Howie MacDonald and Beverly MacLean - Céilidh Matinee
2025-06-07 17:00 - 20:00 (America/Halifax) | The Frolic’n Folk Pub & Grill, 4115 HWY 223, Iona, Nova Scotia, B2C 1A3, Canada
Howie MacDonald and Beverly MacLean
Get a taste of local celtic music & culture with our Saturday ceilidhs (kay-lee).
Expect to see world-renowned talent & budding entertainers from all over our native Cape Breton.
General admission seating usually $5 cover
First come first serve at the pub. No reservations. Minors allowed up until 10PM

Trivia Night at The Frolic
2025-06-12 20:00 - 22:00, 2025-06-19 20:00 - 22:00, 2025-06-26 20:00 - 22:00, 2025-07-03 20:00 - 22:00, 2025-07-10 20:00 - 22:00, 2025-07-17 20:00 - 22:00, 2025-07-24 20:00 - 22:00, 2025-07-31 20:00 - 22:00
Come test your wits & win prizes!
3 Rounds – 12 general knowledge questions each round.
Play solo, or form a team. Funniest team name gets showered with accolades.
Hosted by your man – Ruarí Aonghas Lonce Murphy, every Thursday Night

Hearts of Kin
2025-06-13 20:00 - 22:00
Hearts of Kin is an emerging East Coast Americana band fronted by sisters Danielle MacDonald and Shellie Ann Tobin. The singer songwriters have been capturing audiences with their sweet sibling harmonies and signature slide guitar. Well known for their soulful songwriting, the darling duo’s style has been flavored by the early influences of Sheryl Crow, Jewel, The Chicks and the late great John Prine. Recently reunited in their Cape Breton hometown, the sisters have wasted no time establishing the band as an up-and-coming force. Their debut album, “Beautiful Burn”, has received significant recognition, winning Music Nova Scotia’s Country Recording of the Year 2024.
With several songs claiming top positions on east coast and national radio charts, Hearts of Kin have earned invitations to showcase for the East Coast Music Awards, the Stan Rogers Folk Festival, and the largest outdoor concert in Atlantic Canada, the Cavendish Beach Music Festival.
After sharing stages with names like Serena Ryder, Michelle Wright, and Lennie Gallant, the duo is touring locally, while working toward their next album.

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Jonathan Andrews - Céilidh Matinee
2025-06-14 17:00 - 20:00
Jonathan Andrews
Get a taste of local celtic music & culture with our Saturday ceilidhs (kay-lee).
Expect to see world-renowned talent & budding entertainers from all over our native Cape Breton.
General admission seating usually $5 cover
First come first serve at the pub. No reservations. Minors allowed up until 10PM

Céilidh Matinee
2025-06-21 17:00 - 20:00, 2025-06-28 17:00 - 20:00, 2025-07-05 17:00 - 20:00, 2025-07-12 17:00 - 20:00, 2025-07-19 17:00 - 20:00, 2025-07-26 17:00 - 20:00
Get a taste of local celtic music & culture with our Saturday ceilidhs (kay-lee).
Expect to see world-renowned talent & budding entertainers from all over our native Cape Breton.
General admission seating $5 cover
First come first serve at the pub. No reservations. Minors allowed up until 10PM

Cape Breton Celtic Trad Sessions
2025-06-22 16:30 - 19:30, 2025-06-29 16:30 - 19:30, 2025-07-06 16:30 - 19:30, 2025-07-13 16:30 - 19:30, 2025-07-20 16:30 - 19:30, 2025-07-27 16:30 - 19:30
Come and enjoy a casual gathering of musicians who have come together to play traditional Cape Breton celtic music.
Anyone is welcome to join in, or just sit back and enjoy the tunes.
Sundays at The Frolic 430 – 730pm
Full kitchen and bar service.
Minors allowed till 10pm

Lucy MacNeil & Band Redux
2025-07-08 20:00 - 22:00
Lucy has been performing with the Barra MacNeils for 37 years. They come from a long tradition of Cape Breton music and dance that has been the foundation of creative pursuits over their musical career.
Alongside her brothers she has travelled to Europe, Scotland, England, Wales,Ireland, the United States, Barbados, throughout Canada from Fogo Island, Nfld. To Iqualuit and a northern Quebec community, Puvirnituq.
The Barras recorded their first self titled album in 1986 and have continued making music, touring and recording throughout the years. During the 1990’s they were signed with record label Poly Dor and Opened for Celine Dion, Kenny Rogers and were special guests on two of Rita MacNeils’ Christmas specials.
The Barras made several appearances on Rita MacNeil’s CBC variety show from 94-97. In 2005 were guests on Rita’s beloved National Christmas tour in Canada. After separating ways with their label years later they continued on with recording and touring. Their lastest album is “On the Bright Side” recorded in 2017.
In 2015 Lucy was one of the artists in residence for the “Celtic Colours International Music Festival”. Here she was paired with Liz Doherty from Buncrana, Ireland to help select musicians and musical selections together for performances during the festival. It was a wonderful experience for both Lucy and the audiences who came to Celtic Colours and those that watched the online streaming shows.
In 2014 and 2017 Lucy was a special guest with Symphony Nova Scotia for their Rita MacNeil tribute concert. Here she performed with conductor Scott MacMillan, Symphony Nova Scotia and The Men of the Deeps.
During the pandemic which was a very quiet time for many Lucy started working on a solo album. Something she had wanted to do but the time never presented itself. She also felt in these uncertain times watching a world that was going through immense change and upheaval she wanted to leave something behind of herself and her lifetime attachment to traditional music and song.

Lucy MacNeil & Band
2025-07-09 20:00 - 22:00

Ben Caplan
2025-07-16 20:00 - 22:00
A Singular Voice in Contemporary Folk Music
Ben Caplan is a genre-defying troubadour whose deep baritone voice, theatrical stage presence, and poetic songwriting have earned him a devoted international following. Blending folk influences from Eastern Europe with the grit of North American blues and the sensitivity of confessional songwriting, Caplan has carved out a space that is uniquely his own.
His work is grounded in the folk idiom, but he is not a traditionalist. Instead, he treats tradition as a living thing—something to be interrogated, reimagined, and re-enchanted. His live performances are cathartic experiences, marked by intensity, humour, tenderness, and bold vulnerability.
Career Highlights
● Over 2,000 live performances across 27 countries including Canada, the USA, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Spain, Australia, the UK and more.
● Five studio albums, including the forthcoming The Flood (May 30, 2025), and the critically acclaimed Old Stock (2018), a theatrical concept album exploring migration, identity, and resilience.
● Festival appearances at international events include Glastonbury, Cambridge Folk Fest (UK), Haldern Pop (Germany), Byron Bay, Woodford, and Sydney Festival (Australia), SXSW (USA), Into the Great Wide Open (Netherlands).
● Extensive theatrical collaboration, including co-creating and starring in Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story, which toured extensively (over 400 performances) in North America, UK, Europe, and Australia. The show won multiple awards and the Off Broadway production earned Caplan seven Drama Desk Award nominations, including Outstanding Actor in a Musical and Outstanding Musical Score.
● Multiple awards and nominations, including a Nova Scotia Music Award and East Coast Music Award wins. Caplan’s work has also been featured on CBC, NPR, BBC Radio, and in The Guardian, Rolling Stone Germany, and Songlines magazine.
Touring & Live Performance
Ben Caplan is known for transforming rooms. Whether performing solo in intimate performance spaces or with a full band in clubs, theatres, and festival stages, he commands attention and connection. His concerts combine storytelling, songcraft, and a magnetic theatricality that leaves audiences moved and changed.
He is currently booking tours in support of The Flood, a new album that deepens his sonic palette, integrating dark, textural electronics with his signature lyrical force and folk roots.
What Makes Caplan Unique
● A theatrical musical presence, bridging the night club, the concert hall and the theatre.
● Deeply engaged storytelling that fuses history, politics, mythology, and the personal.
● A borderless sound, drawing from klezmer, folk, gospel, blues, and Balkan traditions, without ever becoming pastiche.
● Independent artist ethos with international touring infrastructure and a proven record of drawing audiences worldwide.
“Caplan roars like a hurricane and whispers like a ghost… one of the most singular performers of his generation.” — Songlines Magazine
“A giant bearded folk god… capable of coaxing laughter and tears in equal measure.” — The Guardian
“With a powerful, booming voice that vibrates your very soul long after the record draws to a close, Ben Caplan doesn’t just write music – he crafts emotions that leap from the song and on to the listener.”
— Americana Highways
“Caplan’s music is freewheeling stuff — he’s been described as a cross between Tom Waits and Gogol Bordello.”
— NPR’s World Cafe

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The Town Heroes
2025-07-22 20:00 - 22:00
Whether a sweaty rock show or an intimate acoustic environment, The Town Heroes want you to be entertained. Born and raised in small town Nova Scotia, Mike Ryan and Bruce Gillis have played together for the past 15 years—touring 9 countries, releasing 6 critically acclaimed albums, raising over 30k for charity, and winning an array of industry awards (13 Music Nova Scotia Awards, 5 ECMA’s).

Anthemic choruses, danceable arrangements, and tender falsettos highlight their catchy yet thoughtful songs. At heart, a perfect soundtrack for contemplating life with a bounce in your step. Musically, the band blends their 90’s alt-rock influences with singer-songwriter stylings in the vein of Neil Young or Ryan Adams. On stage they move like intense caricatures—soaked in sweat, pushing every chord, note and beat to the limit. A structured wall of sound emerges; familiar yet distinctive.

The Town Heroes have shown dedication to their craft and prolific output over the past 12 years. Each album has garnered them an increase in fanbase, industry recognition, and bigger stages and venues. The band won Music Nova Scotia’s “Entertainer of the Year” in both 2021 and 2022—the only act to ever win two years in a row. They have risen to be one of the most popular and sought-after bands on the East Coast of Canada.

In addition to their music, the band has become known for their ability to make people laugh. Through comedic videos gone viral, online bingo, unexpected wardrobe, operating late night sandwich stands at music festivals, amusing acceptance speeches and interviews, the band has earned a reputation for making people laugh.
Though vastly different, the band has found a way to balance these two sides in a seamless, cohesive manner. They see it as a crucial, necessary part of what they do. In a world where so much negativity fills the news, where the media endlessly focuses on the bad, The Town Heroes want to bring something positive into it all, as small as it may be. They see it as necessary because it is: it’s who they are. That’s something they’ll never change.
Since 2018, The Town Heroes have raised over $30,000 for various charities. Done entirely through grassroots initiatives on their social media, the band’s philanthropic side has supported groups like Feed Nova Scotia, The Red Cross, various animal shelters, and even paid for life saving hospital treatment for a young Colombian boy who singer Mike had met on his travels.
The band released their 7th full-length album SINGIN’ on June 21st, 2025. The album is a 9-song collection of songs that each reflect memories of the past—both the good and the bad. Each track serves as a vignette, offering listeners a journey through the corridors of time and nostalgia.
From “Hockey Fights” — a fun, youthful recollection of falling in love at a hockey game while fights are taking place on the ice in front of you—to “In Your Head” — a song about zooming out and looking at your life from 30,000 feet and seeing that the little things that bother us often aren’t that big a deal. Each song looks at how we perceive memories and how the past comes to shape who we are. Sometimes it’s a warm nostalgia smothering you in all the best ways, other times it’s a punch in the gut you’re still trying to come to terms with.

Ultimately, the album is a reminder of our shared humanity. It reminds us that despite our unique stories and backgrounds, we all navigate the same fundamental emotions and experiences. Through its honest and heartfelt exploration of the human experience, SINGIN’ fosters a sense of empathy and unity, encouraging us to embrace our commonalities and support one another through the ever-changing journey of life.

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The Town Heroes Redux
2025-07-23 20:00 - 22:00

Joel Plaskett Redux
2025-07-29 20:00 - 22:00
For over three decades, Joel Plaskett has proven himself a spinning wheel of reinvention. The Nova Scotia songwriter’s eclectic body of work reveals a restless and playful spirit, always transforming and expanding.

While continuing to celebrate—and be celebrated for—his regional ties and embrace of East Coast musical traditions, Joel’s omnivorous appetite for new sonic horizons is an integral part of his work. His discography includes heavy riff epics, like Thrush Hermit’s now-classic swansong Clayton Park (1999); low-fi and wide eyed solo records like In Need of Medical Attention (1999) and La De Da (2005); lean, loose and lyrical rock and roll with the Emergency on Down at the Khyber (2001) and Truthfully, Truthfully (2003); and a father-and-son nod to English folk traditions with Solidarity (2017). Then there are the endeavours that push the envelope further: the Emergency’s romantic epic concept album Ashtray Rock (2007); the months-long songwriting challenge Scrappy Happiness (2012); and Three (2009) and 44 (2020), Joel’s sprawling, multi-record ventures exploring love, loss, and existential investigation. For his latest release, the 4-track project One Real Reveal (2024), Plaskett strips his songwriting down to its raw materials, allowing everything in—all the human touches the tape could pick up—and letting (almost) everything out.Coast-to-coast and the world ’round, Joel has rocked crowds at clubs, festivals and grand old theatres with longtime Emergency bandmates Dave Marsh and Chris Pennell as well as drawn audiences close with intimate acoustic shows, both solo and with his father, Bill. Then there are the special events that have really allowed Joel to reach the rafters, like headlining Toronto’s Massey Hall with everyone in tow, playing the NAC in Ottawa backed by the national orchestra, and warming up huge stages for artists like The Tragically Hip and Paul McCartney.Joel and the Emergency have also been roundly celebrated within the music industry for their work, racking up awards and nominations from the JUNOs, the Polaris Music Prize, the East Coast Music Awards, Music Nova Scotia, and numerous others.While Joel’s songs are beloved far beyond the community that helped forge his sound, his creative heart is still found at home in Nova Scotia. At 45 Portland Street in Dartmouth there’s Fang Recording, the studio where he’s made many of his albums and produced records for other great artists like Mo Kenney, Steve Poltz, Shotgun Jimmie and Jimmy Rankin.
And through the door to the front of the building lies Taz Records, Morley’s Coffee and Friction Books. Since 2023, Joel has used the space to present Window Inn Wednesdays, a monthly, no-phones-allowed variety show that pushes back—like most of his projects—against the speed and din of modern life, making space for real engagement between art, artist, and audience.

2025 saw the release of ‘Songs From The Gang – A Celebration of Joel Plaskett’ – a deluxe covers album featuring the music of Joel Plaskett performed by Arkells, Sloan, Jill Barber, The Sheepdogs, Julian Taylor, Jenn Grant, Bahamas, City and Colour, Rose Cousins, Frank Turner, and many more.

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Joel Plaskett
2025-07-30 20:00 - 22:00
