Frolic'n Friday
2019-07-26 19:00 - 21:30 (America/Halifax) | The Frolic’n Folk Pub & Grill, 4115 HWY 223, Iona, Nova Scotia, B2C 1A3, Canada
Joseph Gillis
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
2019-07-24 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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Frolic'n Friday
2019-07-19 19:00 - 21:30
Chris Campbell
Catch some live music at the pub each Friday this summer.
Kitchen open till 9PM, bar open till 2AM
No cover charge.

Adam Baldwin
2019-07-17 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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Frolic'n Friday
2019-07-12 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.

Matt Minglewood
2019-07-10 20:00 - 22:00
Matt Minglewood – genre – Northern Rock with a Canadianna feel, a musical hybrid with one foot steeped in the musical roots of blues & country and the other knee-deep in rock. To quote one fan “We had a blast! A cornucopia of awesomeness ” What’s in store at a Minglewood Show – tunes from Matt’s latest release ‘Fly Like Desperados’ , and old classic fan favourites, peppered with songs & stories.
Minglewood, known for his high octane shows will have you enjoying his brand of rock as it should be heard, wrenched from the heart and shot from the hip. For all music fans with a taste for the blues & rock, to witness this band is a feather in your cap. Joining Matt on stage & on his latest release ‘Fly Like Desperados’ is Moon McInnis on drums & vocals, the vivacious and extremely talented Emily Dingwall does the honors on bass and vocals, 19 year old Nick McInnis adds his immense talent on guitar and Jeff Stapleton tickling the keyboards & vocals. The youthfulness in the band has added a fiery spark to their shows.
Hope you got the opportunity to catch one of their shows, you won’t be disappointed.
Matt has released 14 recordings and has amassed numerous awards & accolades including two ECMA awards for 2018 ‘Blues Recording of the Year’ and the coveted ‘Fan’s Choice Entertainer of the Year’ awards. To name but a few of the awards he has amassed throughout his career include:
East Coast Music Awards
2018 Fans Choice ‘Entertainer of the Year’
2018 Blues Recording of the Year for ‘Fly Like Desperados’2008 Blues Recording of the Year for ‘The Story”
2006 Blues Recording of the Year for ‘Live at Last’
Lifetime Achievement Award
Maple Blues Awards
2015 Blues with a Feeling Award (Lifetime Achievement) 2013 Entertainer of the Year Award
Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival
2005 Dutch Mason Blues Award
Canadian Country Song of the Year
Me & The Boys 1986
Great Canadian Blues Award
CBC Radio Saturday Night with Holger Peterson
Honorary Doctorate from UCB
Two Juno Nominations & Three Gold Records
Bestowed with the Queens Jubilee Medal for his contribution to Canadian Music

Ages: 19+

Frolic'n Friday
2019-07-05 19:00 - 21:30
Colin Fowlie
Catch some live music at the pub each Friday this summer.
Kitchen open till 9PM, bar open till 2AM
No cover charge.

Ben Caplan
2019-07-03 20:00 - 22:00
2019 ECMA Songwriter of the Year winner Ben Caplan leads off our Summer Series July 3rd.
Ben Caplan is a songwriter, performer and entertainer in the most time-honoured sense of the word. From the moment he walks onto the stage, you are filled with his infectious spirit, and captivating presence. You can feel Caplan’s comfort and ease as he strides in front of the crowd and begins the controlled collective descent into chaos.
In his latest project, Ben Caplan explores themes of immigration, loss, darkness, love, sex, and God. Caplan is touring with a fresh batch of songs which were originally composed for a new musical play called Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story. The award winning play had its international debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it won top festival honours, and has been a smash hit. The play has toured internationally including a seven-week run Off Broadway where it picked up a New York Times Critic’s Pick, and six Drama Desk Award nominations, among other accolades.
Between performances of the play, Caplan has been hitting the road to play concerts across Europe, Australia, and North America with a new lineup of musicians. The music from his theatre production has been turned into Caplan’s third studio album, titled Old Stock. The sound is rooted in Caplan’s resonant baritone voice, supported with the sounds of piano, accordion, organ, clarinet, saxophone, violin, drums, and the occasional banjo and acoustic guitar.
Ages: 19+

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Christina Martin
2019-06-01 20:00 - 22:00
“Impossible To Hold” won the 2018 Music Nova Scotia Award for Pop Recording of the Year, and is Martin’s sixth and strongest studio album, achieving a perfect balance between organic ambience and impeccable production.
Christina began recording her own music while slogging it out on the Austin, Texas bar scene. A multi award winning singer-songwriter, she has been relentlessly recording and touring in Canada and in the UK and Europe, building connections at venues big and small, singing songs about loss, love and perseverance. Her songs have been featured in films and television, and she’s performed at music festivals around the world (Rolling Stone Weekender Festival, Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival, Folk Alliance International and Reeperbahn Festival).
At her Canadian tour dates, Martin partners with The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health to promote the work of Canada’s largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital.
For more information about Christina and her music please visit: www.christinamartin.net

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Steve Poltz Shine On... Canada!
2019-05-23 20:00 - 22:00, 2019-05-19 20:00 - 22:00
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 statesman 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 Wednsday.” 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.”

Tap Takeover Songwriters Circle
2019-04-26 20:00 - 22:30
Come sample some of Breton Brewing & Garrison Brewing’s famous offerings, whilst being entertained by Cape Breton’s own Jordan Musycysn, Mike McKenna Jr, & Carmen Townsend, in an intimate setting where they will reveal the mystery behind the process of turning stories into songs and music.

Prizes to be won as well!

TJ Myers
2019-04-22 16:00 - 19:00
Live music 4-7PM. Some of your favourite cover songs.
No cover charge.
Bar open at 2PM.

Twenty Fingers Band
2019-04-19 21:00 - 23:30
Semi Acoustic duo from Halifax, perform all of the crowd favourites!
No cover.

Hector’s Point Snowshoe Walks
2019-03-24 13:00 - 15:00
Cancelled due to the lack of snow. Refunds will be issued

“Hector’s Point Snowshoe Walk” at 1pm.This hike will see you walking around the snowy Highland Village. It will be approximately 3km and will end back at the Frolic’n Folk Pub. There you will receive a cup of Jill’s Hot Chocolate or for those that are 19/over a 10oz pint.
Walk is for all ages.
Shorter routes available if need be.
$15 per person including snowshoes rentals, or $10 if you bring your own (please use coupon code snow on the checkout page to reveal the discounted price). Space is limited.
Meet at The Frolic’n Folk Pub just inside the Inn
Walks begin at 1pm.It is best to arrive 15 minutes before the scheduled walk in order to check in.
*Weather permitting

Hector’s Point Moonlight Snowshoe Walks
2019-03-15 19:00 - 21:00
Cancelled due to weather. Refunds will be issued
Join us for our special “Hector’s Point Moonlight Walk” – a moonlight snowshoe hike around the Highland Village. It will be approximately 3km, and end at the pub with a 10oz pint (for those that are 19/over), or a cup of Jill’s Hot Chocolate.
Walk is for all ages.
Shorter routes available if need be.
$15 per person including snowshoes rentals, or $10 if you bring your own (use coupon code snow in the checkout page to reveal the discounted price). Space is limited.
Meet at The Frolic’n Folk Pub just inside the Inn
Walks begin at 7pm.It is best to arrive 15 minutes before the scheduled walk in order to check in.
*Weather permitting

Hector’s Point Snowshoe Walks
2019-03-10 13:00 - 15:00
“Hector’s Point Snowshoe Walk” at 1pm.This hike will see you walking around the snowy Highland Village. It will be approximately 3km and will end back at the Frolic’n Folk Pub. There you will receive a cup of Jill’s Hot Chocolate or for those that are 19/over a 10oz pint.
Walk is for all ages.
Shorter routes available if need be.
$15 per person including snowshoes rentals, or $10 if you bring your own (please use coupon code snow on the checkout page to reveal the discounted price). Space is limited.
Meet at The Frolic’n Folk Pub just inside the Inn
Walks begin at 1pm.It is best to arrive 15 minutes before the scheduled walk in order to check in.
*Weather permitting

Hector’s Point Snowshoe Walks
2019-02-24 13:00 - 15:00
This walk has been cancelled due to lack of snow and icey conditions. Please call Dan at 1-902-412-8888 and let him know if you’d like a refund, or to push your tickets to another date. Thanks
“Hector’s Point Snowshoe Walk” at 1pm.This hike will see you walking around the snowy Highland Village. It will be approximately 3km and will end back at the Frolic’n Folk Pub. There you will receive a cup of Jill’s Hot Chocolate or for those that are 19/over a 10oz pint.
Walk is for all ages.
Shorter routes available if need be.
$15 per person including snowshoes rentals, or $10 if you bring your own (please use coupon code snow on the checkout page to reveal the discounted price). Space is limited.
Meet at The Frolic’n Folk Pub just inside the Inn
Walks begin at 1pm.It is best to arrive 15 minutes before the scheduled walk in order to check in.
*Weather permitting

Joel Plaskett 2
2019-02-23 20:00 - 22:00
Canada has produced some of the world’s most enduring songwriters and Joel Plaskett is being hailed as one of the best.
Since spending his teenaged years recording and touring with Halifax indie upstarts Thrush Hermit, Plaskett has been writing his own story. After releasing two critically acclaimed albums – In Need of Medical Attention (1999) and Down at the Khyber (2001) – independently, Joel signed to Maple Music Recordings for the release of 2003’s Truthfully Truthfully, a rock tour de force with his band, The Emergency. That record scored with critics and fans alike and truly put Plaskett on the national radar once and for all. Truthfully Truthfully was nominated for a Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year and won an East Coast Music Award for Rock Recording of the Year.
During a summer break from touring in 2004, Joel responded to a longtime fan’s offer of recording time at a home studio in Mesa, Arizona. The results of that journey are on Plaskett’s MapleMusic effort, a solo album called La De Da. The album is “solo” in the sense that Joel plays all the instruments but it’s by no means a simple acoustic project. It also isn’t a permanent move away from his work with The Emergency. Rather, it’s the mark of an artist at home with his instincts and his creative muse and one that’s willing to follow fearlessly where those imperatives lead. La De Da attracted attention at regional and national media and the hit single “Happen Now” topped the Canadian campus music chart for months running.
Joel has toured extensively both solo and with The Emergency, to sold-out clubs, theatres and headlining festivals throughout Canada, the United States and Australia, on the heels of great Canadian success with his Make A Little Noise DVD & EP (2006) and Ashtray Rock (2007). Make A Little Noise spawned an infectiously catchy hit single, “Nowhere With You,” that landed Plaskett on the Top 10 at Hott Adult Contemporary (AC) radio. He also garnered three 2007 East Coast Music Awards wins for “Nowhere With You,” DVD for Make A Little Noise, and Songwriter of the Year. Ashtray Rock was nominated for the high profile Polaris Music Prize award, and earned Plaskett and his band all six of the 2008 “of the year” ECMAs for which he, and they, were nominated: Recording, Group Recording, Single (for “Fashionable People,” another hit song), Video (also for “Fashionable People”), Rock Recording, and Songwriter. Topping that off was Joel’s Juno Award nomination for Songwriter of the Year and his placement as First Place Winner in the 2008 Great American Song Contest and the Billboard World Song Contest for his single “Fashionable People” (in the Pop category).
Joel’s triple layered album, Three (released March 2009) features a stellar line up of guest musicians including his father Bill Plaskett, Rose Cousins, Ana Eggie and his band, The Emergency (Chris Pennell and Dave Marsh). Three received overwhelming response from media and radio programmers across the country and was nominated for the prestigious 2009 Polaris Music Award, which recognizes the best Canadian recordings in the last year. Without a doubt, another personal career highlight for Joel and his band was sharing the stage opening for the legendary Paul McCartney (in Halifax, Nova Scotia) performing to an audience of over 50,000 people.??
As a special treat to his fans, in 2011, Plaskett took on yet another project: a collection of demos, outtakes, rarities and B-sides from over a decade of music-making, deliciously titled EMERGENCYs, false alarms, shipwrecks, castaways, fragile creatures, special features, demons and demonstrations. Boasting twenty tracks culled from dozens of unreleased or rare recordings, EMERGENCYs is a fascinating slice of Plaskett’s history, from his earliest days with the Emergency (three songs from 2001’s Down at the Khyber are featured in demo form) to his latest trips into the studio post Three.
The year 2012 started in high gear for Plaskett, and anybody who’s been following along already knows the reason why. Out of the doldrums of another long Canadian winter, Joel and The Emergency worked around the clock, sending weekly volleys to fight off the seasonal blues: a brand new song – recorded, mixed, mastered, and released – every single week for ten weeks, accompanied by snippets of video documenting the process in-studio. It was an epic undertaking, which came together in the physical release of Scrappy Happiness on CD and vinyl. The album is garnering outstanding reviews from the media, is long listed for the Polaris Music Prize, and Joel Plaskett Emergency kicked off their Scrappy Happiness Canadian tour with a live performance on CBC’s George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight.
There are a handful of gorgeous tunes that call to mind the folk inflections of Three, while hewing to the lean, stripped-down production that mark this distinctive record as a whole (the breezy lilt of “Harbour Boys” and the standout “I’m Yours”). But Plaskett’s winking references to his beloved Cactus and Husker Du albums suggest that his riffing chops are as strong as ever. The Emergency provide the muscle for gritty guitar numbers like “Lightning Bolt” and “Time Flies” and they evidently haven’t lost an ounce of love for the kind of melodic rock that inspires tunes like “Somewhere Else” and “Tough Love,” tracks that echo back to their earlier records, Down at the Khyber and Truthfully, Truthfully.
Scrappy Happiness is an eclectic display of Plaskett’s continued songwriting prowess and playful lyricism. While many of the songs tap bittersweet emotions hidden in the fuzzy details of the past, it is the present where this record resides. Time’s flying, so let’s fly with it. Music – the sheer jubilant redemptive promise of music: on the radio, in the car, in the kitchen or from the stage – occupies a prominent place in these songs and one can hear the joy the group took in their creation. But none of this would matter if it weren’t also, in the end, another compelling record from one of Canada’s leading musical voices.

Joel Plaskett
2019-02-22 20:00 - 22:00

Hector’s Point Moonlight Snowshoe Walks
2019-02-15 19:00 - 21:00
Join us for our special “Hector’s Point Moonlight Walk” – a moonlight snowshoe hike around the Highland Village. It will be approximately 3km, and end at the pub with a 10oz pint (for those that are 19/over), or a cup of Jill’s Hot Chocolate.
Walk is for all ages.
Shorter routes available if need be.
$15 per person including snowshoes rentals, or $10 if you bring your own (use coupon code snow in the checkout page to reveal the discounted price). Space is limited.
Meet at The Frolic’n Folk Pub just inside the Inn
Walks begin at 7pm.It is best to arrive 15 minutes before the scheduled walk in order to check in.
*Weather permitting

Hector’s Point Snowshoe Walks
2019-02-10 13:00 - 15:00
Cancelled due to lack of snow
“Hector’s Point Snowshoe Walk” at 1pm.This hike will see you walking around the snowy Highland Village. It will be approximately 3km and will end back at the Frolic’n Folk Pub. There you will receive a cup of Jill’s Hot Chocolate or for those that are 19/over a 10oz pint.
Walk is for all ages.
Shorter routes available if need be.
$15 per person including snowshoes rentals, or $10 if you bring your own (please use coupon code snow on the checkout page to reveal the discounted price). Space is limited.
Meet at The Frolic’n Folk Pub just inside the Inn
Walks begin at 1pm.It is best to arrive 15 minutes before the scheduled walk in order to check in.
*Weather permitting

New Years Eve with Pretty Archie
2018-12-31 21:00 - 2019-01-01 02:00
Doors open at 4PM. Assigned Seating. Admission ticket gets you entrance, party favours, champagne, midnight snacks, fireworks & a guaranteed good time!
Pretty Archie is a Country/Folk/Bluegrass band from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Long time friends Brian Cathcart (Lead Vocals, Guitar), Matt McNeil (Lead Guitar, Mandolin), Colin Gillis (Harmonica, Bass, Vocals) and Redmond MacDougall (Banjo, Percussion, Vocals) make up this quartet. Always jamming together growing up, they guys decided in May 2012 to form a band. The band chose the name Pretty Archie after a local (Cape Breton) character known for playing with 2 strings outside shopping malls in any weather and not always (or ever) in key. The guys thought the name Pretty Archie embodied the love of playing and performing music along with representing their hometown. Their newest album “Hangin On” drops today (Oct 19th). Get yours here http://bit.ly/PrettyArchie.
Pretty Archie’s 2nd release ‘Sing Alongs & Love Songs’ was made available on September 23rd 2016. Bringing on Jamie Foulds to produce this project, Pretty Archie continues to push the genre lines of Folk, Bluegrass, Country and Blues creating a uniquely Pretty Archie sound. The 10 song album is a collection of their best songwriting to date, addressing themes of love, loss, life and the forces that drive all three.
Pretty Archie’s first full length album was recorded in January 2013 at the famed Grant Ave. Studios in Hamilton, Ontario with well known producer/engineer Bob Doidge. The debut 11 song LP ‘Steel City’ was released on March 9th 2013 and is available on iTunes. ‘Steel City’ was nominated for Music Nova Scotia’s 2013 Country/Bluegrass Album of the Year. Pretty Archie recorded their second album ‘North End Sky’ at Soundpark Studios. The highly anticipated ‘North End Sky’ was released January 27th 2015 and was featured on CBC Radio 2’s “East Coast Music Hour” as an album to look for in 2015. ‘North End Sky’ was nominated for ECMA’s ‘Country Recording of the Year’. ‘North End Sky’ was also nominated for Music Nova Scotia’s Americana/Bluegrass Album of the Year (2015).
Pretty Archie has had the opportunity to be a showcasing artist at Nova Scotia Music Week, East Coast Music Week and NXNE 2014 along with playing some of the best Canadian venues; The Horseshoe Tavern, The Dakota Tavern (Toronto, ONT), Festival of Lights Boreal (Sudbury, ONT), Stan Rogers Folk Festival (Canso, NS), The Ironwood Stage and Grill (Calgary, ALB) Fairmont Banff Springs (Banff, ALB) and many more across Canada. Pretty Archie is known for their entertaining, high energy, foot stomping shows.
Pretty Archie’s honest, 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 Blues. Their unique sound has lead to the band developing a following that grows after each show they play.

Villages
2018-12-14 20:00 - 22:00
Villages is an indie folk group heavily inspired by the spirit of the Maritimes. However, creating music inspired by their Cape Breton roots seemed like a long shot when the members first started performing together. Back in the late aughts, Matt Ellis, Travis Ellis, Jon Pearo and Archie Rankin formed the indie rock group Mardeen and fled Cape Breton Island for Halifax. Aiming to participate in a music community with a penchant for melodic indie rock, the group strove to carry on the torch of their heroes in Sloan, The Super Friendz and Thrush Hermit.
After releasing several acclaimed albums and EP’s, there was a turning point in that endeavour. “One late night, a few years back, a singalong of Rankin Family tunes broke out” says vocalist Matt Ellis. “I remember saying to the rest of the band that we need to write something that evokes the sound of home.” Soon after that night, Ellis wrote just that song. It was called “Hymn After Hymn” and it captured the Maritimes musically and lyrically in a new and authentic way. This song was followed by a burst of creative output and the group quickly jumped into the studio to record these songs with east coast stalwart and producer Joel Plaskett. “Joel has such a strong knowledge of folk music from the UK and Ireland, he really brought our songs to life”. The problem was, these new songs had nothing in common with the edgy indie rock that Mardeen is known for. These songs needed their own home.
Inspired by an essay that comic artist Kate Beaton wrote about her hometown in Cape Breton, the project was named Villages. The group released their first single in October 2016 and have been writing, recording, and touring in the time since.
In February 2019, Villages will release their self-titled debut album. Recorded at their home studio in rural Nova Scotia with producer Thomas Stajcer (Joel Plaskett, Erin Costello), and mixed by Kevin Ratterman (My Morning Jacket, Basia Bulat), Villages solidifies the group’s vision in capturing the spirit of the Maritimes in a fresh, yet familiar way. Combining Celtic and British folk music influences with the atmospheric arrangements of groups like the War on Drugs and Fleet Foxes, Villages’ debut record is just the first step of a journey into rediscovery and reinvention.

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A Gunning & Cormier Christmas Show
2018-12-07 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.

Frolic'n Funny
2018-11-16 20:00 - 22:00
The Frolic’n Folk Pub & Grill brings you an evening of pro comedy, with some of Canada’s best stand-ups.
Featuring:
Nick Martinello (Vice, CBC Comedy, Halifax Comedy Festival)
Jordan Foisy (This Hour has 22 Minutes. Just for Laughs)
Dan Hendricken (Halifax Comedy Festival, Halifax Pop Explosion)

Full kicthen and bar service as well.
Tickets can be found at the link https://frolicnfunny.brownpapertickets.com or purchase at the door.

Private Function
2018-10-20
Our appologies
The pub will be closed all day for a private event.
Cheers!

Friday Frolic
2018-10-05 19:00 - 21:30
Brandon Collier
Catch some live music at the pub each Friday this summer.
Kitchen open till 9PM, bar open till 2AM
No cover charge.

Ben Kunder
2018-09-07 20:00 - 22:00
Ben Kunder is the kind of guy you pray sits next to you on a long-haul flight. Affable, erudite, and full of riveting tales about the ordinary and the extraordinary — and the intersection where they converge — Kunder is a storyteller of the highest order.
So, it’s no surprise that Better Human, the Toronto singer/songwriter’s dazzling new album and confident follow-up to 2015’s internationally acclaimed Golden, soars on vividly detailed vignettes elevated by Kunder’s warm conversational voice and, like Golden, by a small army of marquee musical guests.
Expertly traversing that rarefied space between elegiac folk and accessible pop, Kunder’s music — propelled variously by strings, pedal steel, keyboards, percussion, guitar, bass, and those spectacular before-mentioned voices — renders small moments in precise detail, making his songs both accessible and, occasionally, downright palpable.
Diving deep into Better Human — both the album and the title song which is slated to receive an accompanying video — is an excellent way to begin that process. With its shimmering lead guitar and joyful chorus (“I’m working harder every day, to be a better human in this world, tattoo these words onto my skin”), “Better Human” is a tiny, perfect anthem for self-realization.
Elsewhere, Kunder lightens it up, as in the breezy, propulsive “Jessi,” buoyed equally by bloopy synth and by Kunder’s onetime Europe tour-mate Sarah McDougall, who adds backup vocals. Meanwhile, the unabashedly knock-kneed “Come On,” gorgeously abetted by Carleigh Aikins, is a tender reminder that love really is all you need.
Kunder spent most of 2017 assembling Better Human, beginning with the songs “Better Days” and “Night Sky,” which were cut that spring with multi-instrumentalist/producer Aaron Goldstein at his Baldwin Street Sound in Toronto.
Writing happened throughout the year. “My first record, Golden, was a collection of songs I’d been working on for years,” Kunder says. “Now, it’s a bit more immediate. The title track was written the day I went into the studio, and ‘Come On’ I wrote halfway through the recording process. I was struggling leading up to the recording. Then I went on tour with Oh Susanna at the end of last summer and the floodgates just opened.”
Kunder and Goldstein reunited at Baldwin Street Sound last fall, welcoming a host of esteemed players — bassist Anna Ruddick (Randy Bachman, Bry Webb, Ben Caplan), Arkells drummer Tim Oxford and keyboardist Anthony Carone, violinist Drew Jurecka, Wintersleep drummer Loel Campbell, among others — while crafting the superb album that will now dominate the balance of Kunder’s 2018 via tour dates across Canada, Europe, and beyond.
“I realize it’s hard to know where to put me,” Kunder offers when asked where he’d expect to find Better Human filed. “I just write songs and hope people relate to them. I think there are people like me who listen to albums the whole way through, to hear the arc of the story. Others want to pick out specific songs to soundtrack their lives.
“I’m happy with either kind of listener. I really just want to connect with as many people as I can in any way possible.”

J.P. Cormier
2018-08-29 20:00 - 22:30
Nobody really knows who J.P. Cormier is for sure. That’s to be expected, believe me.
In 1974 he was a five year old boy, discovering an innate talent for playing the guitar, I had a little hand in that, guiding him through the beginning stages. He learned faster than I could teach.
By the mid eighties, not out of his teens, he was a sideman for bands and artists of many different genres in Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, and all across the deep south. As he travelled and worked he added more and more instruments to his arsenal of capabilities. He became indispensable to the bands he worked for.
In the early Nineties, he became a sideman for one of Canada’s favourite sons, Stompin’ Tom Connors and also became a staple of the recordings at Studio H in Halifax. His work with the CBC there, spanned musical, production and arranging duties.
All this before he was 20.
In the mid nineties he reentered the musical scene of his beloved East Coast and the Island called Cape Breton. He exploded onto the trad music scene there as a fiddler, performing some of the most difficult music ever produced by legends like Winston Fitzgerald and Angus Chisholm with a facility that stunned onlookers. Especially those who knew he wasn’t born there, but born in Ontario to Cape Breton parents. Somehow, some way, his music was the real thing, sounding like he had been steeped continually in a handed-down brew of family tradition from the old country.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
His previous gig was in Nashville playing mandolin and banjo in a grammy nominated bluegrass gospel band and performing on the Opry, and playing television shows with the likes of Waylon Jennings. All those people also thought he was one of them, American, reared in the ways of bluegrass, old time and Americana music. They knew he was from Canada, but it just didn’t seem possible.
Then in 1997, something amazing happened.
An album released in Canada, out of nowhere, called Another Morning. This time it was him as a songwriter and a lead singer.
And what a songwriter he turned out to be. Some of the performances on that album are literally part of the musical vocabulary today in the East Coast. Songs like the title cut, and Kelly’s Mountain, The Molly May (co written with his cousin Gervais) and others. It inspired, 25 years ago, some of the biggest names in the business today. People like Dave Gunning, Matt Andersen, David Myles, Joel Plaskett, all of which will tell you: that record changed things.
The Canadian industry thought so too, and it received a juno nomination and won an ECMA.
And that was just the beginning.
36 years later after stepping on stage as professional union musician for the first time at the tender age of 13, JP is still going, and frighteningly, still getting better.
16 albums followed the success of Another Morning, winning 12 more ECMA’s, another Juno nomination, a Canadian Folk Music Award and 5 Music Nova Scotia Awards. Each album was a snapshot of each thing that he can do. There are fiddle albums, Mandolin, Banjo, Guitar, tribute records, songwriting collections, a purely astounding spectrum of talent and musical vision.
His catalogue of recordings and the 150 or so records he’s produced on other artists, resemble the tapestry he weaves in live performance. Where he used to carry 3 and 4 piece bands, he tours alone now.
Just him and the instruments.
People still leave his shows confused, amazed and wondering what they just saw. Did they see a storyteller? A Songwriter? Arguably one of the best guitar players in the business today? Someone who crosses the lines between different instruments like there are no lines? Who was that masked man, anyway?
Accolades aside, and there are many from people like Chet Atkins, Marty Stuart, Waylon Jennings, Gordon Lightfoot; JP sees himself as just a performer. He’s shy, but has a razor sharp wit and lightning sense of humour. He can be reserved or edgy to the point no return. He speaks for soldiers, first responders, other artists, the forgotten and lost. He speaks sometimes only for himself and refuses rebuttal.
Of all the things he is, foremost he is an entertainer. I think one of the best. After you’ve seen what he does, I’m certain you will too.
