The Iona Heights Inn

Christina Martin
2018-08-15 20:00 - 22:30 (America/Halifax) | The Frolic’n Folk Pub & Grill, 4115 HWY 223, Iona, Nova Scotia, B2C 1A3, Canada
CHRISTINA MARTIN – 2018 Impossible To Hold Tour

AMERICANA UK – LIVE REVIEW
“I ADORE MARTIN’S TREMBLING VIBRATO AND ROUGH TOUGH ROCKER SENSIBILITY, A MODERN FEISTY JOAN JETT, SHE LOOKS COOL, ACTS COOL, SINGS COOL- A PROPER ROCKSTAR.”

“Impossible To Hold” is Martin’s sixth and strongest studio album, achieving a perfect balance between organic ambience and impeccable production. “I’m writing about faith and love more than ever with songs like ‘Keep Me Calm’ and ‘Always Reminding’, but I haven’t shaken the need to write about the darker things that are part of our human journey”. Combining good taste, passionate singing and thoughtful lyrics, “Impossible To Hold” is where music and poetry meet.

Christina began writing and recording her own music while slogging it out on the Austin, Texas bar scene. She has been relentlessly recording and touring in Canada and in the UK and Europe, building connections online and in the old-fashioned way, at venues big and small, singing songs about loss, love and perseverance. Her songs have been featured in films, on television, and she’s performed at music festivals around the world (Rolling Stone Weekender Festival, Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival, International Folk Alliance, Reeperbahn Festival, Canada Music Week).

For more information about Christina and her music please visit: www.christinamartin.net

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Friday Frolic
2018-08-10 19:00 - 21:30, 2018-07-13 19:00 - 21:30
Ian MacDougall
Catch some live music at the pub each Friday this summer.
Kitchen open till 9PM, bar open till 2AM
No cover charge.

Port Cities
2018-08-08 20:00 - 22:30
In the brief period of time since Port Cities unleashed their incendiary debut—a wildly self-assured collection of sparkling, rootsy pop that showcases the Nova Scotia trio’s devotion to songwriting—the band’s been hard at work bringing it to the masses. They’ve continued to explore and evolve their ambitious pop sound, melding diverse musical backgrounds to create an alchemy that’s part art, part songwriting science, and all magic: the nimble dynamism of Breagh MacKinnon’s smoky, jazz-indebted delivery, Dylan Guthro’s simmering and soulful R&B swagger, and Carleton Stone’s razor-sharp, romantic rock ‘n’ roll. In 2018, that memory-making mix of unforgettable melodies, high-flying harmonies, and electrifying heart on Port Cities is set to reach audiences worldwide.
It’s a chemistry that’s been perfected during the 100+ dates they’ve toured in the past year, in hotel rooms and songwriter circles, in vans rolling through foreign countries to rowdy pubs, and on the fog-bound shores of Canada’s misty east coast. It’s helped lead the band to numerous accolades, including a whopping five Nova Scotia Music Awards, a SOCAN #1 Award (for “Back to the Bottom”), and stints at #1 on CBC and Spotify charts. Port Cities has amassed over 1.5 million streams internationally, showcased at The Great Escape, Focus Wales, and the Reeperbahn Festival, and will be releasing their debut in the U.K. and Germany this year.
Beyond Port Cities’ deep devotion to their craft, their success is largely built on a simple but timeless approach: a good song is a good song is a good song. Whether it’s awash with synthesizer (“Sound of Your Voice”), pumped up with an overdriven crunch (“Where Have You Been”), or stripped down to the bare essentials with just an acoustic guitar and three voices. No matter what music the melody might call for, the best song always wins.

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Friday Frolic
2018-08-03 19:00 - 21:30
Roger Stone
Catch some live music at the pub each Friday this summer.
Kitchen open till 9PM, bar open till 2AM
No cover charge.

Mo Kenney
2018-08-01 20:00 - 22:30
Some artists are reluctant to peel back the layers and let you see what’s really going on inside their heads.
Mo Kenney is not one of those artists.
“The Details”, Kenney’s third album, comes as close as any recording I’ve ever heard to putting everything out there for you to see, to experience and to reflect on.
The 14 songs on this deeply personal set detail a series of events in Kenney’s life when she was going through what must have been one hell of a rough patch.
Holding back little, if anything, the Halifax- based singer/songwriter addresses relationships in her life that have fallen apart, her experiences with depression, emotional breakdowns fuelled by the excessive use of alcohol and the impact all of this was having on her as a person and as an artist.
While that may sound a trifle dark — on “Punchy” for example she sings about being punched in the face at a bar by some jackass — there is also a light at the end of the tunnel as Kenney deals with the hand she’s been dealt. She ultimately comes through it all and comes through it a stronger person for the experience.
Producing a concept album that connects all the dots in your life can be a daunting task but Kenney has serious writing chops, as she so aptly demonstrated on her eponymous debut record in 2012 and her sophomore effort “In My Dreams” in 2014.
The “Details” packs a lot of emotions into a record that runs just over 30 minutes.
It is a record of many moods, many colours and many shades and there are more than a few moments when you wonder how she made it through to the other side at all.
And the music underneath all of this is every bit as interesting as the lyrics Kenney penned to tell her story.
There’s a fair bit of flat-out rock’n’roll, a smattering of psychedelia, some dreamy pop music and some zippy stuff that reminds me just a little bit of Joan Jett. Some records take a little time to grow on you but “The Details” got me the first go round and tracks like “On The Roof”, “Unglued”, “I Can’t Wait” and the all-too-brief “Counting” brought me back for more.
And the more I went back the better the experience became because I began to hear new things, things I didn’t hear the first time through. Perhaps I got so wrapped up in the lyrics I missed some of the things that were happening musically.
This record is solid.
It’s brutally honest, at times, a little jarring in places, but there are moments of lightness and humour, albeit black humour.
Kenney produced the record with good friend Joel Plaskett, who also co-wrote Unglued. He also contributed most of the drums and bass tracks. Kenney played all the acoustic and electric guitar parts and she really wailed on some of the electric stuff. She also played keyboards.

Friday Frolic
2018-07-27 19:00 - 21:30
Stewart MacDonald
Catch some live music at the pub each Friday this summer.
Kitchen open till 9PM, bar open till 2AM
No cover charge.

The Town Heroes (Acoustic)
2018-07-25 20:00 - 22:30
They’ve toured the world, released three critically acclaimed albums and won an array of industry awards. Anthemic choruses, 3-part harmonies, tender falsettos and big drums highlight their riff driven, dirty-yet-nuanced barrage of sound. 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. Camaraderie shows in their musicianship, their songwriting highlights what they are: friends playing music for the love of it, in it for the long haul.
Musically, TTH are reminiscent of the 90’s Alt-Rock bands they grew up listening to. Lyrically, at the root of every song is a passionate exploration of the things that make us all human. Whether good or bad, they’re the things that make us who we are: heartache, longing, society in the modern age, dreams and family.
Through comedic videos, social media hi-jinks, blogs, unexpected wardrobe, 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.
For the past 6 years, TTH have played as a duo – Mike Ryan (guitar, vocals) and Bruce Gillis (drums) – captivating audiences with their remarkably full sound and energetic performances. With a desire to push the envelope even more, in November 2016 the band expanded to become a 4-piece, adding Aaron Green (guitars) and Tori Cameron (bass) to the band. The new lineup reflects and effectively captures the growth, vision, and musical progression of the band.

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Friday Frolic
2018-07-20 19:00 - 21:30
Wayne Bedecki
Catch some live music at the pub each Friday this summer.
Kitchen open till 9PM, bar open till 2AM
No cover charge.

Dylan Menzie
2018-07-18 20:00 - 22:30
With a sprawling vocal range and compelling approach to composition, Menzie has made an indelible mark in the talent-rich Atlantic Canadian music market with his debut EP, Heather Avenue, in 2013. The release – which earned Music PEI Award nominations and acclaim from industry influencers – led to high-profile performances throughout the Maritimes, including opening slots for City & Colour and Ron Sexsmith.
In 2016, Menzie was a finalist in CBC’s annual Searchlight competition on the back of his breakout single, “Kenya,” which then spent two weeks at number one on CBC Radio 2’s Top 20 leading up to the release of his 2016 album Adolescent Nature.
The record, anchored by the strength of songs like “Kenya” and the follow-up single “Talk to Me,” showcases the pure emotion one can extract from simply a great voice and keen sense of dynamics.
“I started out writing everything on acoustic guitar, though more recently, I’ve been bringing everything down to basic piano chords, and if the song can still move me and move people, I know I’m onto something,” he reveals about his creative process. “Once I’ve got that solid foundation, everything else is just colour and texture.”
Drawing clear influence from the likes of My Morning Jacket, Led Zeppelin, Radiohead, and Joel Plaskett without being derivative of any one, the quality of these songs heavily belies the young artist’s age.
In fact, the lyrics – as the album title might suggest – are the only thing here that could clue one in on Menzie’s youth. “I didn’t really see what tied these songs together until I was looking for an album title,” he admits, “and that theme seemed to envelope them all – the idea of finding yourself, where you want to go, and who you want to be in that confusing time of life.”
Since Adolescent Nature’s release, Menzie has been in even higher demand, earning one of two spots in the inaugural East Meets West collaboration between the ECMAs and BreakOutWest as well as slots at prestigious events like the Edmonton Folk Festival, Canadian Music Week, Folk Alliance International, and others.
But even as excitement behind his breakthrough continues to mount, Menzie already has his sights set on what’s next – another product of his self-competition and refusal to rest on any laurels. And if he continues on his current trajectory of each new song, each new release eclipsing its predecessor, he’ll soon be impossible to ignore.

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Old Man Luedecke
2018-07-11 20:00 - 22:30
Old Man Luedecke, is one of Canada’s best loved and most intriguing roots singer-songwriters. “An original, he is a musical singularity to be savoured and shared”, says the Vancouver Folk Festival. His memorable melodies, poetic sense and easy charisma appeal to anyone searching for new growth from old roots.
Old Man Luedecke was born in Toronto but has made his home for years in the music rich maritime province of Nova Scotia, on the east coast of Canada. There his music has been wholeheartedly adopted and is becoming representative for its traditional storytelling folk elements. It speaks to a new generation of people craving such meaning in their music.
Luedecke is a young man with an old soul who doesn’t sugar coat his fears and this lets his songs breathe with a fresh breeze of bittersweet hopefulness. He channels a refreshing energy from folk giants like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger with maybe a hint of Loudon Wainwright III. But it’s Luedecke’s contemporary lyrics coupled with the irresistible rhythm of the old time banjo that connect and make him so loved with his audiences. Anchored in his music’s melodic confidence is an ability to tap into a common muddled and dark search for meaning. This keeps people singing his songs and praises after he’s traveled on.
His performances are exciting and totally entertaining. His uncliched banjo playing sparkles beautifully and dynamically. This coupled with his thumping foot creates a complete sound. People are drawn into singing along. His singing is his own. Clear and unadorned it is totally emotive and suits the sincerity of his tunes. In the breaks between songs come wild and charming stories of meeting heroes and easygoing but gripping musings on things ridiculous and sublime that may have a wink of contemporary vaudeville. Equally at home on festival main stages, theatres and living rooms, he can hold court in the occasional indie rock bar. Luedecke has been a featured performer at all the major folk festivals in Canada and Australia and an increasing number of American festivals, like Strawberry in California. He has appeared with and shared the stage at concerts and soft seaters with such performers as Feist, Tim O’Brien, Joel Plaskett, David Francey, Buck 65, The Be Good Tanyas and Jill Barber. He’s shared festival stages alongside Bela Fleck, Tim O’Brien, Jack Elliot, Kris Kristofferson, Ashley MacIsaac, and countless others.
Old Man Luedecke has received great recognition for his works, including Juno Awards (The Canadian Grammy) for “Proof of Love” and “My Hands Are On Fire and Other Love Songs.”

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Friday Frolic
2018-07-06 19:00 - 21:30
Richard Schaller
Catch some live music at the pub each Friday this summer.
Kitchen open till 9PM, bar open till 2AM
No cover charge.

Adam Baldwin
2018-07-04 20:00 - 22:30
Adam Baldwin is a Dartmouth, Nova Scotia based musician and songwriter, perhaps best known as a member of Matt Mays’ band since 2008. His self-titled EP, released in 2013, won the Nova Scotia Music Week award for Male Artist Recording of the Year and he was named Musician of the Year in 2014.
Baldwin’s debut full-length album is called No Telling When (Precisely Nineteen Eighty-Five) and was released on June 24, 2016. The album was produced by Liam O’Neil (The Stills, Metric) and also features the talents of Josh Trager (Sam Roberts Band), Brian Murphy (Alvvays) and Leah Fay (July Talk).
Of making the record in Toronto during the lead up to the last federal election and the Blue Jays dramatic playoff run, Adam says: “Toronto was alive… indeed, Canada was alive. I walked down Dundas and Ossington every day to the studio and passed hundreds of election signs. You could feel the hope and you could feel the fear. It was on everyone’s tongue. If folks weren’t talking about the election, they were talking about baseball. The Toronto Blue Jays, an entity that falls just below rock and roll in terms of my devotion, had ended a playoff drought that almost precedes my memory. The Jays’ run into the American League Championship Series was the perfect foil for the very stressful federal election.”
The title track and first song describes events in New York City in 1985 (the year before Adam was born) and suggests how, thirty years on, not a lot in our culture has really changed. A particular unnamed real-estate developer, reality TV star and politician personifies this idea.
The first single “Daylight” was inspired by the political events in Canada surrounding the recording sessions. From Adam: “It’s a song about both the unity and division we felt as a country. It’s a song that should remind us that this change was spurred by a desire for a different direction, and that while our course appears to have changed, we have to demand that it continue to do so.”
“Anytime” and “Sparrow Song”, both featuring back up vocals from Leah Fay, loosely form a two act play and the centerpiece of the album. In “Anytime” Adam sings about young love and all the hopes and fears that come with that, while “Sparrow Song” describes those fears when they become reality.
“Rehtaeh” is about the systemic failures that led to the death of Rehtaeh Parsons in 2013 and is, as Adam puts it “maybe the most important song I’ll ever write.”
The album closes with “Living Proof”, a song about the Canadian Dream, and how as Adam points out, “The dream is elusive because it isn’t made available to everyone. It can’t be attained by just anyone.”

Kitchen Fest
2018-06-29 19:00 - 22:00
Rosie MacKenzie, Colin MacDonald, David Rankin, Kevin Dugas
Fiddles and bagpipes, concerts and céilidhs, food and drink, Gaelic language and song, cheering and dancing, informality and hospitality — consider this your official invitation to Cape Breton’s biggest kitchen party!
Full kitchen and bar service as well.

Dave Gunning
2018-06-27 20:00 - 22:30
“Truly, what makes Gunning so remarkable as an entertainer is his rare gift to be able to befriend the audience as a whole from the stage throughout the course of the concert. And, indeed, you do feel as though he’s as good of a friend as any after a night of songs, stories and lighthearted laughs.” – The Guardian
Call it the silver lining in the cloud of a brutally cold Nova Scotia winter. When acclaimed folk singer/songwriter Dave Gunning decided it was time to make his 11th solo album, he found the bleak weather outside a blessing, not a curse. “We were literally snowed in, but the power was on and I was good to go,” he says of the making of that album, Lift.
Eleven albums in, Dave Gunning has become a truly masterful songwriter, one who has earned real peer respect from such Canadian folk songwriting legends as Ron Hynes, David Francey, and James Keelaghan. “I grew up listening to people like Ron Hynes,” says Dave. “I look up to them but then it hits me sometimes that I’m their peer and they like my stuff too. It’s a weird headspace, flipping from being a fan to being a peer.”
Co-writing with his peers has had a major impact on Gunning. “The co-writing process has really helped my career, as it helps you keep the energy momentum going,” he explains. “Noted co-writers on Lift include Matt Andersen, Thom Swift, Catherine MacLellan, Jamie Robinson, plus American Sally Spring and Dave’s Pictou pals, Jim Dorie, John Meir, and Ray Stewart. One song here, “Alberta Gold” has already been something of a radio and video hit for Matt Andersen, who included it on his popular album Weightless. Gunning’s banjo-fuelled campfire singalong version is equally rousing in its depiction of the present-day migration of Maritimers to the Albertan oil patch.
The 13 songs on Lift cover refreshingly broad lyrical terrain. Story and character-based songs fit snugly alongside more personal material, and in true folk music tradition, some numbers could be considered protest songs. Gunning acknowledges that “this album has more personal and introspective songs than my past recordings. I do still love songs that are about things and tell a real story, like the songs of Stan Rogers. They inspire me.”
A fine example of that here is “I Robbed The Co. Store,” which tells the true story of a group of British settlers in Nova Scotia in the 1770s forced to steal from a storehouse reserved for troops just so they could feed their families. A more contemporary song with a Pictou County setting is “They Don’t Do That No More.” “That one is inspired by the fight we have here against a pulp mill that is just an environmental disaster,” explains Gunning. The mournful sound of the pedal steel punctuates his lament that “there’s poison on the harbour floor.” It’s a song one of Dave’s key inspirations, the late folk great Pete Seeger, would have been proud to call his own.
Another song, “Sing It Louder,” is actually a tribute to Seeger. “My goal was to write a song you could imagine him singing,” says Gunning. “As folk singers we should all aspire to carry the torch of Pete Seeger and his message of social justice.” Dave’s talents as a poetic lyricist are vividly displayed on the haunting “Breaker’s Yard” and the plaintive “Pasadena,” a co-write with Catherine MacLellan.
Gunning’s recording career is now approaching a full two decades in length (his debut album, Lost Tracks, came out in 1996). Along with richly-deserved peer respect, he has also earned a shelf full of music industry awards. That tally now stands at eight East Coast Music Awards and two Canadian Folk Music Awards, plus a 2012 Juno Award nomination in the Roots & Traditional Solo Album of the Year category for his album …a tribute to John Allan Cameron, a compelling homage to another of Dave’s Maritime musical heroes.
His songwriting skill has also been internationally recognized, with earlier tunes scoring victories and high placings in some major international songwriting competitions. As a fervent hockey fan, Gunning was also thrilled to win the CBC’s hotly-contested Hockey Night In Canada Song Quest in 2014 with “A Game Goin’ On”, a co-write with David Francey.
Give yourself a Lift and check out the work of an authentic artist at his creative peak.

Friday Frolic
2018-06-08 19:00 - 21:30
Farmer The Band
Catch some live music at the pub each Friday this summer.
Kitchen open till 9PM, bar open till 2AM
No cover charge.

2 For 1 Pasta Sundays
2018-05-27 16:00 - 21:00, 2018-05-20 16:00 - 21:00, 2018-05-13 16:00 - 21:00, 2018-05-06 16:00 - 21:00, 2018-04-29 16:00 - 21:00, 2018-04-22 16:00 - 21:00, 2018-04-15 16:00 - 21:00, 2018-04-08 16:00 - 21:00 and 3 more dates
2 for 1 Pasta Sundays
$13.99 + tax. Every Sunday 4-9PM
Choices of pasta:

Pesto Chicken Penne (cream base)
Maple Curry Chicken Penne (cream base)
Spaghetti Aglio e Olio (garlic & oil)
Italian Shrimp (oil base)
Chicken Picanté (tomato base)

(All served with garlic toast. Whole grain available)
Dine In Only. Beverage Purchase Required

Irish Mythen
2018-05-26 20:00 - 22:30
True power inspires awe, and Irish Mythen packs a lot of it – lyrical, musical, and personal – into a relatively small frame.
Mythen is a globetrotting troubadour – an Irish-born, contemporary Canadian folk artist who’s been amassing accolades and achievements across several continents over the years. Her presence and charisma simply command attention, and regardless of where she takes the stage, she delivers a sonic and emotional experience that transcends language and location; that reaches the very core of what connects us. It’s an experience that, in recent years, has earned her spots performing alongside Rod Stewart, Gordon Lightfoot, and Lucinda Williams and billings on major festival stages the world over.
Following a pair of earlier EPs, Irish cemented her spot as a performing powerhouse with her first two full-length offerings – 2008’s Sweet Necessity and 2011’s Open Here; however, it’s since moving to Prince Edward Island and releasing her latest collection – a self-titled, statement-making third LP in 2014 – that she’s propelled herself to an impressive new plateau.
The ECMA 2015 Roots Album of the Year perfectly couples the two poles of her sonic sphere: a universally engaging and accessible brand on contemporary folk with a tinge of more traditional Celtic influence that stems from her proud heritage. The result is a sound that’s truly timeless and transcending, anchored by her dominant and dynamic vocal prowess.
Her live show – an impactful and impressive tour-de-force that finds Irish combining her contemporary and catchy anthems with traditional tunes borrowed from her homeland. All are woven together with a signature blend of edgy humour and heartfelt storytelling while her presence and performance magnetically draw eyes and ears towards the small-statured powerhouse on stage.
“I want them to feel like it was not just about the music, but an overall experience,” Irish says about what she hopes to deliver to her audience. “I love feeding off of crowd and interacting with them. That’s why I rarely have set lists; I like to see and feel the audience and give them what they want.”
She must be doing just that, as Irish has established herself as a staple at events like the Mariposa Folk Festival and Folk Alliance International Conference, and others continue to call. In just the last 12 months, Irish has closed out the Philadelphia Folk Festival, performing after the iconic Lyle Lovett, and had tens of thousands in her hands at Australia’s Woodford Folk Festival. On the back of the latter performance, she was even handpicked to open for Melissa Etheridge’s 2016 Australian run.
A reinvigorated drive and longstanding passion for performance will only push Irish Mythen further into the international eye, enticing listeners of all kinds to take heed. Once they do, they’re sure to be captivated and converted, joining the cavalcade and following this wandering talent wherever she may go next.

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The Legion Legends
2018-05-20 17:00 - 20:00
Ever see 20+ singers, guitars and mandolins playing at the same time?
Well if you haven’t, now’s your chance.
The Legion Legends play anything from Tommy Makem to The Eagles, and are sure to take requests.
Full kitchen and bar service as well.
It’s the long weekend folks!

The Jordan Musycsyn Band
2018-04-28 20:00 - 22:30
Jordan is a hard working singer/songwriter, is a masterful storyteller writing songs about life and love with pathos and humour in a Folk-Country style. He sustains a busy touring schedule thruout Canada in support of his sophomore album ‘Old State Of Mind’. Drawing on his own life experiences he writes relatable songs of love, loss and the human condition. A dynamic performer, Jordan moves the audience from laughter to tears and back again. His first album ‘The Pitch’ (released in the fall of 2014) was nominated for 2 Music Nova Scotia awards. He has toured across the Maritimes and across Canada many times playing his songs solo, with his band, with the Cape Breton Summertime Revue and Tis The Season.
“JORDAN MUSYCSYN is a great musician and a great storyteller”
– Alan Doyle, GREAT BIG SEA

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