The Iona Heights Inn

Cape Breton Celtic Trad Sessions
2024-06-30 16:30 - 19:30, 2024-07-07 16:30 - 19:30, 2024-07-14 16:30 - 19:30, 2024-07-21 16:30 - 19:30, 2024-07-28 16:30 - 19:30, 2024-08-04 16:30 - 19:30, 2024-08-11 16:30 - 19:30, 2024-08-18 16:30 - 19:30 (America/Halifax) | The Frolic’n Folk Pub & Grill, 4115 HWY 223, Iona, Nova Scotia, B2C 1A3, Canada
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

Carleton Stone
2024-07-03 20:00 - 22:00
Carleton Stone is an award-winning artist, a songwriter with a growing list of credits, and a founding member of the hugely successful Port Cities. He has recently added producer to his list of accomplishments with both Willie Stratton’s award winning “Drugstore Dreamin” and his own self produced, Papercut – a collection of sophisticated singer-songwriter pop with well-crafted lyrics and memorable melodies.
An outstanding writer, Carleton has written songs for and with such diverse artists as Ria Mae, Matt Andersen, The East Pointers, Quake, Donovan Woods, Classified, Bobby Bazini, and Neon Dreams.
Carleton has three solo records to his credit, multiple awards, and has toured internationally, most recently in the US with The Crash Test Dummies where he received an outstanding response to his solo show.

NOMINATIONS

2024 ECMA SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
MNS POP ALBUM OF THE YEAR
ECMA CONTEMPORARY ROOTS RECORDING OF THE YEAR
CANADIAN FOLK MUSIC AWARD ENGLISH SONGWRITER(S) OF THE YEAR
TIM CHAISSON, KOADY CHAISSON, JAKE CHARRON, COLIN MACDONALD, CARLETON STONE (“HOUSE OF DREAMS”)

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Trivia Night at The Frolic
2024-07-04 20:00 - 22:00, 2024-07-11 20:00 - 22:00, 2024-07-18 20:00 - 22:00, 2024-07-25 20:00 - 22:00, 2024-08-01 20:00 - 22:00, 2024-08-08 20:00 - 22:00, 2024-08-15 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

Céilidh Matinee
2024-07-06 17:00 - 20:00, 2024-07-13 17:00 - 20:00, 2024-07-20 17:00 - 20:00, 2024-07-27 17:00 - 20:00, 2024-08-03 17:00 - 20:00, 2024-08-10 17:00 - 20:00, 2024-08-17 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 ranging from $5-$10
First come first serve at the pub. No reservations. Minors allowed up until 10PM

Rose Cousins
2024-07-10 20:00 - 22:00
Bravado is a record for those who struggle with loneliness and those wishing they had more time alone. It’s for those attempting to make their hearts go in more than one direction and those trying to make it go in just one. It’s for those who present a version of themselves to the world that doesn’t quite match how they feel inside. It’s for those who feel misunderstood or unseen. It’s for those who have a hard time saying what they feel, who hide or can’t let themselves off the hook. It’s for those asking, “is this it?” and questioning if the character they play in the movie of their lives is authentic or just a role they’ve accepted. It’s for those who have a hard time asking for help and for those desperate for and terrified of change.

“I think about how we’re so disconnected. I get sucked into my phone and forget to go for a walk because of this sense of obligation that I have that convinces me to get as much work done as possible. It feels like we’re not connecting in person as much as we used to and that we may be the loneliest we’ve ever been. We’re missing what’s actually happening, like, the earth being on fire. We get caught in the spin of comparing our lives to social media depictions, false standards of a good life. I’ve been thinking about how we must be getting close to a breaking point.”

For Cousins, this chapter is a personal and professional metamorphosis. She is in the producer chair, applying her years of experience, trusting her own ear and pulling thoughtfully from her network of talented colleagues.
“I booked some studio days in February with the intention of making a single and working with some Toronto based musicians I’d always wanted to including Joshua Van Tassel on drums, Robbie Grunwald on keys, Brian Kobayakawa on bass, Dean Drouillard on electric guitars and with Chris Stringer as engineer. Soon after I realized I was chasing a theme and a feeling I’d been pondering for months and it turned into a whole record of, perhaps, my best writing.”
The record is flanked by two distinct renditions of the same song, The Benefits of Being Alone/ The Reprise reinforcing the record’s examination of emotional duality. The record starts in bravado’s swagger then drops us into The Fraud which wrestles with the desire to stay hidden and be seen. The Time Being (Impending Mortality Awareness Society), reminds and invites us to pay attention to what’s most important, to be present. The album lifts to its highest level of hope and most pop production in The Return (Love Comes Back), solidifying Cousins’ collaborative nature by recruiting an international choir of friends to join in at the end. The Lullaby (My Oldest Love) written with Tim Baker (Hey Rosetta), touches the desperate need for affirmation, The Benediction, a yearning for acceptance.
Rose Cousins’ newest offering, Bravado, is the sound of a heart trying to open. It explores the complication of emotion, its irrational tendencies and its wisdom. It invites us to feel the courage it takes to be vulnerable.

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Old Man Luedecke
2024-07-17 20:00 - 22:00
Old Man Luedecke is the recording name of two time JUNO award winning and Polaris prize nominated singer songwriter Chris Luedecke. A multiple East Coast Music Award winner known for his high energy banjo driven stompers, touching guitar ballads and dry humorous stories, Luedecke has been making a soundtrack to an authentic life for nearly twenty years.
Born in Toronto and long time resident of the country near Chester Nova Scotia, Luedecke began recording in the early 2000’s DIY folk scene of Halifax. He made his two JUNO winning albums for Black Hen Music in the late 00s with Steve Dawson as producer at Vancouver’s famed Factory studio. While on a tour of England in 2009, he met and supported folk roots legend Tim O’Brien who produced Luedecke’s next two albums. Tender is the Night was recorded at John’s Prine’s Butcher Shoppe Studio in Nashville in 2012 and 2015’s Domestic Eccentric was recorded in a cabin Luedecke built himself at his home in NS. 2019 saw Luedecke recording Easy Money at both the Banff Centre in Alberta and at Hotel2Tango in Montreal.
Songs like I quit my Job at the beginning of his career and the Early Days at the beginning of his family and dozens of other fan favourites trace a warm line of effort, sadness and joy and provide a soundtrack to many peoples’ own progress through adulthood, touching a rare place of truth and charm in the holiness of the mundane. His performing style with his easy going humour and storytelling creates a rare space of hopeful and intimate magic.
Luedecke has kept up many worldwide concert appearances, playing in Europe and around Canada and the USA and six trips to Australia, including a memorable tour where his whole young family travelled with him around rural Queensland for the Festival of Small Halls.
In May 2022 Luedecke was awarded an honorary doctorate from King’s University in Halifax for his cultural contributions.
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The Town Heroes Redux
2024-07-23 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 10 years — touring the world, releasing 5 critically acclaimed albums and winning an array of industry awards. 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. Camaraderie shows in their musicianship, their song-writing highlights what they are: friends playing music for the love of it, in it for the long haul.
The band released their sixth full length album Home during the summer of 2021.
Home is a concept album. The entirety of the storyline takes place over a two week period during a summer in Cape Breton. The 9 songs, told from 3 different perspectives, tell the chronological tale of coming home, youth, summer love, and ultimately lost love. A father — longing for what he left behind — returns to his hometown after moving to San Francisco for work. A young “local” boy falls for his daughter, a short romance ensues, and the romance dies upon her inevitable return home. The album captures the energy and spirit of a youthful summer and coming of age.
“The songs are filled with beautiful guitars, great ringing notes over big pulsing washes or strong chords. It’s a post-New Wave sound, energetic, melodic and very urgent, each song filled with drama and the feeling there’s something important being passed on. Topping all this is the passionate voice of Ryan, often at the top end of his register. He ups the ante on songs such as Only One, as he grows more intense as the song progresses, matched by the sharp guitar lines and Gillis’ increased punch. It’s crazy-danceable, hypnotic and haunting all at the same time, even euphoric in places.”
— Bob Mersereau, The Top 100 Canadian Singles
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The Town Heroes
2024-07-24 20:00 - 22:00

Irish Mythen
2024-07-31 20:00 - 22:00
Bio
Irish Mythen was born in Ireland and now resides in Charlottetown Prince Edward Island Canada.
“This Island creates music and musicians, art and artists. I found a shift to take things more seriously when I moved here.” And she did just that.
Her latest release, Little Bones, gained her recognition around the globe, including a 2020 JUNO nomination for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year, seven Music PEI 2020 nominations and two wins — Touring Artist of the Year and Roots Contemporary Recording of the Year, and a Canadian Folk Music Nomination for Solo Artist of the Year. Her previous self-titled album, Irish Mythen, garnered awards and nominations from Music PEI, East Coast Music Association, Folk Alliance International and SOCAN. Write-ups in Australian Guitar Magazine, Rollingstone and a plethora of other print and online media world wide have helped plant Irish firmly on the map of Must-See Artists.
Irish’s live performances are a thing of raw power, emotion and a connection with her audience that just has to be seen to be believed.
Recent Highlights

Juno Awards 2020 – Contemporary Roots Album of the Year nomination
Canadian Folk Music Awards 2020 – Solo Artist of the Year winner
Music PEI Awards 2020 – nominated in seven categories; two wins
Concert at the Sydney Opera House 2017
Australian Tour with Melissa Etheridge 2016
Saturday night main stage Bluesfest in Australia 2016 and 2017
Closing the Philadelphia Folk festival 2016
Winner of Roots Album of the year East Coast Music Awards 2016
Nominated for international folk artist of the year by FAI 2017

Discography

2019 – Little Bones
2015 – Irish Mythen
2012 – Open Here
2009 – Sweet Necessity
2006 – Fallen Here

They Said about Irish
Irish Mythen is one of the few performers I have seen who bowls me over each time I see her, she makes me cry with her poignant lyrics and passionate vocals and makes me laugh with her cheeky Irish banter, I love her work and cannot understand why the whole world doesn’t agree with me. Now living in Prince Edward Island in Canada, Mythen has played worldwide and at last seems to be gaining the recognition she deserves.
~ Rachel Griffin, Brighton and Hove News
I had no idea what to expect when this five foot nothing lady took the stage, all smiles and twinkling eyes and guitar. Then, she opened her mouth and out flew a voice that came straight from the Heavens with all the power and the glory and the truth of someone destined to be a singer. I’ve been blessed with seeing and hearing a lot of talented musicians in my life, but I have never experienced anyone quite like Irish Mythen. She is a force of nature and a gift from Almighty Herself.
~ Lisa Schwartz, Philadelphia Folk Festival
I was amazed at your ability to hold such a massive crowd as if it were a tiny one.
~ Dougie MacLean, Artist
By vote, the three most requested artists to return to Mariposa Folk Festival have been 1) Joni 2) Gordon, and 3) Irish Mythen
~ Mike Hill, AD Mariposa Folk Festival

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Willie Stratton
2024-08-07 20:00 - 22:00
For more than a decade now, Willie Stratton has been building his good name on stellar sonic shape-shifting and a charismatic, super charged live show. The Halifax-based singer-songwriter has proven time and again that he can dive into any of rock ‘n’ roll’s various iterations—heartsick blues, twanged-up country, hip-shaking rockabilly, groovy surf, anything and everything in between—and emerge, again, as a maestro of the style. But on his latest album Stratton seeks synthesis: Drugstore Dreamin’ finds him playing alchemist, melting down the myriad sounds he’s mastered over the years to create singular sonic gold. As Stratton deftly weaves and mixes musical forms, Drugstore Dreamin’s intoxicating concoction brings his timeless songwriting to the forefront.

Lyrically Stratton delivers a dose of gravitas as-yet unheard in his catalogue, as he and his characters grapple with the pain of loss, of growth, of sallying forth; defeats both intimate and grand in scope; and failure to break old habits.
From the tremlo-heavy highway tune, “The Way She Holds Me”, to the album’s heart-wrenching piano ballad “Chasing Rabbits” finale and everything in-between, true blue craftsman Willie Stratton achieves a harmony of style and elevation of substance that remains rare in our modern world, resulting in his most moving—and grooving—collection of songs to date
The award winning album was produced by Carleton Stone and created with contributions from some of the world’s finest musicians, including Stone, Brad Kilpatrick, Aaron Goldstein, Andrew Boulos, Laur Joamets, Robbie Crowell, Jon Radford, Melanie Stone, Todd Lumley, and Ashley MacIsaac. Recorded in Nashville at Creative Workshop, and in Nova Scotia at The Sonic Temple in Halifax and The Loft in Cape Breton.
“Willie Stratton’s Drugstore Dreamin’ Retro-feeling country rock for fans of Orville Peck and early Johnny Cash sees Stratton earn a spot on our list of the year’s best records.” — The Coast

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Lennie Gallant
2024-08-21 20:00 - 22:00
East Coast songwriter Lennie Gallant has released fifteen albums of original songs which have won him a host of awards and nominations from the JUNOs, Les Prix Éloizes, and The ECMAs. His songs have been described as “true slices of life delivered with a poet’s flair and a rugged emotional sensibility”. His multimedia production, Searching for Abegweit, ran for 190 shows in Eastern Canada. His song Peter’s Dream, from that show, was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Lennie is an international artist who has performed all over North America and Europe. His songs have been covered by many artists and he has shared the stage with several orchestras and with performers such as Lucinda Williams, Patti Griffin and Roger Hodgson. He has performed with the late Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefers and with David Foster and his band. Lennie struck up a friendship with Jimmy, has two co-writes on his upcoming posthumous album, and was invited to sing on both songs. One of Lennie’s albums also went up to the international space station and circled the planet 248 times. His album, Time Travel, was voted a top ten Album of the Year by a panel of Canadian music industry personnel, and his recent all original Christmas album has received rave reviews.
He and partner Patricia Richard also record and perform as the popular Francophone duo, Sirène et Matelot. Their songs have achieved strong radio play in francophone circuits and have consistently remained on the charts! Lennie Gallant is a member of The Order of Canada and has been recognized for his humanitarian efforts.
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