THE COMMISSIONAIRES
Sunday September 15
4:30pm-5:30pm
TD Stage

The Commissionaires are a new soul-roots-gospel outfit formed by indie singer-songwriter Jacob Moon and Newworldson’s Joel Parisien. Their debut album, 2016’s Shelter Me, was a sonic journey with themes of justice and overtones of the soul’s struggle for redemption. Crafted as a remedy for these turbulent times, Shelter Me features a combination of traditional gospel numbers and new arrangements of songs written by artists like Ben Harper, Stevie Wonder and Buddy Miller. Its single “None of Us Are Free” was featured in December 2016 by CBC Radio One as Song of the Week. Jacob Moon has been recording and performing full time for the past 20 years, and has released 10 CDs as a solo artist. He has shared the stage with Gordon Lightfoot, Ron Sexsmith and this year he recorded a song that will appears on Rush’s 2112 40th Anniversary Reissue. His music has taken him all over the world, and his heart for justice has led him to advocate on behalf of the oppressed. Joel Parisien has written and recorded top ten Billboard hits for his previous band, Newworldson, who traveled the globe with their infectious soul gospel sound. He has also written for Michael Kaeshammer, Audio Adrenaline and many others over the course of his 20-year career.

Ethereal tones, scintillating riffs and shimmering melodies. The Crowleys merge mind-bending psychedelic rock with bubblegum melodies that will blow your mind and have you dancing along impulsively.

HPO x TWIN WITHIN
Sunday September 15
5:30pm-6:30pm
Fireball/Exclaim! Stage

Twin Within began in the springtime. Outdoors is where Steve McKay and Alex Samaras started rehearsing. Everything opens up when you play outside, so they set out to make a record with an “outdoor” sound.   Steve and Alex have strikingly similar timbre, and their voices blend seamlessly. It’s often difficult to tell them apart. Similar to how The Beach Boys were meant to sing together, Steve and Alex’s voices have a natural affinity beyond technical ability. There is a trust, and an understanding, that exists between them. They want to be surprised and challenged. Twin Within follow in the tradition of the Righteous Brothers, Walker Brothers, or Simon & Garfunkel, but there’s something uniquely current about their sound.    The album is a subtle convergence of meticulously crafted arrangements with spontaneous single takes, expertly co-produced with string & wind arrangements by Kirk Starkey. Steve McKay comes from a long line of drummers: uncles, grandfathers, fathers, and great-grandfathers. He has had many chances to live out his percussive destiny with the likes of Tusks, Allie X and especially as the percussive force behind Bruce Peninsula. But girls like songs, so he learned how to play other instruments and write songs. Twin Within is a record of classic pop songs. Steve plays celeste, tic-tac bass, and baritone guitar on the record, in addition to the layers of percussion he is known for. Steve’s 5+ years of experience touring with Canadian baroque giants Tafelmusik and subconsciously creeps into the way he arranges Twin Within’s instrumentals.  Alex Samaras does not stop singing. In any given week, you can hear him Tuvan throat singing with his vocal ensemble GREX, as well as singing back-up in Toronto’s favourite Motown band, The Big Sound. He has also spent time in New York City, working with contemporary arts icon Meredith Monk and her vocal ensemble to perform in-concert versions of Monk’s work through multi-disciplinary performances. Alex currently leads his own trio covering forgotten songs from Broadway. With Twin Within, Alex’s vocals enhance the arrangements with the same depth and originality that an Owen Pallet string arrangement would. His contributions are not mere background vocals, but essential to the sound of the whole record. Two trees rest somewhere between the expanse of the sky and the firm ground below. They sing songs directly to you, but the tunes reverberate to the heavens above. It’s Twin Within.  

THE DILL
Sunday September 15
4:15pm-5:15pm
Mohawk College Stage

Over the past 20 years, Dylan “The Dill” Hudecki has co-founded the post-rock duo Junior Blue with Broken Social Scene drummer Justin Peroff; toured the world with Toronto power-pop perennials By Divine Right; fronted the Hamilton Music Award-winning band Cowlick; and played bass for High Kites. He’s scored films, commercials, remixed songs, and has a side project making piano and synth-based ambient music as Awesollator. Oh, and he’s also managed to hold down a day job as a school teacher while raising three kids. Now, he’s finally made his first solo record—and to say it’s been a long time coming would be a gross understatement. On the surface, “Greetings From” may appear to be a typical 12-song solo singer/songwriter effort—but it’s actually the greatest-hits distillation of an unprecedented recording and visual-art project that stretches back nearly two decades. Since 2000, The Dill has been stockpiling songs that drew from personal experience, but were brought to life through communal improvisation. With a little help from his many friends—ranging from the unsung heroes in his hometown of Hamilton, to some of the biggest names in Canadian indie-rock—The Dill had, by 2016, amassed a total of 52 songs, which he debuted online, one at a time on a weekly basis over the course of that year. As for a physical release, well, that could only take one possible form—as a deck of playing cards of course, with each of the 52 tracks represented by an original, thematic image created specially for the project by cast of 45 Canadian visual artists. “It’s my magnum opus,” says The Dill of his 52-storey tower of song. “It was a giant snowball I rolled down the hill with lots of my friends.”

THE REDHILL VALLEYS
Friday September 13
11:45pm-12:30pm
Mohawk College Stage

The Redhill Valleys are a four piece alt-country and roots rock band from Hamilton, Ontario. They were named runners-up at the 2017 Boots and Hearts Emerging Artists Showcase and have since gained a lot of traction and fans in the Canadian Country music scene. Following an East Coast tour, the band was chosen as the CMAO Artist of the Month and also awarded as finalists in the 2017 Canada’s Walk of Fame Emerging Artists Program. Last year The Redhill Valleys gained nationwide exposure after being chosen as one of the top 9 finalists across Canada in the SiriusXM Top of The Country Contest. Their influences come from iconic artists such as Neil Young, Lucinda Williams, Tom Petty and The Band, while forging a musical path all their own. Their unapologetic stage presence and grit-infused harmonies are putting The Redhill Valleys on the Canadian Country Music map as a band you don’t want to miss.

THE RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE
Saturday September 14
9:45pm-10:45pm
TD Stage

Over four acclaimed albums, The Rural Alberta Advantage has explored themes ranging from hometowns lost and found to tragic Alberta disasters. Some won awards, some were critics’ darlings but all of them showed a frank and forthright style of songwriting that has continued to leave its mark and grab fans around the world. Years of touring have filled rooms with a sound far beyond what any music fan would initially expect from a trio, until they witness Paul Banwatt’s incomparable drumming style live and the number of parts Amy Cole can play at any one time alongside Nils Edenloff’s cathartic vocals. Recognized amongst indie rock die-hards as “Canada’s best unsigned band” to sold-out tours and devoted fans around the world with featured coverage from Spin Magazine, Pitchfork, The New York Times and Rolling Stone all taking note. The band has been nominated for two 2012 Juno Awards (Best New Group and Video of the Year for their song “Stamp”), long listed for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize, and awarded the CBC Music Prize for Best Independent Artist in 2014. The RAA has released four albums on Saddle Creek/Paper Bag Records: Hometowns (2009), Departing (2011) and Mended With Gold (2014). Their most recent album, The Wild (2017), features the singles ‘White Lights’ and ‘Brother’. The band heads out for a small tour across North America this spring to perform and re-form some of the new material they’ve been working on. Expect new music soon.

“Consider this both edgy and essential” —  Under the Radar

“This is a focused trio who boast a superb drummer and feature lovely, unshowy harmonies, able to balance the melancholy of Nils Edenloff’s lyrics with a euphoric, confident delivery that feels like a brilliant form of catharsis” — Uncut

THE SORORITY 
Friday September 13
10:45pm-11:25pm
Fireball/Exclaim! Stage

All from Toronto, all for the love. The emcees who make up The Sorority prove through rhythm and rhyme that there is a place for them in this Hip Hop culture. With three different stylings, Lex Leosis, Haviah Mighty and Keysha Freshh bring unique energy to a common craft. Each contributing their own style, personality and energy, The Sorority is a sisterhood of talent destined to empower, entertain and educate.

HAMILTON BLUES ALL-STARS
Featuring STEVE STRONGMAN
Sunday September 15
7:15pm-8:30pm
Fireball/Exclaim! Stage

Award-winning Canadian bluesman Steve Strongman is a versatile talent, and a restless one. By constantly pushing himself in new directions, he has kept himself vital. His talent is huge and impossible to miss, and it’s matched by his staggering musical ambition — as guitar-slinger, songwriter or vocalist. The same structures and progressions that animate blues and roots music can also choke the air out of it, smothering it in caricature and cliché. But Strongman is a subtle shape-shifter who manages to slip that trap without betraying the music he loves. Throughout, he never sounds an inauthentic note or loses touch with the essence of the blues. With his new album No Time Like Now, one of this country’s most talented and compelling blues players becomes a juggernaut. Backed by an impressive pack of players (including drummers Dave King and Adam Warner, bassists Rob Szabo and Alec Fraser, keyboardist Jesse O’Brien), the band is pure fire — both athletically limber and wickedly tight. Strongman’s breakthrough 2012 release A Natural Fact was hailed as a standout album, earning Maple Blues Awards for Recording, Songwriter, and Guitarist Of The Year as well as a 2013 Juno Award for Blues Recording Of The Year. In 2014 he was thrice-nominated at the Maple Blues Awards (Guitar Player, Electric Act, and Entertainer of the Year) and in 2015 received a second Juno nod for Blues Album of the Year (for Let Me Prove It To You). The performer’s impressive resume has seen him share the stage with international blues royalty including BB King, Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan, Joe Cocker, Robert Cray, Ronnie Earl, Roy Clark, Otis Clay, and Jeff Healey. 

Steve Strongman appears as part of the Hamilton Blues All-Stars, alongside Jack de Keyzer, Harrison Kennedy, Hailee Rose, Jesse O’Brien, Dave King & Colin Lapsley

TRICKBAG
Friday September 13
10:45pm-11:30pm
Mohawk College Stage

Trickbag has been entertaining music lovers live and on record for over two and a half decades. They are now poised to open another exciting musical chapter in their long history. The recent addition of two new members, bassist Rick Miles and Steve Beach, a master of the mighty Hammond organ has revitalized the classic Trickbag sound. They join guitarist Larry Feudo, drummer Paul Panchezak and vocalist Donna Panchezak, veteran members who have been at the helm of the band since its inception. Individually and as a group Trickbag has shared the stage with everyone from Tom Wilson, Dave Rave and Daniel Lanois to King Biscuit Boy, Kelly Jay, Hock Walsh and Garth Hudson. Trickbag’s music encompasses rocking blues, roots music, classic Americana, soul sounds, delta blues and rhythm and blues with a distinctly southern flavour. So diverse — and yet it always sounds like Trickbag. 

YAMANTAKA//SONIC TITAN
Saturday September 14
4:00pm-5:00pm
Mohawk College Stage

There’s a whole world contained within Yamantaka // Sonic Titan. They’re a Noh-Wave prog collective, a black-and-white (and sometimes red) theatre company, an operatic psych cult, and the speculative prophets of humanity’s impending doom. Above it all, though, they’re a thunderous rock band, and on their third album, DIRT, they’re the heaviest they’ve ever been. Though they’ve been an amorphous beast since they formed in 2010, DIRT follows the group’s most significant evolution in years. Now totally Toronto-based, they’ve added new singer Joanna Delos Reyes, guitarist Hiroki Tanaka and bassist Brandon Lim, who, along with the towering drums of leader/artist Alaska B, singer/theatre artist Ange Loft and keyboardist Brendan Swanson, turn the group into a driving engine of sound. Live, the band can be sprawling and theatrical or concise and visceral, filling the stage with noise, melody and cacophony.

DIRT is the band’s first album since 2013’s UZU, their second straight to be shortlisted for the Polaris Prize as one of the best Canadian albums of the year. But the gap between albums hasn’t been a hiatus. Instead, the group hunkered down in the studio composing the mostly-instrumental score to the DrinkBox Studios video game Severed, along with members of the Canadian-Filipina gong group Pantayo. They emerged with new elements to heighten and distort into their already far-reaching sound, which combines and tornadoes Asian diasporic and Indigenous influences and perspectives. The album was conceived as the soundtrack for an unreleased Haudenosaunee and Buddhist themed Anime produced in 1987. Like UZU, it takes place on the planet Pureland, now 10,000 years after the planet has flooded. The surviving people live within bubble domes floating in orbit. A team of mercenaries descends into the drowned wreckage of the world to receive the last sample of uncorrupted soil. Never abandoning their irreverent edge, the band pushes further into madness and finds clarity in it, combining Iroquois creation myth and Buddhist principles with classic sci-fi themes to show how humanity continues to succumb to its worst impulses: madness, hubris and greed. With a sarcastic sigh that crosses political spectrums, DIRT confronts the lies that we tell ourselves and each other and asks what it means to push forward for an ideal just to die anyway.

Narratively, it’s the most ambitious project they’ve ever done. Musically, though, they’ve streamlined their sound, digging into both heavy and poppy influences like Judas Priest, Killing Joke, and Jordan Knight and translating them into their own unmistakable aesthetic. The live show is still a sensory overload of makeup and costumes that falls somewhere between Boredoms and Kiss, but the focus now is on their sound – the fullest, most killer version they’ve put on record yet. They think big, but they’re not a thought experiment. They’re a force. Similar to Sun Ra’s take on Afrofuturism, the band resist being pigeonholed into any one idea, sound or cultural perspective. Instead, they burst their references apart, creating something entirely new. No matter what direction they go in, it can only come from Yamantaka // Sonic Titan.