Artword Artbar

Thursday July11, 2019, 8 pm, $10.
The Vagabond Duet: Geoff Ball on cello, guitar and vocals, and Rachel Nolan on pedal harp, lever harp and vocals. The Vagabond Duet mixes and mashes musical genres with reckless abandon. Cello and harp and two voices come together to bring you folk & baroque, old and new, fierce and lilting, existentialism and hope. In addition to their original compositions, you will hear Simon & Garfunkel, Claude Debussy, The Tea Party, Fleetwood Mac and more, as you have never heard them before.

Event, Music, Music-Classical, Music-folk, Music-singer/songwriter

Thursday July 4, 2019, 8 pm, $10/pwyc. They just Keep Comin’ Back! Alt-Rock act Water Bear (songwriters Tom Dusome & Alex T.) returns to the Artbar to release their song Keep Comin’ Back, produced, mixed, and recorded by Hamilton legend Mike Trebilcock.
Water Bear will perform two sets: one as a full band, and one as the original acoustic duo.  “We write songs about resistance, resilience, and home.”
There will be an open mic to follow, for those who want to share.
https://waterbear.bandcamp.com

Event, Music, Music-singer/songwriter

Thursday June 27, 2019, at 8 pm. $10/pwyc. George Douglas hosts a singer-songwriter night at Artword Artbar, with Marcus Starr, Gavin O’Sullivan and Jesse Macrae. They will be serving up some tasty handcrafted songs for your entertainment and enjoyment. Start your Canada Day weekend on Thursday night!

Event, Music, Music-singer/songwriter

Saturday June 15, 2019, at 8 pm, $15 door, $10 advance. Call 905-543-8512 or Book online  

From punk to present: Edgar Breau and Jean Caffeine bring songs and stories from their storied pasts.
Edgar Breau is a local and national treasure steeped in folk and Canadiana. Playing a style of guitar he describes as ‘Canadian primitive’, Edgar’s songs run the gamut from folk to blues to country to pastoral with a lyricism rare in this age of instant communication. Joining him on stage will be jazz vocalist extraordinaire, Colina Phillips of the legendary girl group, The Tiaras and a charter member of Toronto’s super session singers, THE GIRLS.
Jean Caffeine is an Austin-based genre-fluid artist who writes folk pop/folk punk and Americana hooky tunes that will burrow into your ear. In the mid aughts, Jean spent two years in Hamilton and a year in TO. During that time Jean collaborated musically with Mike Trebilcock. Mike T. will be backing Jean up at the show. Mike has played in the Killjoys, Simply Saucer and the low heels and composes music for ghoulish movies and musicals.

Event, Music, Music-singer/songwriter

Friday June 14, 2019, at 8 pm, $10. Local legend singer-songwriter Martin Verrall is doing a full evening at Artword Artbar, with a guest set by singer-songwriter Raphael Smith Keelan. Martin’s band: Michael Williams bass, Joseph Hansen percussion, Chris Wilson guitar,
Martin Verrall is “… a prolific singer/songwriter, painter, and urban wanderer. [He is] a scribe who details the plights and triumphs of the human heart with dark romanticism, and captures the lonesome ambience of a rainy afternoon or a sleepless night.”  https://martinverrall.bandcamp.com/

Event, Music, Music-folk, Music-singer/songwriter

Thursday June 13, 2019, at 8 pm, $10/$15. Singer-songwriter guitarist Paul Linklater (of the Pinecones ) and multi-instrumentalist Dale Morningstar (of Dinner is Ruined) team up for a musical picnic. Paul is joined by Doug Friesen on bass.
“Linklater thrives on thwarting the sonic convention of the strumming troubadour.”  www.paullinklater.com

Event, Music, Music-Improvisors, Music-singer/songwriter

Thursday June 6, 2019, at 8 pm, $10. Singer-songwriter Marshall Veroni, w. guest set by Emma Elena Grace. Marshall Veroni is a contemporary folk singer-songwriter from Owen Sound, Ontario. With the release of his first studio record In Fields, he intends to share his music with all of Canada. From October to December of 2018, he toured across Ontario. He is touring Ontario again in June before heading for western Canada this July. 

Event, Music, Music-singer/songwriter

Friday May 31, 2019, at 8 pm, $15. Call 905-543-8512 or
Book online  

The wonderful singer-songwriter James Gordon returns to Artword to promote his new album The Heritage Hall Sessions, which has just been released to a really enthusiastic response. With a fresh-baked batch of new songs, some Hamilton favourites, and an electric car full of instruments, James will use his usual combination of historical, hysterical, politically charged and poignant material to engage with one of his favourite venues!
https://borealisrecords.com/product/the-heritage-hall-sessions/?v=3e8d115eb4b3

Event, Music, Music-folk, Music-singer/songwriter

Thursday May 9, 2019, at 8 pm, door $15 cash only, $12 advanced online. Call 905-543-8512, or Book online
Cats Cove Media presents an artist showcase featuring Joe Bass, The Do-Gooders and Tim Collins.
Tim Collins:  singer-songwriter in the folk and folk-rock genre.
The Do-Gooders:  a hard-acoustic trio made up of Hamilton cellist Geoff Ball, and Burlington guitarists Stu Gritter and Dan Murray. Possessing a penchant for storytelling, they tend to snag bits and pieces from different genres in order to find what best suits their whimsically grim (Grimsical?) tales.
Joe Bass is a guitar, mandolin and bass banjo trio: Sandy James, Eric Marcotte, and Garrett Stratford. Modern folk tales, rootsy genre-bending anthems, and just a dash of small-town nostalgia, Joe Bass offers an adventurous spin on alternative-folk music.

Joe Bass
The Do-Gooders
Tim Collins

Event, Music, Music-folk, Music-rock, Music-singer/songwriter

Thursday May 2, 2019, at 8 pm, $15. Call Artword Artbar 905-543-8512, or Book online

The wonderful David Essig returns to Artword on his “short and sweet spring tour – it’s a good chance to catch up with dear friends and audiences and to share some new tunes.” (Only 6 other stops in Ontario.)  http://davidessig.com/cms/

DAVID ESSIG was introduced to Canadian audiences in 1971 as a “talented newcomer” at the legendary Mariposa Folk Festival. Now, nearly 50 years later, he continues to pursue an international career as one of Canada’s finest roots music performers. He has appeared at every major folk festival in Canada and at concerts throughout the world. David uses the traditions he grew up with – Bluegrass and Delta Blues – to create timeless original songs. He has released 25 albums and continues to tour across Canada and in Europe, where he has a strong following, especially in Italy. David is a compelling live performer with contemporary original songs that always pay tribute to their roots in traditional country music and Delta blues.  Many of his songs, like “Albert’s Cove” and “High Ground,” are considered classics of Canadian roots music. As a producer, David has done over 60 albums with other artists, including the first three albums by both Willie P Bennett and Fred Eaglesmith.

Event, Music, Music-Blues, Music-folk, Music-roots, Music-singer/songwriter

Thursday April 25, 2019, at 7:30, $10. Keegan Larose hosts an artist showcase featuring Hamilton-based songwriters sharing their songs and the stories behind them.
Lineup for April 25:
7:30-8:00 Jesse Macrae
8:10-8:40 Keegan Larose
8:50-9:20 Jamie Shea
9:30-10:00 Dave Pomfret

https://keeganlarose.wixsite.com/keeganlarose

Event, Music, Music-singer/songwriter

Thursday April 18, 2019, at 8 pm, $15. Call 905-543-8512, or Book online
ANNOUNCING a special appearance by Joe Crookston, songwriter, guitarist, painter, fiddler, slide player, eco-village member and believer in all things possible. He’ll surprise you and awaken the cynics. His songs are universal, his rhythm infectious and in concert, he is funny as hell one moment and transcendent the next.  http://www.joecrookston.com/
HE BELIEVES IN STORIES: Come to a show. Mystical, and humorous roads, twisting through vivid cinematography. Oklahoma towns, rattlesnake tails, turbary thieves, Galway heather, meter maids and drunk roosters. At the end of the night, you’ll leave inspired.
THERE IS A LONG NOTE & JOE IS REACHING FOR IT: “The Long Note”, a phrase in Irish culture, is that place of resonance and transcendence where the music, the voices, the instruments, and the community ALL come together and unite. Whether he’s picking his 48 Gibson, weaving through lap slide songs or looping his fiddle, he will draw you in. It happens every time.

Watch a YouTube video. It’s good, but it’s not the same. You gotta come to a show. With unwavering courage to be himself, he is literate, poignant and funny as hell.

Event, Music, Music-folk, Music-roots, Music-singer/songwriter

Friday April 12, 2019, at 8 pm $15.
Call 905-543-8512, or Book online
Stuart Laughton brings us another edition of Radio Dial. Always wonderful, always full of surprises.

Stuart writes “Stuart Laughton’s RADIO DIAL is back with more great musicianship and fun (and 10 new tunes!) featuring Rebecca Campbell on vocals/guitar, Burke Carroll on pedal steel guitar, Martin Worthy on drums/vocals, and Steve Lucas on bass. Oh, and Stuart on everything else.” Note: Morgan Childs will sit in for Martin Worthy on drums.

Event, Music, Music-Blues, Music-Jazz, Music-roots, Music-singer/songwriter

Saturday April 6, 2019, at 8 pm, $20. Call Artword Artbar 905-543-8512, or Book online

A high-powered show organized and hosted by high-powered musician Robin Benedict. Her co-performers for the evening — Pamela Gardner, Brennagh Burns, Joe Towers, and Aaron Di Carlo (Dub Donor) — will be collaborating and combining their talents to put on an unforgettable, intimate performance.

Robin Benedict has been playing music independently throughout Southern Ontario and the United States since her first EP, Ride of my Life, released in 2012. A video of Robin singing Blondie’s ‘Heart of Glass’ went viral throughout Facebook in 2014, reaching 5 million people. A successful crowd funding campaign allowed her to record a second EP of 6 songs, Dance Away the Darkness. In 2017 she took to the road with fellow singer-songwriter Brennagh Burns, on a winter-escape tour throughout the US. She is a full-time musician based in Hamilton, playing solo to pay the bills. Recently she has developed a personal Janis Joplin Tribute Show stacked with some of Ontario’s most renowned players. Robin prides herself in her ability to share a positive attitude on life through her original songs, which speak of soul-searching and new beginnings. Music is the air Robin breathes. Her voice can both jolt like a firecracker and lull a baby to sleep. When she opens her mouth to sing, she means it every time.

Event, Music, Music-rock, Music-singer/songwriter

Thursday March 28 2019, at 8 pm, $10. Join Emma Elena Grace, Shealagh Rose, and Rebekah Hawker, three rising singer-songwriters, for an intimate evening of stories and songs.
Emma Elena Grace is an alt-country singer-songwriter from Hamilton, Ontario. She walks the line between the genre’s old and new. She grew up with the traditional country music her father used to play her. Yet, labeling Emma Elena Grace is a hard thing to do. She possesses a voice and constantly growing style that stands on its own. Emma Elena Grace graduated from Fanshawe’s Music Industry Arts Program in 2015, and released her debut album, This Side of the Room in August, 2015. Emma also won Best Singer/Songwriter at the 2016 Toronto Independent Music Awards. She is currently working on her second studio album, set to release in 2019. Socials: @Emma Elena Grace
Shealagh Rose: Originally from Hamilton, Ontario, Shealagh Rose is a folk singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who blends storytelling lyrics with sweeping melodic lines and open tunings. Shealagh moved to Toronto where she received her Bachelor of Music (2016) from Humber College as a vocal major. She began performing under the name Shealagh Rose and released her debut EP Island in July 2016. Shealagh Rose brings a new feel to a classic genre, with lush with soulful vocals and beautiful string sections. Socials: www.shealaghrose.com    @shealaghrose
Rebekah Hawker: For the past five years, Rebekah Hawker has been singing for Toronto audiences in crowded rooms. Her accolades in songwriting and vocals include Summerfolk Youth Discoveries, Seneca’s Got Talent competitions and Barrie Folk Society’s Youth Songwriters Showcase. Rebekah transforms the grievances of her peers, her audience, and herself, into something that satisfies our thirst for honest representations of life beyond artifice. In February 2019, Rebekah will journey to Vancouver with the Via Rail Artist-on-Board Program, to make her first solo EP in the folk genre: Careful Women. Socials:  www.rebekahhawker.com   @rebekahhawker

Event, Music, Music-folk, Music-singer/songwriter

Thursday March 21, 2019 at 8 pm, $15 at door/$10 advance.
To reserve, call 905-543-8512 or   Book online  
Acclaimed folk acts Tragedy Ann (Liv Cazzola and Braden Phelan) and Moonfruits (Alex Millaire and Kaitlin Milroy) bring us an intimate bilingual evening of laughs, reverie and vocal harmonies.
** The award-winning music of Guelph folk duo Tragedy Ann, Liv Cazzola and Braden Phelan, craft something simultaneously familiar and fresh. Cazzola’s multi-instrumental menagerie and Phelan’s dynamic guitar flavours provide a lush backdrop to their powerful narratives, reminding you that you do indeed love the accordion—you just never heard it played this sweetly. tragedyannmusic.com
** Fronted by partners Alex Millaire and Kaitlin Milroy, Ottawa-based Moonfruits are makers of art-folk bilingue. In a forest of banjo, guitar, kalimba and glockenspiel, their voices burrow and soar. Four-time 2019 Trille Or nominees, Moonfruits have toured Canada coast to coast. Their début full-length Ste-Quequepart (2017) \saint-kehk-pahr or Saint Somewhere\ is an elaborate small town fiction that explores the faces of gentrification, isolation and community. moonfruits.ca

Event, Music, Music-folk, Music-pop-etc., Music-rock, Music-singer/songwriter

Thursday November 22, 2018, at 8 pm, $10/Pay What You Can.
Melodic Pixel Media presents The Human Race: Adam Carter, featuring Pamela Gardner on aerial silks, with visuals by Judith Sandiford.
Special guest set by My Flying Machine (Brandon General)

Event, Music, Music-pop-etc., Music-rock, Music-singer/songwriter

Friday November 16, 2018, at 8 pm.
Tickets $20 door. Call 905-543-8512. Advance tickets closed.

Acoustic Moments: the R&B and Soul Edition hosted by Mr. Jay Maca. presents three powerhouse R&B / Soul performers:
Shanika Maria: Shanika Maria is a singer-songwriter from Hamilton, currently living in Toronto. She explores themes of empowerment, societal expectation, identity and relationships through her music. She has been performing around Southern Ontario since 2014. In 2017, she released her debut EP Childish Games. Shanika is set to release her full length album Subtle Uncertainties in January 2019. The album takes on a full sound with styles that range from pop electronic, beach rock, dark country and folk. http://www.shanikamaria.com/
Jamila B.: Jamila B. is a Canadian r&b/pop singer who was born to a Nigerian father and a British-Caribbean mother in Hamilton, Ontario. Always a lover of music, Jamila B. began singing and writing at the age of eleven. In a short time, she found herself performing locally and had the opportunity to open for headliners such as The Clipse, Choclair, Derrick Morgan, The Ink Spots, Tanya Stephens, Bobby Valentino, Black Sheep, and Redman. Jamila B. likes to focus on music that has a positive message and sings about matters of the heart. She has a small but mighty team of producers creating her sound for her debut album, Love & Confidence, an EP that chronicles the ups and downs in life and the sweetness of love. soundcloud.com/jamilaonline
Bonnie Hamilton.: Bonnie Hamilton is a singer, songwriter and keyboard player, the genres of soul, funk, jazz, ska, reggae. “I am on a journey to discovering true love, peace, identity, and my purpose. Time to make music.”
https://www.facebook.com/bonniehamilton78/

Event, Music, Music-singer/songwriter, Music-Soul/R&B

Friday October 19, 2018 at 8 pm, $15.
Book online  
A return visit from the delightful singer-songwriter Collette Savard and her band The Savants: Rebecca Campbell back vocals and rhythm, Megan Worthy keys and back vocals, Tim Posgate electric guitar,  Martin Worthy drums, John Switzer bass. And Collette Savard brings the songs, the one-liners, and more instruments than she has sense.
With her palette of acoustic folk instruments, Collette whittles out of her imagination beautiful song gems. She brings them to you wrapped in the exciting package of her band of seasoned masters. www.collettesavard.com/

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Event, Music, Music-singer/songwriter