Meet the Artists at Folk Music Ontario 2024
MusicOntario is pleased to present 3 days of showcasing at this year's Folk Music Ontario Conference, October 3-5 2024! Meet the artists/bands performing at the Delta Hotels Toronto – Mississauga
Thursday, October 3
10:30pm – Kazashim
KAZASHIM, a Nigerian-born musician based in Toronto, blends Hip-Hop, R&B, Soul, Jazz, and Afro Fusion, drawing inspiration from artists like Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West. His music serves as a personal journal, reflecting his experiences as an African man navigating life’s trials and tribulations. Rooted in faith, Kaza believes that God can transform his struggles into gold, embodying hope, perseverance, love, discipline, tenacity, and resilience—an imperfect reflection of Christ. With over 100,000 Spotify streams for ‘Hotel Cerebrum’ and electrifying performances, Kaza continues expanding his reach through collaborations with the Ontario Arts Council and notable partners.
10:50 - Radhika Baskar and Group
Radhika Baskar is an accomplished Veena artist. Radhika has a rich knowledge of Carnatic music, a system of traditional Indian classical music frequently associated with southern India. Radhika is a regular performing artist in Radio, Television and onstage. She also composes and performs contemporary, classical and fusion music.Radhika is the winner of the Marty's award 2023, in the established instrumentalist category awarded by Mississauga Arts Council.
11:10 - OK Naledi
OK Naledi is an Afro Soul music project created by Queer, Motswana Canadian musician and producer Naledi Sunstrum. Traditional sub-Saharan clean guitar lines, classic deep bass, movement-inspiring beats and that iconic, driving Afro House tempo, these are the pieces that define OK Naledi.
11: 30 - Shakura S'Aida
Juno Nominated and Maple Blues and Her Music Award Recipient, Shakura S'Aida is a Multi-lingual Singer/Songwriter and has toured extensively internationally. Her 4th solo album-Juno nominated and FMO Album of the Year -featuring sacred steel guitarist Chuck Campbell- is co-produced by Keb Mo’ and Donna Grantis (Prince) & meshes together Roots, Blues, Soul and a hella lot of funky stuff.
11:50 - Tiger Balme
Toronto-based alt-indie band Tiger Balme brings together the grounding forces of drums, guitar, and bass with shimmering vibraphone, harp, and soaring harmonies to create sonic spaces of tender resilience. The band, comprised of Asian-identifying women and non-binary musicians, released their debut album, the self-titled Tiger Balme, in November 2022.
12:10 - Emma Cook
Folk-pop artist Emma Cook has a glacially pure voice that has been described as 'listening to angels.' At the heart of it all she is a storyteller, with music that plays between the lines of folk and chamber pop influenced from her youth, listening to mixtapes that included Ani Difranco, Tracy Chapman and Sinead O'Connor.
12:30 - Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar
Samantha Martin is a critically acclaimed artist known for her powerful voice and deep roots in blues, soul, and gospel music. With over two decades in the industry, she’s captivated global audiences with raw emotion and dynamic live performances. As the driving force of Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar, she’s become a prominent voice in contemporary roots music, earning multiple awards, including two Juno nominations and recognition from the Maple Blues and UK Blues Awards.
Formed in 2012, Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar’s genre-defying sound highlights her soulful voice alongside the harmonious backing of Sherie Marshall and Tafari Anthony. Their albums, Send the Nightingale (2015), Run to Me (2018), and The Reckless One (2020), garnered critical acclaim and chart-topping success, with The Reckless One topping US and UK blues charts.
Friday, October 4
10:30pm - Leah Holtom
Folk singer/songwriter, Leah Holtom, grew up in Brampton, Ontario and has now planted her roots in the Toronto music scene. She blends the best of folk and country music, sharing a fresh expression of storytelling and a unique take on traditional instrumentation. Through her tender, yet soaring vocals and the sweet sound of acoustic guitars and pedal steel, Leah leads her audiences on a captivating and wholesome journey. Leah’s music brings out a smile, a tear and most importantly, it brings community. Her endearing voice and fulsome sound is showcased on her recent debut EP: ‘Patchwork.’
10:50pm - Mohsin Zaman
Mohsin Zaman is an award winning Pakistani-Canadian singer-songwriter who blends eastern and western soundscapes to create a captivating mood with reflections of folk, pop, and ambient tones. Inspired by his diverse background, Mohsin's music explores themes of love, longing, and self-discovery through soulful vocals and introspective lyrics.
11:10pm - Lancelot Knight
With his captivating voice and guitar work, Indigenous singer-songwriter, actor, and activist Lancelot Knight from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan delivers emotionally charged performances that blend genres and raise awareness on Indigenous identity and political action. With 5 singles released, this international touring artist's debut solo album will be released later this year.
11:30pm - Ana Lía
Ana Lía lights up a room. A Dominican-Canadian, her charming, vibrant performances deliver an unmistakable experience for every audience. The singular blend of pop and Latin rhythms and her bright, rich voice, makes her music enjoyable beyond language.
In June 2023, she released her debut album, Cíclica. She's opened for Alex Cuba in concert, played at the NXNE 2022 and at the Canadian B2BBQ pre-WOMEX 2023 in A Coruña, Spain.
11:50pm - Jeremy Voltz
Burned-out mathematician turned indie-folk artist, Jeremy Voltz's music is inspired by thinking deeply about the people in his life and what he'd love to have the courage to say to them. His acoustic anthem "One Day at a Time" garnered millions of worldwide listens and inspired a successful children's book.
12:10am - Wild Remedy
Bringing new life to the Canadian folk genre, Wild Remedy is a trio of Ottawa-born musicians who promise to take audiences on a journey of self-discovery to the soundtrack of upbeat acoustics and astonishing harmonies.
12:30am - Union Duke
Described as a raucous collision of alt-rock and twang with soaring harmonies, driving rhythm and infectious enthusiasm, Union Duke have been bringing crowds across Canada to their feet for over ten years, three albums, many singles, countless festival stages and hundreds of thousands of kilometers on the endless highway.
Saturday, October 5
10:30pm – Elishma
Brampton based singer, songwriter and producer Elishma, first made waves with her debut song ‘Khanabadosh’ in 2016. Raised across Pakistan, England and Canada Elishma’s sound blends her diasporic experiences of displacement and liminality with her deep knowledge of international styles into a euphoric musical tapestry.Between earning her degrees in social justice and political economy and working as a human rights advocate, she has since made a series of independent releases including ‘Happy Jack’ and ‘Seaweeds’.
10:50pm - Josh Ritchie
An old soul with talent beyond his years, Ritchie has an introspective, soul-searching approach to songwriting that is beautifully and vibrantly balanced by his blazing fretwork. An artist who is equally comfortable in the studio and the stage, Ritchie's sound is refreshing, timelessness and unifying.
11:10pm - Paula Sofia
Paula Sofía is a Guatemalan singer-songwriter based in Toronto. From the stage, Paula weaves a playful connection with her audience, turning each live performance into a unique, shared moment. While most of her songs are in Spanish, Paula transcends language boundaries through her quirky songwriting, vivid imagery, and a touch of playfulness. She navigates the human experience and shares it with her listeners through her melodious voice.
11:30pm - Meredith Moon
Along with an endorsement from Gold Tone Music Group and a recent recording deal with True North Records, Meredith Moon has been a regular in the Ontario folk music and Canadian folk festival circuit for over a decade. Besides playing traditional tunes often 'non-traditionally', Moon presents a powerful voice and highly contemporary clawhammer banjo style, while also incorporating finger-style/travis picking guitar, piano and lap dulcimer, among other instruments, into her performances. She has spent the last twelve years travelling her home of Canada, and the world, finding inspiration for her unique style of songs which are crafted in a true storyteller's fashion. She has been described as a 'gem' among the Old-Time music scene for her unusual expression of the genre, combining influences of folk-punk with traditional Appalachian sound.
11:50pm - Mike Celia
For the past decade, Mike Celia has been performing live music around the world as a member of award winning acts such as Digable Planets, Digging Roots, Leela Gilday, Tanika Charles and Tafari Anthony. He is also a founding member of the award winning Canadian acapella group Eh440 who managed to strike a deal in the Dragons Den in 2014 and could be seen in the years that followed performing across North America and Europe as well as twice performing the national anthem for the Toronto Raptors. His latest album (the first in a decade) is set to be released this spring, It will serve as a symbolic rebirth and a coming back to his origins in music as a solo artist. The album is a melancholic and ethereal twist on R&B in a singer-songwriter package.
12:10am - Lotus Wight
Lotus Wight is the stage name of musician Sam Allison. He was born to an Indonesian mother and Welsh father. Lotus arrived in Canada in a basket at the age of one year, and grew up in a very diverse family in several homes with multiple religious backgrounds and traditions. Living close to Buddhist, Muslim and Judeo-Christian customs was highly influential in Wight's development as an artist.
Lotus' musical spirit resides somewhere between multi-instrumental folk revivalist and singer/songwriter of highly acclaimed original material. He blends the trad and the unique seamlessly; banjos, contrabass harmonophoneum, mouth bows and painstakingly curated songs will sooth the most restless of souls. Wight's love of West-African banjos and Asiatic jaw-harps pepper his set with valuable historic context and unique sonic texture.
12:30am - Minuscule
The prog-folk/femme-pop collective Minuscule is on a mission to redefine choral music. Offering a genre-bending blend of intricate vocal harmonies and emotionally stirring, tongue-in-cheek lyricism, Minuscule continues to win over audiences nation-wide. They have collaborated with genre-spanning Juno- and Polaris-nominated artists, receiving a 2021 Juno nod for their choral arrangements.