The Iona Heights Inn

Songwriters Circle
2020-11-20 20:00 - 22:00 (America/Halifax) | The Frolic’n Folk Pub & Grill, 4115 HWY 223, Iona, Nova Scotia, B2C 1A3, Canada
Featuring: Molly Babin, Danny MacNeil & Rudy Pacé
Molly Babin is a Cape Breton based singer songwriter who is always working on projects meant to connect with other musicians. Over Covid, Molly released a series named “Virtual Jams” where she did virtual video collaborations with local musicians like Jordan Musycsyn, Wayne Bedecki, Aaron Lewis and twelve others. Molly is also the co-founder of “Open Doors: Cape Breton Women In Harmony”, which is a group aimed at encouraging, supporting and promoting female musicians in Cape-Breton.
Rudy Pace is a Halifax based singer songwriter from Cape-Breton. Rudy is a dedicated East Coast Canadian songwriter who’s been compared to legends such as Townes Van Zandt, Bob Dylan and Neil Young. He is also the host of the Carleton’s “Campfire Songwriters Series” which showcases some of Nova-Scotia’s best up and coming songwriters.
Cape-Breton singer-songwriter Danny MacNeil is a confessional folk artist, with songs influenced by the continuous struggle for contentment and true peace of mind. Danny has spent the last number of years learning the skills of carpentry. During this time, music has remained a vital component of Danny’s life. Despite the busy work and education schedule, he has begun a beautiful piece of musical craftsmanship in his new album, including his single “Ten Hour Day” released this past June and his upcoming single “Trouble That I’m In” being released on November 18th.

$10 at the door (put on your tab). Ages 19+. Full bar service and kitchen open till 9PM. Covid 19 rules and regulations are in play.

(Cancelled) Frolic'n Funny Comedy Showcase
2020-11-27 20:00 - 22:00
Cancelled due to Covid restrictions. Refunds will be issued

You like comedy? You like shows? You like cases? We got ’em all.
Kitchen and full bar open. Please adhere to covid 19 rules and regulations upon entry. Cheers!

Clifton Cremo will be your host. He is a Mikma’w stand-up comedian from Eskasoni First Nation. In just two years he rose to become a fixture in the Nova Scotia comedy scene through his deft brand of storytelling and wry absurdism. Nothing is off limits, particularly when it concerns family and growing up on the Rez. Most notably Clifton has opened for Nick Nemeroff and Marc Anthony Sinagoga on the East Coast legs of their tours. No matter whether on stage at Yuk Yuk’s comedy club, a local bar, or even a funeral (seriously), Clifton always manages to bring the laughs.

Travis Lindsay is the most prolific writer in East Coast Comedy. His great mix of jokes and storytelling has been captivating audiences since the early age of 16. In 2016 Travis was named “Best Nova Scotia Comedian” on Bell TV’s Comedy Boot Camp, and was the winner of the HubCap Comedy Festival / CBC Open-Mic Competition. He can also be heard on Sirius XM’s Canada Laughs, hosted the 2020 African Nova Scotia Music Awards, and has appeared on CBC television at the Halifax Comedy Festival (2018,2020). He recently released his debut album “The Kid is Alright” that went #1 on itunes Comedy Charts. Whether in a club, or at a corporate event Travis will leave you laughing and asking for more!

Matt Baker is a comedic talent that hails from Ontario but currently resides in the Halifax area after having lived in the Okanagan Valley for a number of years. He has performed at Yuk Yuks, Kamcom Comedy festival, the Okanagan comedy festival and Just for Laughs Northwest!
Also on the lineup are Albert Coombes (Newfoundland) and Prajina Maskey (Halifax) along with Lindsay Barron (a local comic from Ingonish).

Songwriters Circle
2021-02-19 20:00 - 22:00
An evening of storytelling and songs, featuring Dylan Devoe, Jordan Musycsyn, & Colette Deveaux.

Dylan Devoe is a Canadian singer/songwriter, hailing from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. He writes relatable stories about life on the east coast, eccentric roadside characters from his travels and hometown barflies alike.
Late nights & long days, rocking out with his bandmates in Pirate Jenny, and currently recording his debut album, this maritime musician remains diligent in the studio and on the stage. With high energy, multi-instrumental live performances and heartfelt songs sang with just the right amount of angst and wit, Devoe stays true to his rock n’ roll roots, while adding a flavour of folk, punk & the east coast blues.
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Jordan is a hard-working singer/songwriter, is a masterful storyteller writing songs about life and love with pathos and humour in a Folk/Americana style. He sustains a busy touring schedule throughout Canada in support of his sophomore album ‘Old State Of Mind’(2017, nominated for Music Nova Scotia award for best Americana album of the year). 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 Canada many times playing his songs solo, with his band, with the Cape Breton Summertime Revue and Tis The Season.
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There is a tangible, indelible honesty woven into Colette Deveaux’s music, which is known for evoking a powerful, oftentimes somatic response from her audience. Colette’s ability to describe and inspire emotion through music can break you open and delicately put you back together again. Currently based out of her hometown of Sydney on the beautiful East Coast Island of Cape Breton, Deveaux has been quietly and diligently making a name for herself among Canadian artists for the better half of the decade. Inspired at a young age by the works of Leonard Cohen and Canadian independent icon Greg MacPherson, Colette creates a mixture of thoughtful, moving poetry and infectious melodies to create a truly memorable sound. Colette and her band were the winners of the 2019 “Under the Breton Sky Emerging Band Contest,” winning an opening spot at the festival headlined by The Trews. She performed at the 10th anniversary HUFF songwriters show later that same year. Her first single “Honey” was released in 2019 and featured on CBC Radio, Sirius XM, Stingray Radio’s East Coast Channel, and many local and national stations.
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Full Bar till 10PM & Kitchen Service till 9PM
Ages 19+

The Town Heroes
2021-04-09 20:00 - 22:00
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.
Ages: 19+
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Adam Baldwin
2021-09-17 20:00 - 22:00
There is a darkness in all of us, a force that tears us away from love and toward self-destruction, hell-bent on devouring the light we each hold precariously onto. And there are moments in our lives when we embrace that shadow self deeply enough that it threatens to consume us completely. A couple years ago, at his home beneath the MacDonald Bridge in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Adam Baldwin exiled himself from his friends and family to try to understand the substance abuse that had spun his life out of control. Writing until he couldn’t write anymore, he eventually distilled the 20+ songs that poured out of him into No Rest for the Wicked, a haunted reckoning of his relationship with his own wicked self. The result is no triumph, though it often sounds like one – opener “Half a Mind” explodes from the firepower of it’s snare shots into the kind of ‘80s-tinged, synth-heavy arena rock that begs for fist-pumping. Baldwin doesn’t bend reality to create a happy ending. Instead, he tells his story so far honestly, hunting down the beast in himself in order to hopefully figure out how to live with it.
While he turns his song-writing lens further inward on No Rest for the Wicked, he shoots for the rafters with bold, brash guitars, earth-shaking drums, and synths that by turns build doomy atmospheres or provide the rocket-fuel that propels a chorus to its interstellar heights. Recorded in Halifax and New York City by Gus Van Go and Werner F., the album builds on the promise of Baldwin’s award-winning No Telling When (Precisely Nineteen Eight-Five) and reveals a new sharpness to the skills he’s honed over the better part of 15 years, toughing it out on the road and in the studio, both solo and as part of Matt Mays’ band. During the writing process, he worked out song ideas over long drives through the streets of Dartmouth – “the gritty, sad, burnt out parts of the city,” he says – and Lawrencetown Beach, surrounded by the serenity of emptiness and the hum of the Atlantic Ocean. It was between these two places that the perspective of each song would manifest, presenting itself as either ghastly and anxiety-riddled or a vessel bound unsteadily toward calmer seas.
Each path is fraught and electrifying in equal measure. “Salvation” pulses with unsettling buzz-saw bass as a sinister voice hisses into our protagonist’s ear, trying to charm him into temptation. There’s a crack of light in the acoustic strum and shuffling tambourine of “Dark Beside the Dawn” as Baldwin hopes out loud that he might be capable of sustaining some brightness in his life while acknowledging its dual nature. “Delirious for Serious” rises and rises as its subject unravels through metallic jangles and flourishes from a muscled-up six-string. And “Shattered” arrives sweat-soaked and dance-ready, riding on a driving beat that belies a heartbreaking admission of guilt and recklessness. “Something wayward beckons toward a shallow grave,” Baldwin sings. “Is that your face in the wreckage?”
True to life, No Rest for the Wicked’s finale doesn’t provide any resolution to the conflict at its heart. The title track finds our ‘hero’ deep in the darkness at the edge of Dartmouth, coming to terms with the fact that floating wasted here, among the ghosts and shadows of the city, there is no peace to be found. As Baldwin, battling against the night, howls its coda, the song fades out on a jarring wave of feedback, leaving the future uncertain. But uncertainty holds the door open for hope, and any war between darkness and light is only lost when the fighting stops.
Ages: 19+
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Adam Baldwin 2nd Night
2021-09-18 20:00 - 22:00

Dave Sampson
2021-10-01 20:00 - 22:00
Dave Sampson writes heart-on-your-sleeve folk/pop songs, delivered with a captivating and
authentic voice that could blow down a brick house. His knack for crafting simple ear-worms
and his high-energy shows have been winning him fans across Canada. He has collaborated
and shared the stage with some of Canada’s top exports such as Classified, Alan Doyle,
Donovan Woods, and more. His 2019 EP All Types of Ways, produced and recorded by
Grammy award-winning songwriter Gordie Sampson in Nashville, TN, earned him two 2020
ECMAs for Country Recording and Rising Star Recording of the Year, as well as a
nomination for Songwriter of the Year. The album features several singles which received
hundreds of thousands of streams on DSPs, were added to many editorially-curated
playlists, and were placed in several national television series and advertising campaigns.
In 2014, Dave released his anticipated debut album “No Pressure, No Diamonds” with
producers/collaborators Carleton Stone, Gordie Sampson and Dylan Guthro (Port Cities).
With the release of this album, “ No Pressure No Diamonds” was nominated for Music Nova
Scotia’s Pop Album of the Year, reached #1 on the East Coast Countdown charts twice and
received national airplay throughout Canada. Dave was also invited to Germany in 2014 with
songwriters Carleton Stone and Breagh Mackinnon to participate in a songwriting retreat
followed by a tour.
Fast forward to 2015, his song “No Pressure, No Diamonds” was interpolated by Canadian
Hip Hop icon Classified and released as his first single (“No Pressure”) on the billboard
charts via Atlantic Records. “No Pressure’ features hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg, and was
awarded Gold Record status by Music Canada. Dave also received a songwriting nod on
Classifieds “Oh No” track on his album “Grateful”, and Neon Dreams’ singles “Find a Way” &
“Love Experts” which made it to the billboard EDM top 40.
Dave has also been hand-picked as one of Nova Scotia’s most promising young songwriters
to take part in the prestigious, invitation-only Gordie Sampson Song camp for the past 10
years. Through this opportunity, he has been fortunate enough to collaborate with some of
Canada’s most sought after writers: Gordie Sampson, Caitlyn Smith (Nashville), Sam Ellis
(Nashville), Thomas AWG Salter (TAWGS), and many more.

“Heartfelt, energized and emotional, Dave Sampson has obvious natural talent as a Maritime singer-songwriter.
Recommended for fans of Joel Plaskett, David Myles and Hawksley Workman. ” – Grant Lawrence (CBC Music)

“Not only is Dave Sampson a fantastic singer/songwriter, but his live performance during both shows (as a band
and as a solo artist) was second to none. The level of comfort that he and his band have on stage oozes with
every movement made.” – HalifaxBloggers.ca @ EAST COAST MUSIC WEEK 2016

“Dave Sampson writes a great, heartfelt pop song and has a warm, inviting, laid-back style that will no doubt
appeal to a wide cross-section of people. It’s not hard to imagine his music lighting up the radio and drawing
crowds” – The Scope, St. John’s, NL

Dave Sampson 2nd Night
2021-10-02 20:00 - 22:00

Lucy MacNeil & Rob Durando
2021-10-08 20:00 - 22:00
First come first serve!
No admission.
Kitchen open till 9PM, bar licensed to 2AM

Underground Songwriters Series
2021-10-09 21:00 - 23:00
A night of pleasing music, featuring: RG Schaller, Russ Mathews, Jacob Lee, Sonnie Greening, Eric Marcotte, Mike Fagan & Duane Nardocchio

First come first serve!
No Admission.
Kitchen open till 9PM, bar is licensed to 2AM

Barn Bhreagh
2021-10-10 17:00 - 20:00
Cape Breton artists Morgan Toney, Isabella Samson, Jesse Cox & Keith Mullins
First come first serve!
No admission.
Kitchen open till 9PM

An Afternoon with Steve Poltz
2021-11-14 16:00 - 18:00
Throughout over three decades in music, Steve Poltz did it all and more—often shared by way of his rockin’ countrified folk slices of sardonic Americana (hatched in Halifax). Of course, he co-wrote Jewel’s multiplatinum Hot 100-topping megahit “You Were Meant For Me,” but he also went on a whale watch with her and a few federales that turned into a drug bust. The two still share the story at every festival they play together. He made his bones as the frontman for underground legends The Rugburns, who burned rubber crisscrossing the continent on marathon tours and still pop up once in a while for the rare and quickly sold out reunion gig.
In 20 years since his full-length solo debut, One Left Shoe, he blessed the world’s ears with twelve solo records, spanning the acclaimed 2010 Dreamhouse and most recently Folk Singer in 2015. NPR summed it up best, “Critics and fans alike now regard Poltz as a talented and prolific songwriter.” By 2016, he survived a stroke, endured anything the music industry could throw at him, and still performed like “280 days a year.”
However, he still never lived in Nashville, which represents a turning point in the story and the genesis of his 2018 Red House Records debut, Shine On…
“My girlfriend Sharon sold the condo we were living in, and I was ready to live in a van, which seemed like a good idea for one night—then I decided I wanted a kitchen and a closet,” he admits. “Sharon wanted to move to Nashville, because she thought it would be good for me. It caused a huge fight. I’d been in San Diego since 1980, and that’s where I cut my musical teeth. I thought I’d never leave. In fact, at the height of our fight, I said, ‘I’m not leaving San Diego. I am San Diego!’ This makes me laugh now. As soon as I got to Nashville, I immediately knew I wanted to make a record in ‘Music City’.”
So, the man who once protested “I am San Diego” made Shine On in his new home of Nashville with one of its elder statesmen behind the board, Will Kimbrough [Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell]. Holing up in the studio at Kimbrough’s house, nothing would be off limits. Together, they unlocked the kind of creative chemistry you only hear about in band bios—but for real.
“I respect Will so much, and I’d always wanted to work with him,” says Steve. “Like two mad scientists, we just took our time and had fun. We didn’t overthink things. Everything felt organic. We ate soul food and drank lots of really good coffee. We tried out weird sounds, and the songs always started with voice and guitar—no click track, just how I’d play them. I road tested many of them, and they were ripe for the picking when recording time came around.”
Evoking themes of “hope, love, contemplation, celebration of Wednesday, pharmacists, and the fact that windows are not inanimate objects and they sometimes have conversations with each other,” the record represents Steve at his most inspired and insightful. The opener and title track “Shine On” pairs a delicate vocal with lithely plucked acoustic strings as he urges, “Shine on, shine on.”
“The song was a gift,” he recalls. “I woke up really early in Encinitas, California at Sharon’s sister’s house. The sun was just coming up. I was all alone in perfect solitude. My guitar was there. The sky was gorgeous. I wrote it as a poem. Everyone always told me, ‘Never start a record with a really slow song.’ So, seeing that I have O.D.D. (Oppositional Defiance Disorder), I started my record with one. I love the mood it sets. It’s almost like my mission statement, trying to find some semblance of positivity and light in a sometimes ruthless world.”
On “Pharmacist,” rustling guitar and harmonica propel a tale of “this dude having a crush on his pharmacist.” It also serves as an extension of his friendship with neighbor Scot Sax—with whom he shares the podcast “One Hit Neighbors” (since they’ve both had one hit song). Meanwhile, he joined forces with Molly Tuttle on “4th of July,” which, of course, came to life on the 3rd of July. “Ballin On Wednesday” drew its title and chorus from a diner checkout girl (with a super cool gold tooth) who Steve paid with a $100 bill and she replied, “Oooh, ballin’ on a Wednesday.” The finale “All Things Shine” skips along on sparse instrumentation as Steve sends a message.
“‘All Things Shine’ came about after one of the many mass shootings on this planet,” he sighs. “I was feeling overwhelmed. So, I wanted to put my feelings into words and melody. I was thinking that even if we’re feeling hopeless that there is still beauty. All things shine in their own way.”
Who could contend that?
In the end, for everything you can call him “searcher, smartass, movie freak, lover of technology, news junkie, baseball fan to nth degree, lapsed catholic who still believes in god even though all his friends are atheists and think he’s an idiot, and maker of fun,” you might just call Steve that little light in the dark we all need in this day and age.
Or Nashville’s Canadian Jiminy Cricket…
“I hope Shine On makes listeners smile and feel welcome, and they want to share it with their friends,” he leaves off. “Music means energy to me. All things. It connects us, makes us move, helps us relax, and inspires us to change things up.”

An Evening with Steve Poltz
2021-11-14 20:00 - 22:00

Dylan Menzie Single Release Show with Special Guest Joce Reyome
2021-11-20 20:00 - 22:00
Since 2013, Prince Edward Island’s Dylan Menzie has been steadily building a catalogue of acclaimed, award winning music. Drawing inspiration from acts like Wilco, Fleet Foxes, and Vampire Weekend; He is a combination of folk, rock, and pop elements best described as Indie Pop Americana. His sprawling and dynamic vocals have allowed him to tour around the globe and play at iconic festivals like the Cambridge Folk Festival & the Edmonton Folk Festival.

Menzie’s 2020 LP “Lost in Dreams” was nominated for multiple ECMA & Music PEI Awards and was an exploratory record for the artist. The album bounces from genre to genre while the production showcases Menzie’s songs in a softer, more controlled environment focused on lyrics & vocals. With his next record, Menzie aims to continue this evolution. Constantly moving forward, the 2021 Music PEI Awards Entertainer of the Year & Songwriter of the Year is set to release a new single, “A Heart That Doesn’t Want Mine” on October 8th, 2021.
Hailing from Massachusetts, Joce Reyome relocated to PEI in 2016 to pursue music at a post-secondary level. Reyome’s debut single Cross My Heart was recorded and produced by Colin Buchanan and Erin Costelo. With inspiration from Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, and Janis Joplin, they bring old-school vibes to the new times.

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A Gunning & Cormier Christmas Show
2021-12-10 20:00 - 22:00
Two of Canada’s greatest roots singer-songwriters have finally done what everybody’s wanted — heck, what they’ve wanted — for years. Dave Gunning and J.P. Cormier are releasing their first album together, called Two. Great friends, frequent collaborators, co-writers and touring partners, the pair has been talking about this album since pretty much the day they met. Now it’s here, and it’s everything fans hoped and dreamed it would be.
The album is called Two because that’s what it is, just the two of them.
“We wanted to keep it simple and honest so we essentially made a 4-track recording, just two guitars and two vocals. Limiting ourselves this way actually helped inspire the arrangements and the performances. It forced us to dig a little deeper.”, says Gunning.
“A lot of artists like us feel compelled to put these massive productions together, and we said we’re not going to do that,” adds Cormier. “We’re going to make this record be that large with only two instruments and two voices. And we did that.”
Two is made up of everything the duo excels at. There are new collaborations between the two writers (Brothers, Home To Mary), new arrangements of antique folk numbers (Johnny Armstrong, Katie o’ the Gowrie), and some tasty, surprising covers (Never Picked Cotton, Stompin’ Tom’s Songbird Valley).
Every song had to meet their very high, combined standards. “We didn’t take it lightly,” confirms Gunning. “We really put our heart into it.”
Gunning & Cormier go back 23 years when Dave had a fiddle player drop out of a show at the last minute. “He hired me for a gig when I was just back from Nashville, nobody knew me here,” says Cormier.
“We were totally blown away by J.P.’s playing,” recalls Gunning. “I remember him saying if you ever do a CD, I want to play on it.” That happened, and much more. They played together and wrote together whenever they could, coming up with songs that graced both their projects, over the years showered with awards and nominations on the East Coast and nationally.
“Dave is such a part of my life,” says Cormier. “Dave is like my family, he’s like a blood relative to me, and he’s always been that way. ” Gunning feels the same way. “Absolutely, we just became fast friends, and we’ve been working together ever since.”
Since they’ve been two of the busiest solo musicians in the country these past two decades, it’s been impossible to schedule time to make a full album and properly tour it. But that all changed three years ago when Cormier moved just down the road from Gunning in Nova Scotia’s Pictou County, and the pair were able to meet often at Gunning’s home studio.
First, they picked some great songs. Then they figured out their guitar parts, and when ready recorded the guitars ‘live-off-the-floor’ simultaneously. Then they recorded their vocals together. This recording technique gave them what they’d hoped for, something unlike their solo albums: The power of Two.
“It actually creates a sympathetic overtone like a third instrument sometimes,” marvels Cormier. “You go, wait a minute, why does it sound like there’s another guitar? You sometimes can’t tell us apart, or sometimes even our vocals you can’t tell apart, which is really weird because our voices are nothing alike, but when we sing together, we have a sibling harmony, we blend like brothers.”
Gunning & Cormier have been playing some select gigs over the past few months, in anticipation of the album’s release. “It seems to be a different kind of response from the audience that I’m not too sure that either of us have experienced be-fore,” says Gunning. “We love singing together, we love playing guitar together, it just works.”
Two is as real as it gets. Two songwriters, interpreters, guitar players, and singers at their peak. It’s the power of the song, the highest quality from the past to the now. It’s two friends, brothers, uncompromising performers, making the album of their lives. There couldn’t be a better time to discover Gunning & Cormier, and the power of Two.

New Year's Eve (Eve) with Pretty Archie
2021-12-30 21:00 - 23:30
CANCELLED DUE TO COVID. REFUNDS WILL BE ISSUED. PUB STILL OPEN FOR REGULAR SERVICE

Long time friends Brian Cathcart (Lead Vocals, Guitar), Matt McNeil (Mandolin, Guitar), Colin Gillis (Harmonica, Bass, Vocals), Redmond MacDougall (Banjo, Percussion, Vocals) and Scott MacLean (Guitar, Mandolin) starting performing together in 2012. The band’s name is a nod to a Cape Breton local who embodied the love of playing and performing music. No matter where they tour or travel, Pretty Archie will always be representing their hometown.
Pretty Archie, their sixth studio album, is one of which they are justifiably proud. It represents a quantum leap forward in the evolution of the group’s sound. ”I feel each of our other records was a step ahead of the previous one, but this one is six steps ahead,” declares Colin Gillis. “We are proud of everything we’ve put out, but this is at a different level.”
Pinning down the ‘Pretty Archie sound’ hasn’t always been easy. Their style has incorporated elements of bluegrass, folk, country, and had that ‘East Coast vibe’. Describing the new album, Brian states “it is more focused, even though you still can’t quite put a finger on it. For us it definitely has way more of a country vibe. This is an alternative country or Americana-style…”
Helping the group realize the formidable creative achievement that is Pretty Archie was internationally-acclaimed record producer and engineer Mark Howard, whose star-studded resume includes work with the likes of Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, U2, Tom Waits, The Tragically Hip, Peter Gabriel, and more. Howard’s fortuitous recent relocation to Cape Breton afforded Pretty Archie the opportunity to take advantage of his skills, and the band couldn’t be happier with the results.
“It was all basically recorded live off the floor, with minimal overdubs,” adds Colin. “That’s something we had always wanted, and Mark was able to do that. There’s a certain ambience and energy in recording that way.”
With every record and tour Pretty Archie carries a little piece of home a bit farther afield. Since their 2013 debut album, Steel City, the band have built an ever- larger following on the east coast, across Canada and are now set to continue growing their International audience.
Cathcart explains that “as a band, we wear our East Coast hearts on our sleeves. We are very proud of where we are from, but our focus now is exposing people internationally to our part of the world.” Gillis adds that “if you are genuine and true to yourselves, then people will attach themselves to that, no matter where you are from.”
Pretty Archie have long been regional favourites, with a stack of Music Nova Scotia and East Coast Music Award nominations to their credit. They are now looking globally, and with Pretty Archie they have an album ready for international prime time play.
The upbeat and joyous “Familiar Feeling” and catchy “Reasons” showcase the band’s instrumental prowess, while Brian digs deep vocally on the haunting ballad “Feel It In My Bones.” At Howard’s suggestion, “Someone New” became a duet, featuring Austin-based Maritime honky-tonker Whitney Rose, and the contrasting vocals add real resonance. Brian is especially proud of “Maritime,” a song written right in the studio that features these poignant lyrics – ”If your heart breaks down, we’ll use mine. It is weathered and weary, but it is Maritime.”
Pretty Archie’s genuine, heartfelt writing connects listeners with a saltwater perspective on modern living. Their fun loving and at times heartbreaking music finds common ground in the blurred genres of Country, Folk, Bluegrass and Americana. Their unique sound and energetic shows leave listeners with a lasting memory.
Their latest self titled album will be available everywhere January 21 2022

New Year's Eve with Pretty Archie
2021-12-31 21:00 - 23:30

Trivia Night at The Frolic
2022-02-10 20:00 - 22:00, 2022-02-17 20:00 - 22:00, 2022-02-24 20:00 - 22:00, 2022-03-03 20:00 - 22:00, 2022-03-10 20:00 - 22:00, 2022-03-17 20:00 - 22:00, 2022-03-24 20:00 - 22:00, 2022-03-31 20:00 - 22:00 and 1 more date
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
2022-03-12 17:00 - 20:00
Colin Grant and Mike LeLivre
Get a taste of local celtic music & culture with our weekly ceilidhs.
Expect to see world-renowned talent & budding entertainers all from our native Cape Breton.
General admission seating ranging from $5-$10
First come first serve at the pub. No reservations

Céilidh Matinee
2022-03-19 17:00 - 20:00
Musicians TBA
Get a taste of local celtic music & culture with our weekly ceilidhs.
Expect to see world-renowned talent & budding entertainers all from our native Cape Breton.
General admission seating ranging from $5-$10
First come first serve at the pub. No reservations

Céilidh Matinee
2022-03-26 17:00 - 20:00
Woody Woodburn
Get a taste of local celtic music & culture with our weekly ceilidhs.
Expect to see world-renowned talent & budding entertainers all from our native Cape Breton.
General admission seating ranging from $5-$10
First come first serve at the pub. No reservations

Céilidh Matinee
2022-04-02 17:00 - 20:00
Rachel Davis
Get a taste of local celtic music & culture with our weekly ceilidhs.
Expect to see world-renowned talent & budding entertainers all from our native Cape Breton.
General admission seating ranging from $5-$10
First come first serve at the pub. No reservations
