blues, country, and jazz sounds. Currently residing in Nashville, she finds no shortage of inspiration in the roots scene there. However varied Tess’ music can be, front and center sits her voice that has been described as “alternately seductive and sexy, and a pure joy to listen to” (Pop Matters). Her music is further heightened by her partner, Thomas Bryan Eaton, who helps to shape the songs and arrangements with a deft touch on guitar & pedal steel. No slouch herself, Tess brings along her Weymann archtop guitar, often trading leads with Thomas.

This past winter the two teamed up with veteran producer Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes, Hurray for the Riff Raff) at his studio in East Nashville to create a new record that both reaches back to Tess’ roots, yet also signals a new chapter in her career. The record, to be titled “The Moon is an Ashtray”, is getting its finishing touches and will be released Feb 7.

In over a decade of touring Miss Tess has won fans from New York City to New Orleans and Alabama to Alaska. Over the years she has shared the stage with the likes of Lake Street Dive, NRBQ, The Holmes Brothers, Eilen Jewell, and Todd Snider. Her band has graced stages at Blissfest, Cayamo, Clearwater Jazz Holiday, Floydfest, Ossippee Valley Music Festival, Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion, Burlington Jazz Festival, Green River Festival, Red Wing Roots, Shakori Hills, and more. Miss Tess’s music has been heard from coast to coast on taste maker programs such as XM/Sirius’s The Loft, NPR’s Folk Alley, Santa Cruz’s KPIG and Boston’s WUMB. Her 2016 album, “Baby, We All Know” lived in the top 20 on the Americana Charts for six weeks.

Miss Tess grew up in Maryland, where she took piano lessons at an early age. She went to college in Baltimore, intending to be a graphic artist. While there, she dabbled in guitar, but it wasn’t until the end of her studies that she began taking it seriously. Once she became more interested in becoming a musician, she started studying jazz and writing songs, and put together her first band. Having grown up listening to her parents’ bands playing big band swing, folk, country and dixieland music, rootsy styles came naturally to her.

After a move to Boston, Miss Tess took a few classes at Berklee College of Music and formed a new band with a few fellow jazz students. Miss Tess quickly established herself as a songwriter and performer in the storied Boston music scene, playing regularly at local clubs. Over four years she won a Boston Music Award, and was nominated several other times in the Folk and Jazz categories of the BMAs, as well as the New England Music Awards. Miss Tess later moved to Brooklyn for a 5 year stint in the big city, followed by a move to Nashville, where she is currently based. She has since developed her sound to include more classic country, rockabilly and vintage rock ‘n’ roll, all combining into her ever-developing sense of self and eclectic taste in American roots music.

Miss Tess has been releasing albums and leading a band for over a decade, spanning her career over many different cities including Baltimore, Boston, NYC, and her new home base of Nashville, TN. Straddling her move from New York to Nashville, the new album was recorded in both cities. The recording cast includes her steady band mate and co-producer, Thomas Bryan Eaton, producer Dan Knobler (Rodney Crowell, Tift Merritt), Robin Macmillan, Jake Silver (Lee Fields), Roy Williams, Stefan Zenuik, Eric Frey (The Revelers), Dominic Billet (Andrew Combs), Kai Welch, John Pahmer, Aaron Shaffer-Haiss, Oliver Craven (The Stray Birds), Maya De Vitry (The Stray Birds) and Caitlin Canty.

A follow up to 2012’s Sweet Talk and 2013’s The Love I Have for You, both released on Signature Sounds Recordings, 2016’s Baby, We All Know was released independently and received accolades in the press as well as reaching the Top 20 in AMA Radio Charts and being included in the top 100 albums of the year for 2016.

As she expands and grows more into her own sound, Tess is still hard to categorize. She says “Many times after the show somebody will come up to compliment the band and ask me what kind of music we just played. After mumbling through a few different genres I usually just tell them it’s my music and hope they enjoyed the show”. Enjoyable is just what her music is, propelled by the classic quality of Tess’s vocals, compelling and totally believable. The production throughout is the right balance of punch and rhythm, without getting in the way of the vocals or songwriting, giving this collection of songs a plentiful dose of old-school swagger. Time after time, Miss Tess is able to utilize sounds and styles from a past era combined with modern sensibilities to present an authentic and engaging presence.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF MISS TESS

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PFS Presents Mark Erelli

We will release a new date for this concert as soon as possible! Thank you for your patience and understanding!
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

$12 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $14 Not-Yet-Members | $16 Doors

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About Mark Erelli

“All the things that brought me comfort, they just seem tired and worn, what always used to work ain’t working anymore,” sings award-winning, Massachusetts-based singer/songwriter Mark Erelli, a few songs into his forthcoming release Blindsided. It’s a realization that has washed over many of us, like headlights sweeping across the bedroom ceiling on a sleepless night. But for a songwriter, such an appraisal is a call to action.

Erelli rose to the occasion with a writing streak, generating well over 30 new songs to choose from for his newest record. He ultimately gravitated toward those that wrestled with the questions we encounter in the “middle,” the certain point in life when you reflect on your hopes and dreams and what you thought were certainties. “One glance at the headlines and anyone can see that we are questioning the stories we’ve told ourselves and, in many cases, they aren’t proving as durable as they once seemed,” he explains. “Do the things I took for granted as truth when I was younger still hold up? What can I still lean on? Am I strong enough for the ones I love to lean on me? The answers, if there even are answers, can be both unsettling and reaffirming.”

The aptly titled Blindsided was forged in this process of reckoning, of taking stock of the soul, and being pleasantly surprised. Mining the same gritty yet soulful territory as John Hiatt’s Bring the Family or Bonnie Raitt’s Nick of Time, Erelli contemplates the delicate tension between love and commitment, faith and family, disillusionment and hope. But this isn’t a confession from the therapist’s couch, it’s rock ’n roll, and Erelli is clearly taking his cues from heroes like Petty and Prine. Over the course of Blindsided’s 11 tracks, the message of each song is distilled to its purest form, as fearlessly honest in perspective as it is straightforward in its delivery.

To create the soundtrack that reflected this reinvigorated approach to songwriting, Erelli consulted his mental list of fellow musicians with whom he had forged connections in recent years and realized they all lived in Nashville. So, he made the trek to Music City, with best friend and multi-instrumentalist/producer Zachariah Hickman in tow,
curious to see what effect a change in geography, personnel, and context would produce. With the help of drummer Jamie Dick (Rhiannon Giddens, Our Native Daughters), guitarist Sadler Vaden (Jason Isbell, Josh Ritter), Kai Welch (Molly Tuttle, Kacey Musgraves) on keys, producer Hickman on bass, and Dan Knobler (Lake Street Dive, Caroline Spence) recording and mixing, the result couldn’t have been more unanticipated. Against the backdrop of Blindsided’s hungrier, hook-laden sound, with the inspired addition of a string quartet on half of the album, Erelli has never sounded more passionate or vital.

Erelli has forged a colorful career by making the art of “being everywhere all the time” seem effortless. It’s hard to think of another artist who seems equally at home serving as a sideman for GRAMMY-winning artists like Paula Cole, Marc Cohn, and Josh Ritter, or producing albums for Lori McKenna, as he does writing and producing his own material, like last year’s “By Degrees,” on which he was joined by a host of voices including Rosanne Cash and Sheryl Crow. That song was nominated for “Song of The Year” at the 2019 Americana Music Awards and served to reintroduce Erelli to a wider audience. And just in time, because Blindsided combines the exuberance of Erelli’s signature sound with the wisdom that comes with over 20 years of songwriting, capturing an artist at a point in his career where he is clearly digging deep and swinging for the fences.

“In one of my favorite Tom Petty songs, he sings ‘it took a world of trouble, took a world of tears, it took a long time to get back here,’” Erelli says. “I think I know exactly how he felt.”

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF MARK ERELLI

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POSTPONED: PFS Presents Mama’s Broke

POSTPONED: PFS is rescheduling the May 9th performance of Mama’s Broke. We will update the event with an exact date as soon as it’s decided. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.

Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

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$10 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $12 Not-Yet-Members | $15 Doors

About Mama’s Broke

Mama’s Broke is a powerful folk duo that deliver a compelling performance with heart and raw energy. Although highly influenced by their Canadian roots, Lisa and Amy are based out of nowhere and everywhere.

Their two strong voices blend to create haunting harmonies, while they artfully juggle fiddle, banjo, guitar and mandolin, and incorporate traditional dance and foot percussion into their performance. Their original – and often dark – compositions push the boundaries of tradition and the constraints of genre. Drawing from old-time, Quebecois, blues, punk, Celtic, Balkan and doom metal, they create a soundscape that is both familiar and new.

Since forming the band in 2014, Mama’s Broke has been gaining momentum fast ; having already completed two European, and several Canadian and U.S. tours. They have performed in a wide range of venues, from circus shows in New Orleans, to pirate ships in Amsterdam, to concert halls in Ireland, to theatres in Brooklyn. In this way, they stay true to the transient nature of folklore, as they travel the world sharing and collecting song.

2017 brought the release of their debut album, Count the Wicked, which earned them a Canadian Folk Music Award for Ensemble of the Year as well as a nomination for an ECMA Rising Star Award.

The driving force behind this band is – and has always been – the commitment to challenge borders between people, places, and traditions; while encouraging freedom of expression and community through music.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF MAMA’S BROKE

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POSTPONED: PFS Presents Earth Radio EP Release with Apache Trails & Rare Spirits

POSTPONED: PFS is rescheduling the June 5th performance of Earth Radio, Apache Trails, & Rare Spirits. We will update the event with an exact date as soon as it’s decided. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.

Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

$10 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $12 Not-Yet-Members | $15 Doors

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About Earth Radio

FEST FAVORITES FROM THE 2018 PHILADELPHIA FOLK FESTIVAL BRING THEIR NEW EP TO THE PFS VENUE!

Earth Radio is a high-energy, USDA certified organic, grass-fed, cage-free Philadelphia based folk-rock band. Blending together the unique spirits of two folk singers (Jani Duerr & Joanna Osborne), a funky bassist (Jay Jolly), and a jazz-inspired drummer (Dan Lord), their music uplifts the heart, awakens the spirit, and makes the body move. ​The dynamic duo of Joanna and Jani’s vocals balances out in each note, giving the audience a stunning blend of voices in countermelody and harmony. Best of all, the band brings a genuine joy to every moment on stage, resulting in an electric live performance that will pull you out of your seat and put a smile on your face!

CLICK HERE FOR LIVE VIDEO OF EARTH RADIO

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About Apache Trails

They’re a band that promises nothing less than a rowdy, unbridled, and altogether good time that’ll leave the soles of your feet singing a tune of their own. Featuring a thunderous double-bass slapping alongside, soulful lead guitar, a freight-train rhythm, and a howling lead vocal. This musical arrangement might best be described as a rootsy amalgam of folk, country, blues and whiskey.

​Apache Trails are Jason Webb(vox/guitar), Matthew Messatzzia (bass), and Jeremy Worthington(drums), backed with accompaniment from a phenomenal cast of rotating artists on instruments including but not limited to guitar, mandolin, banjo, piano, and fiddle.

The group began in summer of 2014 when singer-songwriter, Jason Webb brought 3 original songs to the attentive ears of friend and fellow musician Matthew Messatzzia. Together they adopted the name Apache Trails after the famous rocky road leading through Arizona’s mysterious Superstition Mountains, steeped in history and drenched myth, the name presented an instant muse for Webb’s writing as reflected in songs like “Superstitions, Rumors, Notions” and “Hope at the Well” off of the band’s 2015 Ep recorded and engineered at Baby Snake Studios by Peter Scobell. The 6 track EP presents a collection of songs that helped to comfortably seat the group within the Americana genre.

​The self-titled album in addition to being the group’s debut also provided the perfect opportunity for a much larger musical effort featuring collaboration with guests from over 12 other local Delaware and Pennsylvania bands including Michael Davis of The Bullets, Devin Zito of The Hold-Up, Gordon Lippincott of Mad-Sweet Pangs, and James Dukenfield of New Sweden lending their talents on guitar, Emma Sue Webb and The Splashing Pearls on backing vocals, David Berry of The Sin City Band on piano, and Clinton Hoffman drums.

Now in their 3rd year, what had started as 3 songs has since grown into hours worth of original material. Apache Trails has been featured on local radio receiving airplay on Philadelphia’s 88.5 WXPN and performed live in-studio for shows like 93.7 WSTW’s Hometown Heroes. They have had the wonderful opportunity to perform at a variety of venues and festivals throughout the east coast including the long running Philadelphia Folk Festival( PA), Musikfest (PA), Rockwood Music Hall (NY), The Avalon Theater (MD), The Queen Theater(DE), Boot and Saddle (PA), and World Café Live (PA).

CLICK HERE FOR LIVE VIDEO OF APACHE TRAILS

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About Rare Spirits

Frequent faces various stages at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Rare Spirits serve up high-proof Roots music with verve, humor and aplomb. Sweet harmonies, rollicking rhythms, and an electrifying stage presence combine to sing songs of drinking, cheating, lying, stealing, shucking, jiving, killing, dying…and the occasional haunting. The band features Molly Hebert-Wilson on upright bass, Robare Pruyn on banjo and guitar, Noam Berg on mandolin and guitar, and Alex Bell on drums and percussion, each bringing their own special ingredient to the cocktail. They perform original songs, old time music with a twist, and a special set that tells the history of Prohibition through song and story, from the Whiskey Rebellion all the way up to repeal in ’33. Pour yourself a double shot, and come see where booze, bluegrass, old time, and rock n’ roll meet on the other side.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF RARE SPIRITS

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POSTPONED: PFS Presents The Blue Wave Ramblers

POSTPONED: PFS is rescheduling the June 13th performance of Blue Wave Ramblers. We will update the event with an exact date as soon as it’s decided. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.

Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

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$10 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $12 Not-Yet-Members | $15 Doors

About The Blue Wave Ramblers

The Blue Wave Ramblers are an eclectic and somewhat unlikely band of musical brothers that skillfully combines the unique talents of members Graham Ford (vocals, mandolin, mandola, octave mandolin & guitar), Billy Dominick (vocals, fiddle), Peter Moretzsohn (guitar and vocals) and Dave Haneman (bass).

With a musical pedigree that includes The Karmic Repair Company, Wheetstone Bridge, Buddha’s Kitchen, Barleyjuice, Tom Gala, Tie Dye Hillbilly Dance Party, Jericho Grass and tons more, this group of players delivers high-energy, powerful acoustic music that’s not quite bluegrass; not quite rock-n-roll; not quite New Wave—it’s “bluewave” and the primitives of this new musical turn are The Blue Wave Ramblers.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A LIVE VIDEO OF THE BLUE WAVE RAMBLERS COVERING WILD HORSES

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BLUE WAVE RAMBLERS

POSTPONED: PFS Presents Shirley Gnome

Sunday, April 25, 2021
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

$10 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $12 Not-Yet-Members | $15 Doors

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About Shirley Gnome

THE #1 NEW ARTIST FROM THE 2019 PHILADELPHIA FOLK FESTIVAL BASED ON YOUR SURVEYS!

“She’s dark, sexy, over-the-top and she’ll sing songs that will make sailors blush: meet cabaret comedian extraordinaire Shirley Gnome. How can one woman be so honestly obscene and so entertaining?” -Sunday Mail, Australia

From the west coast of Canada comes this multi-award winning cabaret musician, whose all-original, uncensored music about human nature is hilarious, honest, subversive, smart, empowering, taboo and not for the faint of heart. Her cleverly carnal lyrics go down smooth with her inappropriately gorgeous vocals, and her charm will disarm you through even the most provocative topics. Her outlandish cover songs transform top 40 hits into dark social satire.

After a surprise win of Patrick Maliha’s The People’s Champ of Comedy in 2012, Gnome began working her charms in comedy clubs, music venues, and burlesque festivals across Canada. Gnome’s underground cult status got an international upgrade when she hit the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2013, receiving rave reviews. She continued this success by touring internationally, wowing audiences and critics alike with sell out shows across Canada, the US, Australia, and New Zealand. She closed out the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s all-woman showcase UpFront in 2017. Her party anthem The Glitter Song went viral that same year, stacking up over half a million views.

She signed with 604 Records, and her 4th album Taking It Up The Notch debuted at #1 on the iTunes comedy charts in Canada when it debuted in 2017. She has released four full-length albums since her debut in 2009, which you can hear frequently on SiriusXM stations all over North America. You may have also heard her on Dan Savage’s chart topping podcast The Savage Lovecast.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF SHIRLEY GNOME

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO SHIRLEY GNOME ON SPOTIFY

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SHIRLEY GNOME ON HER HIGH TECH WEBSITE

PFS Presents Screaming Orphans

POSTPONED: PFS is rescheduling the June 12th performance of The Screaming Orphans. We will update the event with an exact date as soon as it’s decided. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.

Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

$14 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $16 Not-Yet-Members | $20 Doors

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About Screaming Orphans

Screaming Orphans, an all-sister band from Bundoran, Co. Donegal, Ireland, are one of the most sought after Celtic bands with a powerful, award-winning sound, combining their original melodic pop songs with a unique take on traditional Irish music and song. From an early age, the Diver sisters performed with their mother Kathleen Fitzgerald (a well-known céilí singer in Ireland) and when they hit their teenage years, they formed their own Celtic pop band, Screaming Orphans, which led to a signing by Warner Music UK.

As Screaming Orphans, the band first came to prominence when Sinéad O’Connor asked them to tour with her as her back up vocalists and opening act. The band are renowned for their trademark spine-tingling four part harmony which has led to many collaborations on recordings with artists such as Martin Furey, Baaba Maal, Afro Celt Sound System, Peter Gabriel and Joni Mitchell. The band continues to tour and play extensively across North America and Europe.

The band’s 2017 Folk/Irish album Taproom charted No. 1 in the iTunes World Music charts and No. 10 in the Billboard World Albums charts. Taproom was named 2017 Folk/Pop/Rock Album Of The Year by the Folk’n’Rock magazine.

Screaming Orphans’ 2019 pop album, Life in a Carnival, produced by internationally distinguished producer John Reynolds, charted No. 24 in the iTunes Pop Music charts (U.S.), No. 7 in the Billboard World Albums charts, No. 1 in the iTunes Singer/Songwriter charts (IE), and No. 3 in the overall iTunes music charts (IE).

As of this year, the band has released 14 albums of both original pop and Folk/Irish music.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO TO MEET SCREAMING ORPHANS

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POSTPONED: PFS Presents Las Cafeteras

PFS is rescheduling the March 25th performance of Las Cafeteras to the month of October. We will update the event with an exact date as soon as it’s decided.

Thank you so much for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.

Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

$13 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $15 Not-Yet-Members | $20 Doors

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

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About Las Cafeteras

Las Cafeteras have taken the music scene by storm with their infectious live performances and have crossed-genre and musical borders, playing with bands such as Mexican icons Caifanes, Lila Downs, Colombian superstar Juanes, Los Angeles legends Ozomatli, folk/indie favorites Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, and most recently with Talib Kweli.

Born and raised east of the Los Angeles river, Las Cafeteras are remixing roots music and telling modern day stories. Las Cafeteras create a vibrant musical fusion with a unique East LA sound and positive message. Their Afro-Mexican beats, rhythms, and rhymes deliver inspiring lyrics that document stories of a community seeking love and justice in the concrete jungle of Los Angeles. Using traditional Son Jarocho instruments like the jarana, requinto, quijada (donkey jawbone) and tarima (a wooden platform), Las Cafeteras sing in English, Spanish, and Spanglish and add a remix of sounds, from rock to hip-hop to rancheras. Las Cafeteras use music as a vehicle to build bridges among different cultures and communities, and create ‘a world where many worlds fit’.

LA Times described Las Cafeteras as “uniquely Angeleno mishmash of punk, hip-hop, beat music, cumbia and rock … live, they’re magnetic.”

CLICK HERE TO WATCH LAS CAFETERAS COVER PETE SEEGER

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CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT LAS CAFETERAS

POSTPONED: PFS is rescheduling the June 20th performance of Quarter Horse. We will update the event with an exact date as soon as it’s decided. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.

Saturday, June 20, 2020
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

$8 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $11 Not-Yet-Members | $15 Doors

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

About Quarter Horse

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF QUARTER HORSE

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CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT QUARTER HORSE

POSTPONED: PFS Presents J.P. Cormier

POSTPONED: PFS is rescheduling the September 11th performance of JP Cormier. We will update the event with an exact date as soon as it’s decided. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.

Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

$12 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $15 Not-Yet-Members | $18 Doors

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

CLICK HERE TO RSVP ON FACEBOOK

About JP Cormier

Nobody really knows who J.P. Cormier is for sure. That’s to be expected, believe me.

In 1974 he was a five year old boy, discovering an innate talent for playing the guitar, I had a little hand in that, guiding him through the beginning stages. He learned faster than I could teach.

By the mid eighties, not out of his teens, he was a sideman for bands and artists of many different genres in Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, and all across the deep south. As he traveled and worked he added more and more instruments to his arsenal of capabilities. He became indispensable to the bands he worked for.

In the early Nineties, he became a sideman for one of Canada’s favourite sons, Stompin’ Tom Connors and also became a staple of the recordings at Studio H in Halifax. His work with the CBC there spanned musical, production, and arranging duties.

All this before he was 20.

In the mid nineties he reentered the musical scene of his beloved East Coast and the Island called Cape Breton. He exploded onto the trad music scene there as a fiddler, performing some of the most difficult music ever produced by legends like Winston Fitzgerald and Angus Chisholm with a facility that stunned onlookers. Especially those who knew he wasn’t born there, but born in Ontario to Cape Breton parents. Somehow, some way, his music was the real thing, sounding like he had been steeped continually in a handed-down brew of family tradition from the old country.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

His previous gig was in Nashville playing mandolin and banjo in a grammy nominated bluegrass gospel band and performing on the Opry, and playing television shows with the likes of Waylon Jennings. All those people also thought he was one of them, American, reared in the ways of bluegrass, old time and Americana music. They knew he was from Canada, but it just didn’t seem possible.

Then in 1997, something amazing happened.

An album released in Canada, out of nowhere, called Another Morning. This time it was him as a songwriter and a lead singer.

And what a songwriter he turned out to be. Some of the performances on that album are literally part of the musical vocabulary today in the East Coast. Songs like the title cut, and Kelly’s Mountain, The Molly May (co written with his cousin Gervais) and others. It inspired, 25 years ago, some of the biggest names in the business today. People like Dave Gunning, Matt Andersen, David Myles, Joel Plaskett, all of which will tell you: that record changed things.

The Canadian industry thought so too, and it received a juno nomination and won an ECMA.

And that was just the beginning.

36 years later after stepping on stage as professional union musician for the first time at the tender age of 13, JP is still going, and frighteningly, still getting better.

16 albums followed the success of Another Morning, winning 12 more ECMA’s, another Juno nomination, a Canadian Folk Music Award and 5 Music Nova Scotia Awards. Each album was a snapshot of each thing that he can do. There are fiddle albums, Mandolin, Banjo, Guitar, tribute records, songwriting collections, a purely astounding spectrum of talent and musical vision.

His catalogue of recordings and the 150 or so records he’s produced on other artists, resemble the tapestry he weaves in live performance. Where he used to carry 3 and 4 piece bands, he tours alone now.

Just him and the instruments.

People still leave his shows confused, amazed and wondering what they just saw. Did they see a storyteller? A Songwriter? Arguably one of the best guitar players in the business today? Someone who crosses the lines between different instruments like there are no lines? Who was that masked man, anyway?

Accolades aside, and there are many from people like Chet Atkins, Marty Stuart, Waylon Jennings, Gordon Lightfoot; JP sees himself as just a performer. He’s shy, but has a razor sharp wit and lightning sense of humour. He can be reserved or edgy to the point no return. He speaks for soldiers, first responders, other artists, the forgotten and lost. He speaks sometimes only for himself and refuses rebuttal.

Of all the things he is, foremost he is an entertainer. I think one of the best. After you’ve seen what he does, I’m certain you will too.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF JP CORMIER

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PFS Presents The Black Feathers

POSTPONED: PFS is rescheduling the September 17th performance of The Black Feathers. We will update the event with an exact date as soon as it’s decided. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.

Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

$10 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $12 Not-Yet-Members | $15 Doors

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CLICK HERE TO SEE A LIVE VIDEO OF THE BLACK FEATHERS

About The Black Feathers

A favorite of the 2018 Philadelphia Folk Festival, and a smash show at PFS in 2019, we are delighted to bring back The Black Feathers to the PFS venue!

The ability to write songs that are both modern and ancient is a rare thing. The product of an arcane art of weaving in traditional influences so thoroughly that they become the warp and weft of fresh creations. The Black Feathers, made up of Ray Hughes and Sian Chandler, are two such talents. They first became aware of the magic between them while collaborating on several musical projects, becoming The Black Feathers and life partners in 2012.

“Once in a blue moon, the whole soars far above the sum of its parts. That’s what happens when The Black Feathers perform live”

– Black Mountain News, North Carolina

Americana, Folk, and Acoustic Indie Rock sensibilities coexist comfortably in their musical world, with Hughes’ guitar work buoying the kind of harmonies often only heard in family bands. Their music quickly draw the interest of listeners, but it is the stage chemistry that will keep them riveted.

Having already built up a loyal following in the UK, The Black Feathers have been spreading their wings across the US. They have performed at Philadelphia Folk Festival and AmericanaFest, and have also been awarded official showcases at the North East Regional and Far-West Folk Alliance conferences.

With a new single and a live album in the pipeline, these are exciting times for what FATEA refer to as “a duo of undeniable talent”.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A MUSIC VIDEO OF THE BLACK FEATHERS

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POSTPONED: PFS Presents Marion Halliday & Roger Street Friedman

POSTPONED: PFS is rescheduling the April 4th performance of Marion Halliday and Roger Street Friedman to the weekend of June 26th. We will update the event with an exact date as soon as it’s decided.

Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

$10 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $12 Not-Yet-Members | $15 Doors

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About Marion Halliday

Marion Halliday, a native Kentuckian now living in Philadelphia PA, is proud purveyor of her own special blend of bluegrass and bourbon-infused, original, women-powered, Americana. While she has been a professional singer for many years, Marion only began focusing on her songwriting in 2016. She released her debut solo album Rings Around Saturn on July 1, 2019 and in its first month, both the album and Marion (as artist) were ranked #3 on the US/International Folk DJ charts (data compiled by Folk Alliance International); Marion was also #3 artist that month and had two songs in the top 10.

Marion has great breadth as a songwriter. She has found inspiration, for example, in the history of her new home-town, writing a range of songs that touch on Philly’s rich and varied past. This includes songs about an escaped convict from Eastern State Pen, the forlorn beauty of Laurel Hill Cemetery, the statue to the Lenape in Wissahickon Park, and the revolutionary war memorial at Washington Square, among others. Through her “Philly Songs Project,” Marion is available for special programs in schools and organizations around Philly that might wish to have her share with audiences interesting and historical tales through the medium of her beautiful, Philly-oriented original music.

Marion has also written songs on more universal, contemporary topics such as domestic abuse, gun violence, suicide, and the scourge of heroin and meth addiction ravaging our country. Lastly, Marion’s music also includes amusing reflections on the challenges of relationships, as well as an abiding love of bourbon.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF MARION HALLIDAY

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About Roger Street Friedman

Roger Street Friedman is an award winning singer-songwriter based in Sea Cliff, NY. His critically acclaimed 2017 album Shoot The Moon reached #2 on the Roots Music Report Americana Country Album Chart. The album recalls the singer-songwriter tradition of Marc Cohn, Randy Newman, Warren Zevon, Mark Knopfler and Robbie Robertson. Roger’s song “Sun Never Sets” is being used in human rights curriculum in universities and high schools in the Northeast. Roger’s live shows are infused with emotion and will make you laugh and maybe even shed a happy tear. He’s a frequent performer on the music festival circuit and actively tours with his band. Roger’s third full-length album, Rise, produced by the Grammy-winning Larry Campbell (known for his work with Bob Dylan, Levon Helm, David Bromberg, Hot Tuna and more) will be out this spring.

“One moment he’s turning out harmonically rich Paul Simon-esque art-folk; the next he’s digging into the kind of good ‘n’ greasy Americana groove John Hiatt would kill for.”—Jim Allen, CultureSonar

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF ROGER STREET FRIEDMAN

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POSTPONED: PFS Presents Gathering Sparks with Special Guest Cheryl Prashker

POSTPONED: PFS is rescheduling the April 23rd performance of Gathering Sparks. We will update the event with an exact date as soon as it’s decided.

Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

$10 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $12 Not-Yet-Members | $15 Doors

**GATHERING SPARKS WILL BE JOINED ONSTAGE BY PERCUSSIONIST TO THE FOLKIES: CHERYL PRASHKER!**

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About Gathering Sparks

You will come to listen, and walk away singing. GATHERING SPARKS is the graceful collision of Eve Goldberg and Jane Lewis—musical friends who blend tight harmonies, finely crafted songs, and a love of participatory singing to create an intimate and uplifting experience. Their inclusive approach embraces folk, pop, blues and gospel influences tastefully played on acoustic guitar, piano, accordion, and ukulele.

With their infectious mix of styles and compelling vocal blend, Gathering Sparks has been making some big waves. Their debut 6-song CD was nominated for a 2014 Canadian Folk Music Award for Vocal Group of the Year, and they have quickly become an audience favourite. Whether they are belting it out a capella style, tugging on your heartstrings with a folky original, crooning a jazzy swing tune, or getting into the spirit with a gospel-inflected singalong, Gathering Sparks performances make fans out of listeners with their stellar harmonies and fine musicianship.

EVE GOLDBERG has lifted audiences across North America with her heartfelt and insightful songs and solid instrumental work. Her fluid vocals embrace all the styles she loves—folk, blues, country, bluegrass, old time, and jazz—with equal affection and mastery.

JANE LEWIS has followed her love of words from the printing press to the spotlight with soul-bending lyrics, transcendent compositions, and crystal clear vocals. Her thoughtful piano and accordion playing, mastery of harmony, and upbeat presence add a sparkle to any stage.

As solo performers, Eve, Jane, and original band member Sam Turton had each carved out their own niche in the folk/roots scene. But when they came together for a one-time triple bill in 2012, there was a certain “spark” that couldn’t be denied. The three loved the magic that came from the gathering of their songs, voices, instruments and styles, and a performing group was born. When Sam retired from the group to focus on other pursuits, Eve and Jane committed themselves to continuing as a dynamic duo. Since then, they have toured across Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces, British Columbia and the Northeast United States.

Their newest album, All That’s Real, was released in September 2019 on Borealis Records. The lead-off track, Bringing in the Light, has been recognized with a Folk Music Ontario “Songs From the Heart” award in the singer-songwriter category.

“What a delight! Great songs, great singing and lovely harmonies.
I’m singing along as if I’ve known these songs forever.”
— Sharon Hampson of Sharon, Lois & Bram

“Plumbing the depths of gospel, folk, and singer-songwriter traditions with talent and grace makes Gathering Sparks one of the most entertaining [acts] our audience has seen. They couldn’t stop raving about them.”
— Bob LeDrew, BobCat House Concerts, Ottawa

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF GATHERING SPARKS

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**GATHERING SPARKS WILL BE JOINED ONSTAGE BY PERCUSSIONIST TO THE FOLKIES: CHERYL PRASHKER!**

POSTPONED: PFS Presents Talisk

**Please Note: This is a dancing room only show. The only seating available will be in the mezzanine**

Postponed: Saturday, March 13th, 2021
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

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CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF TALISK

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About Talisk

In their five years, Scottish firebrands Talisk have stacked up several major awards for their explosively energetic yet artfully woven sound, including 2018’s Belhaven Bursary for Innovation & 2017’s Folk Band of the Year both at the BBC Alba Scots Trad Music Awards, and a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award.

Mohsen Amini – the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards’ Musician of the Year 2018, Hayley Keenan and Graeme Armstrong seamlessly meld concertina, fiddle and guitar to produce a multi-layered, enthralling signature that has effortlessly captivated audiences from the USA to Australia, and throughout the UK.

Appearances at world-leading festivals – including the Cambridge Folk Festival, Denmark’s Tønder, WOMAD UK and Las Palmas, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Celtic Colours, Milwaukee Irish Festival and five successive outings at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections – have amassed a die-hard following, whilst the world’s folk and world music media have also lauded high credits upon the trio. The release of their hotly anticipated second album, Beyond, in October 2018 was met with a five-star ‘Top of the World’ review in Songlines, praising the band as “incredibly infectious and endearing… fresh, invigorating, accomplished and playfully frisky.”

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT TALISK

PFS Presents The East Pointers

**Please Note: This is a MIXED seated/dancing room show. Please arrive early for best seating**

POSTPONED: PFS is rescheduling the August 30th performance of The East Pointers. We will update the event with an exact date as soon as it’s decided. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.

Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

$18 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $20 Not-Yet-Members | $25 Doors

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About The East Pointers

Redefining the ever-evolving genre – modern folk – with Billboard-worthy pop hooks, deep acoustic groove, trance-like trad breakdowns and three-part harmonies, Tim Chaisson (vocals/fiddle/percussion), Koady Chaisson (banjo/tenor guitar/moog) and Jake Charron (guitar/keyboards), already internationally acknowledged as musical trailblazers, have made sure their new album, Yours To Break, will light a path for a new generation of music lovers who don’t care for labels.

What We Leave Behind was one of the international standout albums of 2017, nominated for the ‘Traditional Roots Album of the Year’ at the 2018 JUNO Awards and attracting over four million streams on Spotify. In the short time between their 2015 JUNO Award-winning debut Secret Victory and the upcoming album Yours To Break, the band has performed over 450 shows in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the UK, Europe, Mexico, the USA, and Canada.

Yours To Break sits uneasily in a classic genre demarcation. The East Pointers have always been musically complex and technically brilliant, the core is definitely traditional Celtic, but on the new album, fiddle tunes are grounded in complex rumbling bass lines, a dirty Americana exploration turns on a dime into a lighthearted guitar feature with flamenco reference palmas, playful keyboard tones turn traditional solos into urgent dance-party journeys, and off-the-leash festival jam sessions give rise to vocal numbers that are either perfect pop songs or moving tributes to the home and people they love. “I feel like this album is the best expression to date of the band’s appreciation for so many different types of music and the fact that we as a band are comfortable enough in our own musical voice to start expressing those influences and loves.” says Koady Chaisson, who plays either banjo or tenor guitar on stage, along with the bass pedals underpinning much of the groove of this album.

Taken from a line in the song ‘Elmira’ – a tune named for a town in Prince Edward Island near where fiddler, Tim Chaisson, and his cousin, banjo player Koady Chaisson, grew up – Yours To Break puts a pin in the creative landscape in which the band currently sits, as well as where they may be headed.

Although conceived as a “love letter to home,” Tim Chaisson says: “’Elmira’ is as much about getting back to the places and things that matter as it is about not being afraid to break away from what’s holding you back. It’s about all the relationships and connections you form throughout life, and that it’s in your control to keep those connections, or part ways and take a different path.”

That’s a sentiment the band picks up on lead single, ‘Wintergreen’.

“I was diagnosed bipolar about five years ago and there was so much darkness, so many extreme highs and extreme lows,” Koady says. “It’s actually a song I kind of wish I could have heard then; a vote of confidence from the perspective of someone who loves you regardless of which end of that spectrum you’re at.”

At the core, ‘Wintergreen’ is about offering a light in the darkness to those who need it. That theme is woven into the material on Yours to Break; a decision the band made to be wholeheartedly themselves and to speak to the relationships and connections formed in life with people, places, items or substances, and the choice we have to either keep these connections or part ways. Koady says “There is also an element of trust, surrounding yourself with the right people, getting back to the place and things that matter the most. And musically, trusting your foundation and traditions, which give you a strong platform to break away and do your own thing. Ultimately, musically and philosophically we have a lot of hope for humanity despite our frailties – that’s the essence of Yours to Break.”

The album was written across the globe, with Koady in Australia, Jake in England and Tim in Costa Rica while they were working on the album. Each of those experiences and sense of place played into the creation of the album.

Produced by Nova Scotia-born, multiple Grammy and JUNO Award winning songwriter and producer, Gordie Sampson (LeAnn Rimes, Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts), Yours To Break finds the band drawing on their historical Canadian Celtic roots and looking forward in equal measure.

“We’ve always had a hard time putting our music in a specific genre,” Jake says, “so with this album we stopped thinking about that and just made music that felt fun to play.”

Yours To Break also showcases the band’s willingness to let loose themselves and expand dramatically on the traditional music they grew up playing and singing. Doing so was a big part of The East Pointers’ mission this time out – a mission that’s clearly reflected on purely instrumental tunes like ‘Country Cable’ and ‘Power To Move’ – a fearless blend of traditional and modern textures that’s as relentlessly hooky as it is powerful.

“We wanted to make an album someone could put on and basically have a dance party to” Koady puts in. ‘We’re passionate about tradition, yes, but it doesn’t belong in a box in the attic, getting dusted off for special occasions and boring the pants off kids. Traditions belong to the people who shepherd them into the next generation.”

In addition to their own songwriting and touring, The East Pointers run the Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival on Prince Edward Island, originally founded by Tim and Koady’s grandfather in 1976. Jake Charron, now an honorary islander, has been an in-demand touring musician for the majority of his life and met Tim and Koady on tours to Atlantic Canada.

The East Pointers’ ten-track album Yours To Break is out October 25, 2019, followed by worldwide touring, including a national Canadian tour in November 2019.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF THE EAST POINTERS

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POSTPONED PFS Presents David Myles

POSTPONED: PFS is rescheduling the May 16th performance of David Myles. We will update the event with an exact date as soon as it’s decided. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.

Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

$12 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $15 Not-Yet-Members | $18 Doors

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About David Myles

“Nattily dressed in a suit and tie, wearing his trademark specs, he looks like Buddy Holly transposed to an after-hours supper club. But Myles’s music conveys a populist appeal that leaves no one lacking.” – No Depression

The role of the song and dance man is a noble calling. But restricting himself to only a couple creative pursuits would just not be enough for David Myles. Sure, the Maritime music maker’s song and dance mastery keeps getting more and more impressive—2017’s award-winning, vintage rock ‘n’ roll hip-swiveler Real Love and the spectacular, lush Francophone pop of 2018’s Le grand départ stand testament to that—but Myles is compelled to sally forth toward new challenges and accomplishments. This past year he released Santa Never Brings Me a Banjo, a children’s book based on his beloved modern holiday classic, and dove back into the world of public radio, broadcasting his smooth baritone over Alberta’s CKUA airwaves on his new show Myles From Home. Not to mention he does it all while adhering to an unrelenting tour schedule that has seen him and comrades Kyle Cunjak (bass) and Alan Jeffries (guitar) grace stages ‘round the world.

One could argue that this astounding rate of production was in the cards for Myles all along. The New Brunswick-born songwriter grew up in Fredericton surrounded by musicians. It was through family that he was exposed to classical music and musical theatre—which might explain why he’s such a natural on stage, under the bright lights—and thanks to them that he found himself working through the intricacies of trumpet with Canada’s Royal Conservatory. Eventually, he found himself grooving and crooning to the classic sounds of legends like Elvis, Roy Orbison, Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash. But it wasn’t until he found himself studying Chinese in Hangzhou, China, writing songs on a $30 plywood guitar, that he realized he had to make a radical change in direction. Instead of heading to law school, he decided on a life dedicated to music, and symbolized his devotion to the craft by promising his father, Jim Myles, that he’d wear a suit and tie every single day he went to work. The elder Myles, a former science teacher who directed musicals, and passed away in 2017, left an indelible mark on his son, informing the heavy, poetic spirit of Le grand départ. And David continues to don well-tailored suits on every stage he sets foot on.

His work ethic, too, has paid dividends. Since making that promise, David has gone on to release a dozen records in just over a decade, building a catalogue that spans numerous genres, has spawned countless musical friendships, and helped soundtrack the lives of music fans all over the globe. Real Love’s retro rock and country and Le grand départ’s adventurous chansons are just the most recent sonic territory he’s explored. You can find unabashed, bouncy pop on Here Now; delicate, romantic folk tunes and old-school rhythm and blues on So Far; and classic crooning and swingin’ arrangements on In The Nighttime. He’s dusted off the sleigh bells and put his vibrant stamp on yuletide classics—as well as penning a few new original ones—for It’s Christmas, which continues to delight December audiences every year. And he’s partly responsible, along with fellow east coaster Classified, for Canada’s best-selling rap single of all-time, the deliriously catchy, JUNO Award-winning “Inner Ninja.”

If there’s a musician on earth who can keep up this wild pace and keep growing as an artist, it’s the incomparable David Myles. One need only get themselves down to the theatre or auditorium or club that he’s headlining in their town—singing his big heart out, dancing his slick shoes ragged, and relishing every moment of it—to confirm that. There’s no other kinda life for this song and dance (and radio and writing and everything else) man. “I don’t care if it kills me,” Myles sings on fan favourite “When It Comes My Turn,” over a life-affirming swell of pedal steel. “I’m gonna do what it takes to keep some warmth in my heart and a smile on my face.”

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF DAVID MYLES

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POSTPONED: PFS Presents Dave Gunning

POSTPONED: PFS is rescheduling the May 15th performance of Dave Gunning. We will update the event with an exact date as soon as it’s decided. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.

Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

$15 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $18 Not-Yet-Members | $20 Doors

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS AND MORE INFO

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About Dave Gunning

Dave Gunning is best defined as a master craftsman. Over the course of 23 years and 11 earlier albums, the Nova Scotian folk singer/songwriter has diligently sharpened his skills, developing into a poetic storyteller and emotionally convincing singer with few equals.

The fruits of those labours are now vividly on display in his latest collection of songs, Up Against The Sky. The relaxed and intimate feel of the record reflects its method of creation. “I focused a lot on tones and the vibe, rather than strategic parts on this one. Many of these tunes were sung and played at the same time, and that prevented me from being able to go back and edit, forcing a little more honesty.”

The sessions in Dave’s home studio were co-produced by Gunning and Jamie Robinson. Gunning contributed the bulk of the instrumentation, including all the bass parts and even drums on every song but one. Musical guests include his close musical comrade J.P. Cormier on fiddle on “Celebrate The Crop,” and Andrew Alcorn on horns on “In The Time I Was Away”, while the Atlantic String Machine added subtle yet atmospheric strings on four tracks.

Eight of the ten songs here are co-writes, with Dave’s writing partners including Jamie Robinson, Ray Stewart, Thom Swift, Paul McKenna, and Mark Lang. The two solo compositions are “The Loyal Fisherman,” an epic ballad of love and betrayal, and “Celebrate The Crop,” a lovely fiddle-fuelled celebration of the simple pleasures of the farming life “everyone’s coming over and we’ll share all that we’ve got.”

The first single taken from the album is “In The Time I Was Away,” a gently reflective look at the changes wrought by absence. “When you’re away from home for large chunks of time on a regular basis you miss things that have happened. Sometimes they’re big things and sometimes they’re the little things,” says Dave. Written with Mark Lang, it is punctuated by a horns accompaniment that shows Gunning’s ability to add unconventional yet effective musical touches to his material.

There’s also a philosophical feel to “All That’s Yet To Come,” the opening track on Up Against The Sky, and another highlight of an album devoid of lowlights. It faces the future with an optimistic tone – “I’m proud of the past and all that’s yet to come.”

Gunning explains that this is one of a number of songs influenced by a local Pictou County issue that has taken a great deal of his time and energy in recent years. He is a very active member of a group opposed to the release of 70-90 million litres of treated effluent, per day from an older style bleached kraft pulp mill. The proposal is threatening the Northumberland Strait fishery and a Legislated commitment made to the Pictou Landing First Nation community to end what even the Premier of Nova Scotia has called “Environmental Racism.”

Another song inspired by this situation is “Wish I Was Wrong,” a mournful yet defiant tune that reaffirms Gunning’s ability to pen potent protest songs. “We want a safe harbour, we want a clean shore” he declares, while playing banjo in a tribute to a key inspiration, Pete Seeger.

Another politically-tinged tune that has had a major impact is “Sing It Louder,” from Gunning’s previous album, 2015’s acclaimed Lift. It was the most played song on folk radio in the US for the month of May 2016, and Dave says “I think that it may have resonated with people because it was released during the US election and it’s a call to action song.”

Last year, Dave Gunning and J.P. Cormier released a duo album, Two, one recently nominated for a 2019 East Coast Music Award. “It was just two guitars and two voices. We have played together on and off for 20 years so it is comfortable for us,” explains Dave.

Along with richly-deserved peer respect, Dave Gunning has earned a shelf full of music industry honours. That tally currently stands at eight East Coast Music Awards and two Canadian Folk Music Awards, plus a 2012 Juno Award nomination in the Roots & Traditional Solo Album of the Year category for his album … a tribute to John Allan Cameron, a compelling homage to another of Dave’s Maritime musical heroes.

His songwriting skill has also been internationally recognized, with tunes scoring victories and high placings in major international songwriting competitions. As a fervent hockey fan, Dave was also thrilled to win the CBC’s hotly-contested Hockey Night In Canada Song Quest in 2014 with “A Game Goin’ On”, a co-write with David Francey. Gunning has also remained in demand as a producer working with many artists.

For now, though, his concentrated focus is on Up Against The Sky. The record, and all that’s yet to come from this compelling artist, can be looked forward to with great anticipation.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF DAVE GUNNING

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POSTPONED: PFS Presents Ralph Stanley II & The Clinch Mountain Boys

POSTPONED: PFS is rescheduling the June 27th performance of Ralph Stanley II and the Clinch Mountain Boys. We will update the event with an exact date as soon as it’s decided. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.

Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

$15 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $18 Not-Yet-Members | $23 Doors

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About Ralph Stanley II & The Clinch Mountain Boys

Grammy Award winning artist Ralph Stanley II & The Clinch Mountain Boys are currently touring in support of their 2019 Stanley Family Records release, the Billboard chart topping ‘Lord Help Me Find The Way.’ This is their second release after dropping a self-titled album in 2017 that was the first release for the group since Ralph II took over the Clinch Mountain Boys band name per the wishes of his late father Dr. Ralph Stanley.

With three #1 singles in his career; including, the 2019 hit “Beautiful Hills of Home,” R2 is in heavy radio rotation across the country and on Bluegrass Junction, World Wide Bluegrass, iHeart Radio and Sirius XM.

The band includes Clinch Mountain Boy John Rigsby on fiddle, mandolin and vocals; Landon Fitzpatrick on banjo and vocals; Randall Hibbitts on the upright bass and vocals; and Ralph Stanley II on the guitar and lead vocals. This band configuration brings a lot of talent, energy and humor to the stage as they perform old-time favorites, bluegrass hits and new original material.

Ralph II has had two Grammy nominations on previous albums he recorded with Rebel Records. In 2002 he earned his first Grammy along with his father Dr. Ralph Stanley for their collaboration with Jim Lauderdale on ‘Lost in the Lonesome Pines.’ Ralph II has proven to be an accomplished songwriter and has 6 solo albums under his belt, along with the highly acclaimed duet album with his father titled ‘Side by Side.’

Playing more than 200 shows a year, Ralph Stanley II & The Clinch Mountain Boys are an audience favorite at festivals, clubs, arenas, amphitheaters, country fairs and wherever the blue bus might take ‘em!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF RALPH STANLEY II AND THE CLINCH MOUNTAIN BOYS

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