Matt Andersen (NB) Sandpaper-sweet, powerhouse vocals + virtuosic guitar playing = raw and transcendent country-infused blues.

Joseph Arthur (USA) Lyrically adventurous and musically restless, his atmospheric performances incorporate distortion and loop pedals.

C.R. Avery (BC) Beatboxer and hip-hop blues iconoclast Avery delivers genre-twisting, poetic tour-de-force performances with his symphonic band.

Balkan Beat Box (USA) A potent stew of ragga, hip hop, Balkan and Arabic elements creates a new breed of 21^st century Mediterranean music.

Geoff Berner (BC) Accordion-welding klezmer revivalist/avenging angel excavates the fault line between evil and idiosyncrasy in edgy short stories about misfits and plot twists.

Blind Pilot (USA) The bicycle-touring duo has expanded to a full band including horns and banjos, but still maintains its sing-along appeal.

Blue Rodeo (ON) 30 years, a dozen albums and countless awards later, Blue Rodeo’s original countrified rock, based around formidable songwriting duo Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor, is still fresh and surprising.

Bonnie “Prince” Billy (USA) Actor and songwriter Will Oldham, aka Palace Brothers, brings his trademark do-it-yourself Appalachian post-punk aesthetic and blunt honesty.

Braids (AB/QC) Are making waves with quirky aural experimentation and textured, urban electronic folk music.


Jon Brooks (ON) Pens weighty songs that reveal his uncanny ability to press his ear against the heartbeat of our times.

T. Buckley (AB) Original traditional country roots with grit and attitude.

Cadence Weapon (AB) Clever writing and impressive rhymes from Edmonton’s poet laureate and crusading pioneer push the rap and electronic music envelope.

Les Chauds Lapins (USA) Lyrically clever and deliriously fun classic 1920s - ‘40s French swing with rootsy American jazz overtones. 

Chic Gamine (MN/QC) Gospel, soul, ’50s doo-wop, Brazilian forró and French chanson are infused with exquisite four-part harmonies and percussion.

City and Colour (ON) Hot on the heels of his 3^rd solo album, A Little Hell, Dallas Green wraps candid musings in stripped-down, beautiful indie folk-rock melodies.

Coeur de Pirate (QC) Delicately crafted, piano-driven melodies with folk undertones, and a voice that delivers heartbreak and joy with conviction and élan.

Cutest Kitten Ever (AB) ‘Rapture pop' – lush, melodic toe-tappers for the End Times, with three-part harmony, French horn, Casio keyboard and distorted guitar amplifying Kris Demeanor's acerbic songwriting,

Dark Dark Dark (USA) Minimalist chamber-folk sextet artfully layers powerful vocals with New Orleans jazz, Americana and Eastern European folk for an unforgettable sound experience.

David Wax Museum (USA) Latin rhythms, call-and-response hollering, poetic lyrics and donkey jawbone rattling combine in joyful Mexi-Americana fusion.

Kris Ellestad (AB) Sparse haunting arrangements, effortless hooks, organic vocals and down-to-earth lyrics take you on an adventure into the unknown.

Elvis Bossa Nova (ON) This high-flying Toronto garage-jazz troupe shakes up The King with vibraphones, surf guitar, tasty calypso grooves and spacey jams.

Fada Dance (SK) A trio of women unleash spunky and inventive contemporary dance as they animate dance floors, emcee and conduct kids’ workshops.   

The Felice Brothers (USA) Their latest album expands their trademark woozy, dark barroom blues, ramshackle vaudevillian atmospherics and surreal storytelling in wild new directions.

The Flatlanders (USA) Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely and Butch Hancock’s subtle riddles and stinging queries unravel complexities in classic rowdy, gritty Tex-Americana.   

David Francey (QC) succinctly and poetically elevates the everyday into something infinitely more noble and memorable.

Nanci Griffith (USA) Tackles weighty issues and tells vivid stories about her characters’ lives with beautiful lilting folk and country-traced balladry.

The Head and the Heart (USA) Textured harmonies, catchy piano and symphonic strings weave together sonically adventurous – yet achingly familiar – layers of DIY Americana.

The Herbaliser (UK) Since the early 1990s, their albums and rousing shows have encompassed hip-hop, rare groove, funk, jazz, cool samples, live instrumentation and guest vocalists.

Hollow Brethren (AB) A tête-à-tête between The Cape May’s Clinton St. John and Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir’s Bob Keelaghan that melds surrealist psych-folk with dark early blues and country ballads.

Imaginary Cities (MN) Soul popsters fashion timeless and evocative music, with catchy melodies, funky beats, moody chord changes and sublime choruses.

Inhabitants (BC) Post-modern soundscapes with serious musical chops and a sense of fun explore the dynamic relationship between chaos and form.

Elisapie Isaac (QC) Inuk singer, composer and filmmaker from the duo Taima seduces with her otherworldly Polar Pop/Arctic Electric songs.

Harrison Kennedy (ON) The soul of a gospel singer, the fire of a blues singer and the sensibilities of roots music meld in one man, for a potent serving of juke-house joy.

k.d. lang and The Siss Boom Bang (AB/USA) From her whimsical, subversive roots 25 years ago blending country music with a punk esthetic, this award-winning artist’s career combines her love of country and jazz with sophisticated, emotive torch singing.

Lightning Dust (BC) Black Mountain cohorts find their bare-bones niche; their spacious arrangements and smoky, weathered vocals can produce a haunting chill.

Raghu Lokanathan (BC) Spins clever stories of characters that are as likable, warped, dignified and unlikely as the grinning man himself.

Jez Lowe (UK) Inspired acoustic simplicity, humour and electric vitality from an oft-covered Northern English artist.

Catherine MacLellan (NS) Sparse, intimate country-folk that envelops its listeners in poetry and musical conversation.   

Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk (AB) Reflective, captivating folk-pop melodies that catch you off guard and leave you wanting more.

Matt Masters and the Gentlemen of the Rodeo (AB) Road warrior, country traditionalist and original honky-tonker with a real connection to the Canadian west.

Mighty Popo (ON) Popo creates deep, rooted music that pays tribute to ancient, diverse traditions by weaving Rwandan and African poetry, rhythms and vocal styles.

Minotaurs (ON) A musical marriage between Afrobeat’s propulsive rhythms and syncopated horn arrangements, and the indie-rock-folk songs of Nathan Lawr.

Jim Moray (UK) His innovative re-imagining of English traditional music blends orchestral flourishes, guitars and electronics. 

New Country Rehab (ON) A new spin on rooted country that’s refreshingly historical and smartly topical.

Morgan O'Kane (USA) His organic mountain music combines technical skill, phenomenal energy and a raw punk attitude.

The Once (Nfld) This young folk trio put a contemporary spin on Newfoundland’s Irish and Scottish influences.

Painting with Ella (AB) Youthful-but-wise, whimsical lyrics are underpinned by intricate and playful harmonies.

Joel Plaskett (NS) Pens infectiously catchy songs with bite and hooks that elevate the ordinary.

Portland Cello Project (USA) Extravagant performances of original soundscapes and wide-ranging covers blur musical lines and perceptions.

Punch Brothers (USA) Chris Thile and bandmates venture where no string band has gone before, with an unpredictable and virtuosic mix that’s been dubbed ‘the sound of synapses firing.’

Raleigh (AB) Their indie sounds combine duet vocals, deviant percussion, cello, guitar and piano into a poetic musical narrative.

Ernest Ranglin (Jamaica) A pioneering force known for session work at the famed Studio One, his long musical history includes being credited with the invention of ska’s "scratching" guitar style.  

Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band (USA) A hootin’ and hollerin’ trio whose soulful, swinging country blues ditties tackle both hard luck and optimism.

Carl Hancock Rux (USA) Poet, playwright and novelist Rux’s heady brew of eclectic soul and neo-blues is characterized by thoughtful and often scathing social commentary.

Martha Scanlan (USA) Classic and literate old-time music that evokes western landscapes and country life.

SoCalled (QC) Innovative multi-media artist and sardonic hip-hop maestro mashes up funk, klezmer and 1930s Yiddish music.

SociaLybrium (USA) Original Parliament Funkadelic member Bernie Worrell’s latest project with seminal musicians Melvin Gibbs, J.T. Lewis and Blackbyrd McKnight becomes one big extra-terrestrial jazzy funk groove.

Spiro (UK) Their novel take on traditional music has been likened to techno played by a travelling band from a Hardy novel, or Steve Reich playing the backroom of a village pub.

Buffy Saint-Marie (USA) She performs her vivid, moving anthems that have spanned genres, continents and generations with her hot 5-piece all-Aboriginal band from Winnipeg.

The Swamp Ward Orchestra (ON) Quirky songs and global dance tunes produce moments of exuberant folly, tranquil beauty, dance-floor mania and medieval delicacy.

Ti-Coca & Wanga-Négès (Haiti) Acoustic roots from one of Haiti’s few professional twoubadous (troubadours) weaves frequently mischievous and ribald tales.

Patrick Watson (QC) Mercurial vocals and a penchant for surreal acoustic and electric landscapes create a detailed miniature world that evokes imaginative flights of fancy.

Emily Jill West (AB) Songs infused with Appalachian, dissonant French cabaret and sparsely arranged acoustic pop sounds.

Jenny Whiteley (ON) Haunting folk and understated country songs from an artist known for her melodic gifts, hurtin’ songs and sharp writer’s eye.

Wilson, Swarbrick and Gaughan (ON/UK/Scotland) Visionary reggae artist Jason Wilson, legendary English fiddler Dave Swarbrick and Scottish troubadour Dick Gaughan explore the 300-year history of the rebel musics that have traversed the “Black Atlantic.”

Yemen Blues (Israel/USA) Powerful desert soul and complex grooves from a brew of Arabic and Jewish, African and Middle Eastern, blues and funk roots.

Yo La Tengo (USA) Their signature feedback-driven rock and sweetly melodic pop is built from years of adventurous eclecticism, defiant independence and restless creativity.

Yohimbe Brothers featuring Bernie Worrell (USA) Two founding members of the Black Rock Coalition – Living Colour’s Vernon Reid and DJ Logic – birth psychedelic space-age mix tape bachelor music with a mad twist.

Additional Info
Incubating at the Fringes: Calgary Folk Music Festival Breeds ...
Festival Director's recommendations for things to do in and around ...
Festival by-the-numbers
Calgary Folk Festival 2011 lineup

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