Lorne Clarke is a Canadian singer-songwriter and concert promoter who first began performing in the mid-1970s in the Toronto folk scene. Born in Toronto, Ontario and raised in the isolated mining community of Schefferville, Quebec, Clarke has since worked at a number of careers. These include stints as a marine engineer on Great Lakes vessels, a high-rise construction carpenter, a dairy farmer, a Toronto police officer, and a power plant operator at a paper mill. Thus it is perhaps understandable that his songs often reveal his working-class background.
Over the years, he has performed his music across the United States and Canada. His debut studio CD, Lorne Clarke was released in 1999 and in 2007 released his second studio CD titled Moonlight & Cider.
In 2000, he became the artistic director and promoter for The Old Lynn Concerts in Lynn, Pennsylvania. This unique, free, concert series runs to packed houses and presents concerts by contemporary folk artists from all over the world.
Clarke is widely known for his continuing work with American song writer, Tom Flannery – specifically the two theme-based song cycles: Rwanda Songs in 2004 and Hands in the Dark in 2006. These song cycles tackle the difficult issues of genocide and child sexual abuse crisis by Catholic clergy, respectively. Both are available for free download through the artists' web sites.
In addition, in 2006, Clarke and Flannery composed and performed the soundtrack to the award-winning feature-length documentary film, Facing Sudan, directed and produced by Bruce David Janu of Chicago, Illinois. Clarke's song, "How Do We Sleep at Night?" is the opening theme song to the film. In 2008, he contributed several songs to Crayons and Paper, a follow-up to Facing Sudan.
In December 2015, Lorne Clarke released his third all-original album on CD and via digital download. The album, titled, From My Window, features 14 songs and was recorded, engineered, and produced by Michael Jerling in Saratoga Springs, NY.
Barenaked Ladies (BNL) is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reached mainstream success in Canada when their debut with Reprise Records, Gordon, featuring the singles "If I Had $1000000" and "Brian Wilson", was released in 1992. The band's popularity subsequently spread into the US, beginning with versions of "Brian Wilson" and "The Old Apartment" off their 1996 live album Rock Spectacle, followed by their fourth studio album Stunt, their breakout success in 1998. The album featured their highest-charting hit, "One Week", as well as "It's All Been Done" and "Call and Answer". Their fifth album, Maroon, featuring the lead single "Pinch Me", also charted highly. In the 2010s the band became well-known for creating and performing the theme song for the sitcom The Big Bang Theory.
James Roger McGuinn is an American musician, best known for being the frontman and leader of the Byrds. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work with the Byrds. As a solo artist he has released 10 albums and collaborated with, among others, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Chris Hillman. The 12-string Rickenbacker guitar is his signature instrument.
Loreena Isabel Irene McKennitt is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who writes, records, and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern influences. McKennitt is known for her refined and clear soprano vocals. She has sold more than 14 million records worldwide.
Great Big Sea was a Canadian folk rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year Irish, Scottish, and Cornish heritage. The band was very successful in Canada, with eleven of their albums being certified Gold in the country, including four being certified Platinum and two achieving multi-platinum certifications. Between 1996 and 2016, Great Big Sea was the sixteenth best-selling Canadian artist in Canada and the sixth best-selling Canadian band in Canada.
Sam Roberts is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter who has released seven albums. His debut EP The Inhuman Condition, reached the Canadian charts in 2002. He and his bandmates have released three albums as Sam Roberts and four albums as Sam Roberts Band. He is also a member of Canadian group Anyway Gang, who released their debut self-titled album in 2019. Roberts has been nominated, together with his band, for fifteen Juno Awards, winning six, including Artist of the Year twice and Album of the Year once (2004).
Barenaked for the Holidays is a holiday-themed studio album released by Canadian band Barenaked Ladies on October 5, 2004. The album includes Christmas and Hanukkah songs as well as "Auld Lang Syne", which is traditionally sung on New Year's Eve. There are also several songs that are simply about the winter season. The album was the first album recorded at Steven Page's studio, Fresh Baked Woods and was the first released independently by Barenaked Ladies' Desperation Records label. It was the band's first studio album for which a "naked track" was not recorded. This album achieved Gold status in Canada.
Chris Brown and Kate Fenner were a folk rock duo, consisting of vocalist Kate Fenner and multi-instrumentalist Chris Brown, who were active from 1996 to 2005. Although based primarily in New York City, both Brown and Fenner are Canadians and the group remained intimately connected to the Canadian music scene.
James Messina is an American musician, songwriter, singer, guitarist, recording engineer, and record producer. He was a member of the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield, a founding member of the pioneering country rock band Poco, and half of the soft rock duo Loggins and Messina with Kenny Loggins.
Mark Erelli is an American singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and touring folk musician from Reading, Massachusetts who earned a master's degree in evolutionary biology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst before pursuing a career in music. Erelli has released nine solo albums and three collaborative albums. His self-titled debut album was released in 1999, the same year that he won the Kerrville Folk Festival's New Folk Award. His first recording for the Signature Sounds label, Compass & Companion, spent ten weeks in the Top Ten on the Americana Chart. Erelli has worked as a side musician for singer songwriters Lori McKenna and Josh Ritter. He has performed at various music festivals and shared the stage with John Hiatt, Dave Alvin, and Gillian Welch. Erelli's song “People Look Around”, which he co-wrote with Catie Curtis, was the Grand Prize winner at the 2005 International Songwriting Competition. His songs have been recorded by Ellis Paul, Vance Gilbert, Antje Duvekot, and Red Molly.
Kurt Swinghammer is a Canadian singer-songwriter and visual artist based in Toronto.
Tom Flannery is an American singer-songwriter and playwright from Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States. AllMusic has called him "one of the most gifted songwriters to emerge at the turn of the century."
Serena Lauren Ryder is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Born in Toronto, she grew up in Millbrook, Ontario. Ryder first gained national recognition with her ballad "Weak in the Knees" in 2007 and has released eight studio albums.
Fionn Regan is an Irish folk musician and singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Bray, Regan came to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, The End of History in 2006. He had been releasing extended plays for six years on independent record labels prior to the album's release. Regan's second studio album, The Shadow of an Empire was released in 2010 to positive reviews and his third studio album, 100 Acres of Sycamore, was released in 2011. His fourth studio album, The Bunkhouse Vol. 1: Anchor Black Tattoo, was released in 2012.
Stringband was a Canadian folk music ensemble, fronted by Bob Bossin and Marie-Lynn Hammond. Founded in 1971, Stringband recorded four studio albums between 1973 and 1978, and was an active touring ensemble through 1986. There have been periodic reunions since then, the most recent occurring in 2013. Passing through Stringband's ranks at various times were Ben Mink, Terry King, Zeke Mazurek, Calvin Cairns, Dennis Nichol, Jerry Lewycky, and Nancy Ahern.
Facing Sudan is a documentary film released in 2007. It chronicles the situation in Sudan from independence in 1956 through civil war and the current crisis in Darfur. The narrative of Sudan is told through the eyes of activists from various segments of American society. Brian Burns—a young custodian who traveled to South Sudan to effect change there—supplies the arc in the film and links the various stories together.
"Bobcaygeon" is a song by Canadian rock band the Tragically Hip. It was released in February 1999 as a single from their sixth album, Phantom Power, and has come to be recognized as one of the band's most enduring and beloved signature songs.
Lorne Ryder is a Canadian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. In his thirty six years in the Canadian music scene, he has received three Canadian Country Music Association top-ten nominations for Keyboard Player of the Year, two nominations for Best Country Artist at the Ontario Independent Music Awards, and was nominated for a 2009 Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards for Best Original Composition for his song, "Beautiful Feeling."
{{Disputed}} Even Steven Levee, is an American musician, bass player, recording engineer, record producer and former nightclub concert promoter. He is best known for his work with such bands as Lifeforce, ZRS, Brad Factor:10, The Slashtones, The Freak Parade, and his production work with Hedi, Barbara Lee George, MC Magic D and Gun Hill.
Terra Lightfoot is a Canadian musician and singer-songwriter from Hamilton, Ontario who has released four albums with the independent music label Sonic Unyon Recording Company and is distributed by Universal Music Group in Canada and The Orchard outside of Canada. She performs in a folk and roots rock style known for bold vocals and electric guitar riffs.
Mustafa Ahmed, known as Mustafa, formerly known as Mustafa the Poet, is a Sudanese-Canadian poet, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker from Toronto. He released his debut studio album, When Smoke Rises, in May 2021.
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