Second Wave of Artists Announced for 2024 Festival Lineup

The second wave of artists for 2024’s Folk On The Rocks (FOTR) music festival, July 19-21, is here!

If you want a chance to bump into some of this year’s artists, then the best tickets in town are the Owl passes, formerly known as our VIP passes. The ultimate FOTR pass, they include access to the hospitality area where you can mix and mingle with the artists, 10 free drink tickets, Owl meals and snacks all day, and the ability to skip the line at the beer garden all weekend long (capacity permitting).  With only five Owl Passes left, buy yours now before it’s too late!

The festival lineup is being announced in three waves, with the final wave scheduled for May 17. Early bird tickets and Owl passes are only available until May 12.  They can be purchased here: https://www.folkontherocks.com/tickets

Second Wave of the Lineup for 2024 Folk On The Rocks:

Aladean Kheroufi - Equal parts balladeer, crooner and pop star, Aladean Kheroufi is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger, producer, recordist and DJ. Canadian by way of Algeria. He writes songs that are idiosyncratic, soulful and devastating, with a glass half-full optimism that turns heartbreak into melancholy party anthems. His last single “LOVE! … (is the answer) b/w Every Girl” was released February 2022 to critical acclaim with his much anticipated debut LP ‘Studies In A Dying Love’ arriving spring 2024 via Toronto label We Are Busy Bodies.

Aurora Fiddle Society – The Aurora Fiddle Society promotes fiddling in Yellowknife and throughout the North Slave region.

Babe Corner – Babe Corner is kicking off a new era of Vancouver rock with a message of love, panic, longing, and satisfaction. Their debut LP Crybaby released in 2023 is a fully realized synthesis of the diverse poles of their sound. With a melange of sensuous guitars, pulsing synths, poised rhythms, and soaring harmonies the album is a brooding pleasure, just as powerful played softly or loud. This is a project not afraid to confront enormity and find a rhythm to dance through it. Babe Corner embarked on their first tour in Summer 2023, spilling one of the Canadian indie music scene’s most exciting secrets across North America.

Beatrice Deer – Acclaimed “Inuindie” pop star Beatrice Deer is a singer-songwriter based in Montreal. Half Inuk and half Mohawk, Beatrice was born and raised in Nunavik, Quebec, in the small village of Quaqtaq. Her award-winning songs are crafted upon deeply personal lyrics and blend indie rock and modern folk with traditional Inuit stories and throat singing. She has released seven studio albums, including her newest, titled Little Songs, a revitalization of traditional Inuit songs for children. Beatrice Deer sings in three languages: Inuktitut, English, and French. A beloved figure in Arctic Canada, she has performed worldwide, from the Venice Biennale to Norway’s Førde Traditional and World Music Festival to the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona.
 

Begonia – Pegged as Canada’s breakout alt-diva, Begonia has built a legion of fans online and at her legendary live shows.  Her critically acclaimed discography includes Lady In Mind EP (2017), Fear (2019) and Powder Blue (2023). Among her accolades, she has a JUNO nomination (2021, Adult Alternative Album of the Year), two Polaris Prize nominations, multiple #1 songs on CBC Radio, and was named one of NPR’s Artists You Need to Know. Her sophomore album, Powder Blue emerged in early 2023 and confronts themes of sexuality, self-discovery, acceptance and empowerment. The album was named one of CBC Music’s Best Canadian Albums of 2023 (#7) and was shortlisted for the 2023 Polaris Music Prize.  

Boogey The Beat – For years Anishinaabe DJ and producer Les Boulanger — known by audiences as Boogey the Beat — has toiled behind the scenes, laying the sonic foundations for other musicians’ anthems. As a long-time lover of hip-hop and rap, collaboration is his comfort zone. He’s worked with the likes of The Halluci Nation (formerly a Tribe Called Red) and Snotty Nose Rez Kids, playing stages across Turtle Island. In homage to the sounds of a sundance, Boogey builds each song around a percussive heartbeat, then adds vocals and other instruments, letting the drum lead the way. He remembers walking up to one of his first childhood pow wows and hearing the big drum, a guiding force that stays with him today. 

Clerel – Clerel Djamen made his stage debut in Montreal, equipped with his voice and acoustic guitar. Word about his captivating voice soon spread around town and beyond, inspiring Djamen to channel his musical influences into his own original compositions. These efforts led to an EP, co-produced with Japanese-Canadian engineer, producer and guitarist Kento Kataoka and released in 2019. More recently, Djamen has released a digital 45, as well as a first Francophone project. Clerel has also appeared as a contestant on nationally broadcast reality talent show La Voix (The Voice Canada) and participated in The Late Show’s #PlayAtHome series, with a performance of his single.

Ginalina – Four-time JUNOS and 5-time Canadian Folk Awards nominee Ginalina pioneers unique family folk music, fusion folk music, and beautiful children's books that celebrate family, nature, community, culture, and the connections we share between them.  Her songs and stories are respectful and real, warm and winsome, emotive and energizing.  Together, and in English, Mandarin, and French, with loved ones, strangers, and friends, we can sing, dance, and experience a creative sort of kindness that this world needs more than ever.

Gnarwhal – Gnarwhal is a genre-bending four-piece rock band that weaves heavy alternative fuzz rock with progressive metal intricacies and doom-tinged grooves. Based in Yellowknife, the band swiftly coalesced and emerged as a leading catalyst in the resurgence of heavy music within their home territory. Their inaugural self-titled album, "Gnarwhal," saw the light of day in early 2023. This impressive debut earned them a nomination for a 2023 Western Canadian Music Award, particularly in the Metal and Hard Music category. In 2022, they also claimed the Best New Single award at the inaugural 2022 Music NWT Awards, a testament to their rapid ascent in the music scene.

Haley Blais – Haley's defiant scream-into-your-pillow pop anthems have amassed 20 million streams worldwide and sold out headline shows across the US and UK, and it all began in 2014 when she started recording and releasing songs from her bedroom. With her 2018 EP Let Yourself Go providing a breakout success with songs like "Small Foreign Faction" and "Seventeen," Haley has been shaping her songwriting craft ever since with more infectious melodies and turns-of-phrase that are as humorous as they are poignant. In 2020, Haley released her debut full-length album Below the Salt, and her forthcoming sophomore effort Wisecrack is concerned with conscience, morality, and the superego. It’s “bleak but true,” as Haley puts it. 

Mattie Leon – Mattie Leon is a singer/songwriter hailing from Hamilton, Ontario. A craftsman on guitar and piano, he refuses to leave the past behind. Mattie’s sensibilities are informed by the songwriting of the sixties and seventies. His voice, whether soaring or soulful, is his own. The result is a fresh take on a classic form; familiar but unmistakably new.

Nix & Menno – Best friends Nixon Boyd and Menno Versteeg were neighbours in a small town just outside of Ottawa. It was 1997 and 11 year old Nixon was learning guitar and had just met his new neighbour three doors down, 17-year-old Menno. Obsessed with Green Day, John Prine and certain that he knew all of the five chords that exist on guitar, Menno determined he was qualified to be just that teacher. On guitar lesson number two, Nixon showed Menno the actual chords to "Basket Case", blowing Menno's mind, and starting off a musical love affair that has so far spanned almost three decades, thousands of shows in 20+ countries, 10 Top Ten singles and enough ridiculous stories to fill Webster's Encyclopedia of WTF. For now though, they are starting with a 30-40 minute midday set, perfect for people sitting down.

Northern Mosaic Network – Running since 2017, the Performing Arts & Queer Justice Camp is a week-long joint project between Northern Mosaic Network and Folk on the Rocks. The camp hosts an NWT-based artist and an artist from elsewhere in Canada to mentor young artists and share their skills. Youth spend the week talking about social justice issues that impact the 2SLGBTQIPA+ community and write songs, spoken word poetry and performance art, all to perform it at Folk on the Rocks!

Skye Wallace – With a skill in carving melodies and shreddable moments from rock foundations, Skye Wallace is also an expert at proving herself in every room, at every turn. New album Terribly Good, Wallace’s Six Shooter Records debut, is a candid self-own - tender in purpose, yet tough in process. Throughout the collection, listeners are there in the room with a view of the mirror while Skye stares down the harder takes and owns her mistakes.

Tanya Snow – Tanya Snow is a writer and singer living in Yellowknife. She is originally from Rankin Inlet. She began throat singing in her late teens and has continued into adulthood. Her day job is marketing for a local organization that supports Indigenous entrepreneurs. Throat singing is typically done between two women. Tanya will perform with musicians, Al Be and Andrea Bettger, improvising instruments and voice to create new sounds.

The Dandy Lions – Based in Yellowknife NWT, The Dandy Lions are a northern Canadian folk music group.

Troublesome 96 – Troublesome 96 is a multifaceted individual with a passion for music and an unyielding drive to make a difference. Born and raised in Zimbabwe, and now living in Yellowknife, Troublesome 96 has spent a lifetime exploring and embracing the diverse facets of the human experience. With a heart full of ambition and a mind filled with dreams, Troublesome 96 looks ahead to the future with boundless optimism. He is driven by a vision to empower, and his journey is a testament to the belief that with determination, compassion, and a thirst for learning, anything is possible

Folk on the Rocks 2024 early bird tickets are for sale at www.folkontherocks.com/tickets.

Special thanks to Folk On The Rocks’ dedicated title sponsor: Lawson Lundell.

Further thanks to our dedicated sponsors and funders: 62 Degrees North; 100.1 True North FM (Vista Radio); Cabin Radio; CANNOR; Capital Suites, City of Yellowknife; DT Electric; Government of Northwest Territories; Heritage Canada and Media Tenois; NNSL; RioTinto Diavik; The Explorer Hotel.

MEDIA CONTACT FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, OR INTERVIEW REQUESTS

Agata Gutkowska, Marketing Manager | agata@folkontherocks.com 

Carly McFadden, Executive & Artistic Director | carly@folkontherocks.com | 778-990-6257