Peterborough Folk Festival

2011 has been a landmark year for Brazilian-born singer/percussionist/composer Aline Morales. The launch of her debut solo album Flores, Tambores e Amores was met with widespread critical acclaim. David Dacks writes in the Grid, “Simply put, Aline Morales’ self-released Flores, Tambores e Amores may be the finest Brazilian album ever produced in Canada.”  An ambitious and eclectic record, Flores defies easy classification.  While rooted in classic Brazilian song styles, such as samba, forró, Northeastern folk music and 1960’s Tropicalia, Flores inhabits its own unique musical world, where traces of Italian film scores, African sounds, avant garde poetry and vintage synths ebb and flow throughout.

Flores represents a departure for Aline, whose previous projects have been centred around traditional Brazilian drumming. Born and raised in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Aline began her performing career as a child training in capoeira, and by the time she reached her 20′s, she had performed in a variety of traditional and modern bands including one of Brazil’s most well-known maracatu groups, Nacao Estrela Brilhante do Recife led by Mestre Walter de Franca.  Since her arrival in Toronto, Canada in 2003, she has been a tireless promoter of the traditional maracatu rhythms of Northeastern Brazil, performing with her 30-member percussion troupe, Baque de Bamba, at countless outdoor festivals, leading parades through Kensington Market in Toronto and even starring in Ontario Tourism’s “There’s No Place Like This” commercials.

Drawing now from a wider range of influences, Flores, Tambores e Amores finds Morales in a stage of musical exploration. Gone is the wall of percussion, replaced instead by lush, eclectic arrangements, which seamlessly blend traditional and modern instruments. At home in her new role as solo artist, Morales “shines with mature confidence amid [producer] David Arcus’ outstanding orchestrations.” (David Dacks, the Grid)

You can catch Aline performing music from her new album with an all-star band composed of some of the most sought-after musicians in Toronto’s Brazilian music scene.

You can learn more about Aline Morales by visiting her website.

Emerging from the sleepy river town of Peterborough, Ontario, The Avenues make real country music; not country music that requires the pre-fix “alt” or “new,” but the pure, honest, and unadorned kind. Forming in the winter of 2009, The Avenues sound the way Nashville might have without the glitz and glamour, as their banjo pickin’ and guitar strummin’ – augmented by the addition of bass and drums – echo the honkytonks and the heartaches of country music made famous by one of its first heroes – Hank Williams.On their self-titled first album, Chris Culgin (guitar and vocals) Benj Rowland (banjo, bass pedals and vocals) and Josh Fewings (drums), tell stories from the frontiers of country music, wandering that liminal space just past what musicologists call tradition. Listening to songs such as “Car Crash” or “Troubles” is strikingly familiar yet undoubtedly new, like hearing a new story from an old friend.Under their former name the County Boys, Chris and Benj, toured Canada multiple times and developed two albums of songs, which can still be heard at Avenues performances. As well as being a performer at The Peterborough Folk Festival, and Shelter Valley Folkfestival, they’ve just completed a fall tour of the Maritimes.With stunning vocal harmonies and a high-spirited live show, The Avenues are one of Canada’s best-kept secrets.

To learn more about The Avenues, please visit their website. 

Emerging Artist Award Winner 2010

Bio: Returning to Canada from a long sojourn in the state of Utah, Kate Le Deuce is bringing something unique to the alternative country scene. Channeling 1970s country music, when men lived hard, drank hard, and drove hard, she sing songs for truck drivers, drunks and sad bastards. On subjects such as year-long benders, sexual deviance and macho heartbreak. she cuts through all expectations with her original repertoire. If the greats of 70s country were chicks, they’’d sound like Kate Le Deuce

With her charismatic stage presence and larger-than-life personality Kate Le Deuce is like the Charlotte Bronte of the country music set. Her song writing belies her age, with world-weary themes, tough emotions, and a set of pipes that will knock you back on your heels. Kate Le Deuce has an uncanny ability to simultaneously catch the ears of a noisy bar full of music hipsters and make old boozers who don’t know and don’t care about the music scene cry into their beers. Currently recording a new album, Kate Le Deuce is ready to break hearts and blow minds across her home and native land.

Visit her website for more information!

Emerging Artist Award Winner 2002

James McKenty is the guitarist/vocalist of The Spades.

Looking at today and working back, it’s easy to see how The Spades have built such a strong fan base; good old fashioned hard work.

They’ve just completed a new album, “Subatomic” set to be released on March 23, 2010 through the band’s newly formed independent record label, Pirate Radio Records. Recorded at the Bathouse with Gord Sinclair (The Tragically Hip) producing, “Subatomic” captures the essence of what the The Spades do best; gut wrenching rock and roll, catchy melodies and impassioned delivery. A tour with Gordie Johnson (Big Sugar/Grady) led to Gordie mixing the album in Texas and sending the tracks to Howie Weinberg in New York for mastering. Promising to be their best effort yet, “Subatomic” features the single, “The Revenge of Johnny Laundry” which is currently charting on rock radio across the country and was voted the #1 song for 2009 on The Wolf 101.5.

Born out of the belly of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, James McKenty (vox/guitar), Tommy Street (drums/vox), and Josh Robichaud (bass/vox) have toured across Canada several times in the past two years including a national tour with Matthew Good and shows with The Sam Roberts Band, Blue Rodeo, The Trews and The Tragically Hip (to name a few). They’ve played at venues as diverse as Massey Hall to the Virgin Festival in Calgary; and it’s these performances that have assisted The Spades in bringing their influence of 1960′s and 1970′s rock to a new generation.

Dark and dirty, just like the power trio’s that preceded them. With nothing to hide behind, The Spades have developed an army of sound. The Hamilton Spectator dubbed them “simply the best garage rock outfit in Ontario”, and recently The Peterborough Examiner had this to add; “The Spades: On the Verge of Breaking Big”.

For more information, visit their website.