2018 Past Performers

Doris Mason grew up in New Glasgow in a large musical family; her father played the fiddle, and she and her sisters took turns accompanying him. After she finished school, ...

Drawing inspiration from folk, bluegrass, and roots music, as well as the natural environment of Vancouver Island, The Sweet Lowdown creates a beautiful and unique sound that puts an original ...

What do you get when you take two well-established solo musicians – one a folkie and the other a rocker – and combine them into a duo?  You get Cara ...

The Outside Track’s marriage of Celtic music, song, and dance has been enthusiastically embraced by audiences around the world. Hailing from Scotland, Ireland, and Cape Breton, the group’s five members ...

Amélie de Arcos, Janelle Melanson, Machaela Osowski, and Martha Pitre are The Lumber Jills – dynamic, talented young women from Moncton, NB.  The musicians are championship fiddlers and dancers who ...

Sisters Karen and Maureen Ennis made their first Lunenburg Folk Harbour appearance at the 2014 Festival and were joined by their sister, Teresa, in 2016.  This year, we are thrilled ...

Ruthie Foster has a resumé that most musicians can only dream about. She has been nominated for a Best Blues Album Grammy three times in a row. And those nominations ...

Robert Jones is a pastor, storyteller, teacher, and activist.  He is also a self-taught multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, mandolin, harmonica, cane fife, and fiddle.  An award-winning educator, he has an ...

Old Man Luedecke is one of Canada’s best loved and most intriguing roots singer-songwriters. A masterful banjo player with a storyteller’s heart, his narrative-driven folk songs are playful, coy, and ...

Matthew Bryne’s repertoire shows the influence of being raised in a family of Newfoundland music-makers.  He carries on the proud tradition of weaving great stories with beautiful melodies; his music ...

Daughter of folk legends Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III, Martha Wainwright was raised in a musical family in Montreal.  With an undeniable voice and an arsenal of powerful songs, ...

Madison Violet is a duo made up of Lisa MacIsaac and Brenley MacEachern. They both grew up on rural Cape Breton Island and came together musically in the late 1990s, ...

Musicians often have varied backgrounds, but perhaps none so much as Lucy Kaplansky.  How many musicians can say that their past includes waiting tables and tending bar as well as ...

As the name of this Quebecois group suggests, Les Chauffeur à Pieds (with its double meaning of both “Feet Warmers” and “Drivers on Foot”) will heat things up with its ...

With a voice that is vast and ever-changing, Kim Harris is solidifying her place in the East Coast music scene.  Originally from NL and now based in NS, Kim won ...

Kat Danser’s music navigates a paddle steamer, from the muddy banks of the Mississippi Delta, downriver toward a big ol’ full moon over New Orleans. Dubbed “Queen of the Swamp ...

John Gorka made his Folk Harbour debut in 2015, and those of us in Lunenburg learned what many have known for some time: John is one of the pre-eminent male ...

Once again, Jeff Davis brings his wit, wisdom, and wry sense of humour to Folk Harbour.  Of course, he also brings his extensive knowledge of traditional music and his masterful ...

Ian Sherwood is a Halifax-based singer-songwriter who is in a constant state of creative motion.  When the humble and hardworking musician takes to the stage, he delivers songs that dance ...

Acclaimed, Juno-Award-winning singer-songwriter Fred Eaglesmith is known for crafting songs about vehicles, rural life, down-and-out characters, lost love, and quirky rural folk.  His stories – full of broken machines and ...

Eliza Gilkyson is a Texas-based singer, songwriter, and activist who has become one of the most respected musicians in folk, roots, and Americana circles.  Eliza entered the world of music ...

Nick Earle and Joe Coffin are young musicians from St. John’s, NL, who are setting the blues world on fire with their brilliant guitar playing and soulful vocals, rapidly making ...

Dans l’Shed is a French-Canadian duo that sings about love, humour, and everyday life.  With smooth vocals, skillful instrumentals, and charming personalities, group members Éric Dion and André Lavergne add ...

Halifax-based musicians, Ced Marty & Dave, deliver a distinct repertoire of blues, ballads, and R&B.  The members of the trio – Ced Upshaw (guitar and vocals), Marty Williams (harmonica and ...