In any other case, it would take a team of people to do C. R. Avery’s career or even conceptualize his 17-album catalogue, let alone gain his beautifully twisted, wonderfully dirtied world view. From what dimension he pulls his ideas, we’ll never know. He’s a regular guest of writers festivals, sexy poetry slams, badass burlesque dances, punk piano bars, and if there ever was, is, or would be such a thing as a rap opera festival, he’d surely be the guest of honour with his six rap operas which have been staged from LA to New York

The past is always with us, and no one knows that better than Leah Barley. On her first full-length album Bring Out Your Dead, the Vancouver-based singer/songwriter offers eight stirring original songs that evoke both the jubilation and heartbreak inherent to classic folk and country music. An accomplished banjo player as well as guitarist, Barley is joined on the album by a full band featuring longtime collaborators violist John Kastelic and multi-instrumentalist Ross Christopher Fairbairn to create a sound as affecting today as it was a century ago.

Dishing out upbeat and humorous folk-rock, the Vancouver-based Cat Murphy Band are here to party! Founded in 2016 by Kaitlin Deavy, the band has undergone many lineup changes but is still going strong. Kaitlin Deavy on guitar and vocals, Ross Fairbairn on bass and Katie Stewart on violin.