Previous events

Expect a delightful evening of gorgeous, harmonious tunes by this trio of award-winning singer-songwriters Boreal is the magical musical collaboration of Tannis Slimmon, Katherine Wheatley and Angie Nussey. These three hard-working singer-songwriters, each with their own longstanding, award-winning careers, simply love playing music together. In the winter, Boreal shines their collective light on Canada’s coldest months with their show “Songs for the Snowy Season”. The brighter/warmer months are reserved for “Songs of Renewal”, a show that combines sun-loving, moon-watching, finger-snapping, heart-touching and deeply uplifting songs.

The trio’s spell-binding harmonies, combined vocal prowess and tour-de-force songwriting make for a powerful musical event. With humour, storytelling and heart-melting honesty, Boreal takes their audience on a journey of friendship, laughter and connection.

Powerful live performances, beautifully recorded songs, and genuine on and off-stage camaraderie make these three singer-songwriters a shining example of teamwork, compassion, musical integrity…and, of course, good old-fashioned fun!

Boreal is very excited to be nominated in three categories for 2026 Canadian Folk Music Awards for their most recent album Winterbirds

This Quebec-based duo perform with a mixture of original tunes and respectful renditions of songs from the rich folk music tradition The Co-Conspirators is a Hemmingford, QC based duo playing folk/singer-songwriter music with elements of country, rock, blues, gospel, bluegrass, spiritual, and general roots music. With heavy emphasis on vocal harmonies, this duo had been compared to The Weavers, Ian and Sylvia Tyson and Richard and Linda Thompson. They perform mostly original music along with some traditional and contemporary covers.

Mostly performing as a duo, they do occasionally add various instruments available to them such as bass, drums, percussion, flute, clarinet, lead guitar, violin, cello, harmonica, banjo, auto harp, and vibraphone.

Described as modern day troubadours, The Co-Conspirators have performed at hundreds of house concerts, folk societies, festivals, seniors and community centres, bars, and restaurants.

The Co-Conspirators have released 4 albums to date, "Shadowing the Organ Tuner" (with full band), "The Unreliable Narrators" (a duo album of originals), and their 3rd album, "Half a Tank of Gas and a Full Case of Beer" (a Fred Eaglesmith Tribute), was release in July 2023.

"War Is A Racket and Other Irrefutable Truths" is a collection of anti-war, protest, social justice, and labour rights songs. It was released January 2025.

Tony Turner’s rich baritone voice delivers articulate songs that channel the ties that bind and the spirit of the times. Turner has been writing songs as diverse as this country for over 30 years - musical portraits of love, nature, regular working folk and social observations found the in several critically acclaimed recordings. The latest album entitled Survivor Tree, showcases the work of a mature songwriter who captures in song the heartfelt, the hard, the hopeful and, at times, humorous ways of getting by. This concert celebrates the release of Tony's latest album along with other favourites and sngalongs. Tony will be accompanied by AJ Carson on keyboard, accordion and vocals. Calling Nanaimo home, Tony established himself as a songwriter, performer and event organizer in Ottawa for several decades. A keen observer of modern world, Tony material touches on social issues, trends and occasionally the politics of the day. In 2016 Tony received a Spirit of Folk award from Folk Alliance International for the writing and impact of his protest singalong song Harperman. The same year, Tony’s much-loved anthem of hope Circle of Song was published in the Rise Again folk songbook.

In the modern musical landscape, it’s rare to hear something as put-together as Cascadian folk duo West My Friend - something so layered, deeply symphonic, baroque, and mysterious in its own winking way while still courting an edge of disaster. Simple is safe, but complex is fiery, intricate, and ultimately more rewarding. Eden and Jeff Poynter, the heart and soul of West My Friend , are veterans of the Victoria music scene and recently released their Independent Music Awards-nominated fourth album “In Constellation”. On this latest work, the band continues to refine the art of creating achingly poignant folk music, only this time, they’re backed by a full symphony orchestra, heavily layered while remaining lighthearted. Intricate yet accessible. Melancholic yet optimistic. Mingling grassroots guitar, accordion, mandolin, orchestral instruments, and interweaving harmonies, In Constellation (produced by Joby Baker, co-produced and arranged by Adrian Dolan) features longtime members conceiving a new box, then thinking outside of it. Punctuated by musings on anxiety and belonging, song structures vary and dynamics change from moment to moment, painting powerful lyrical portraits over backgrounds of violins and trumpets that swell, collapse, and tumble between bold harmonies. With over 800 performances and countless tours under their belt, West My Friend is bringing forth a new sound you’ve never known you’ve wanted and new meaning to the things you’ve never known you needed.

Singer-songwriter, entertainer, TV personality, and women’s music pioneer, Connie Kaldor is celebrating over 45 years in show business! At 72, she is not slowing down! Her upcoming album Wide Open Spaces is inspired by her roots in the Canadian Prairies!

Connie Kaldor began her career in folk music as part of the Canadian wave alongside artists like Stan Rogers and Valdy. Armed with her enormous stage presence, her unforgettable melodies, and her emotional depth as a songwriter, Connie became a headline act on the festival circuit. Her extensive touring has earned her a loyal fanbase that extends far beyond the traditional boundaries of folk and the Boston Globe has described her as, “a masterful performer, wildly funny one moment, deeply personal the next.”

A three-time Juno Award winner, Connie is a member of the Order of Canada, a Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal recipient, holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Regina, and is the first songwriter to receive a Western Literature Association Award of Merit.

Visit www.conniekaldor.com for more about this remarkable Caanadian icon.

Free parking is available at the Nanaimo Yacht Club parking lot off Townsite Rd.

"Unhurried personal narratives that anyone can share- songwriting on a conversational scale with universal relevance." - Rock & Reel Review.
James Gordon has been there. He’s done that. He has had a remarkably diverse and resilient career in the Canadian cultural sector. As a solo singer-songwriter and with the ground-breaking trio Tamarack, he’s recorded 42 albums and toured relentlessly around the world. He’s written for symphony orchestras, musical theatre and dance works, scored films, and for more than ten years was heard on CBC radio as songwriter-in-residence for the ’Basic Black’ and ‘Ontario Morning’ programs. Between tours, James is a record producer, playwright, community activist, theatre director and he was a Guelph City Councillor for eight years. After a long break because of you-know-what, Gordon is touring again. “Rootsy sound, strong songs, with a poet’s eye for telling details and a picket-line singer’s passion.” – Sing Out Magazine

David is one of Canada’s most enduring and literate singer-songwriters. Essig may have started out fifty years ago as a hired-gun blues guitarist and mandolin player, but today he’s best known as one of Canada’s most enduring and literate singer-songwriters. On festival stages and in intimate solo concert settings, David is a songwriter with a difference. As one 12-year-old commented recently as he watched David do a soundcheck: “The dude can shred.” For more about David, visit his website: https://davidessig.com

Judy Collins has inspired audiences with sublime vocals, boldly vulnerable songwriting, personal life triumphs, and a firm commitment to social activism. In the 1960s, she evoked both the idealism and steely determination of a generation united against social and environmental injustices. Five decades later, her luminescent presence shines brightly as new generations bask in the glow of her iconic 55-album body of work, and heed inspiration from her spiritual discipline to thrive in the music industry for half a century.

The award-winning singer-songwriter is esteemed for her imaginative interpretations of traditional and contemporary folk standards and her own poetically poignant original compositions. Her stunning rendition of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” from her landmark 1967 album, Wildflowers, has been entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Judy’s dreamy and sweetly intimate version of “Send in the Clowns,” a ballad written by Stephen Sondheim for the Broadway musical A Little Night Music, won “Song of the Year” at the 1975 Grammy Awards. She’s garnered several top-ten hits gold-and platinum-selling albums. Recently, contemporary and classic artists such as Rufus Wainwright, Shawn Colvin, Dolly Parton, Joan Baez, and Leonard Cohen honoured her legacy with the album Born to the Breed: A Tribute to Judy Collins.

Judy began her impressive music career at 13 as a piano prodigy dazzling audiences performing Mozart’s “Concerto for Two Pianos,” but the hard luck tales and rugged sensitivity of folk revival music by artists such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger seduced her away from a life as a concert pianist. Her path pointed to a lifelong love affair with the guitar and pursuit of emotional truth in lyrics. The focus and regimented practice of classical music, however, would be a source of strength to her inner core as she navigated the highs and lows of the music business.

In 1961, she released her masterful debut, A Maid of Constant Sorrow, which featured interpretative works of social poets of the time such as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, and Tom Paxton. This began a wonderfully fertile thirty-five-year creative relationship with Jac Holzman and Elektra Records. Around this time Judy became a tastemaker within the thriving Greenwich Village folk community and brought other singer-songwriters to a wider audience, including poet/musician Leonard Cohen – and musicians Joni Mitchell and Randy Newman. Throughout the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and up to the present, she has remained a vital artist, enriching her catalog with critically acclaimed albums while balancing a robust touring schedule.

Prolific as ever, Judy recorded a DVD special Judy Collins: A Love Letter To Stephen Sondheim, in her hometown of Denver, CO. Along with the Greely Philharmonic Orchestra, Judy dazzled the audience with Sondheim’s beautiful songs and her lovely, radiant voice. DVD and CD companion will be released in early 2017. Judy also released a collaborative album in June 2016, Silver Skies Blue, with writing partner, Ari Hest. Silver Skies Blue has been GRAMMY nominated for BEST FOLK ALBUM in 2017, this is the first GRAMMY nomination for Collins in over 40 years.

In 2012, she released the CD/DVD Judy Collins Live At The Metropolitan Museum Of Art which aired on PBS. This special television program was nominated for a New York Emmy and won a Bronze Medal at the 2013 New York Festival International Television & Film Awards. Based on its success, in 2014 she filmed another spectacular show in Ireland at Dromoland Castle. Live In Ireland was released in 2014. This program also won a Bronze Medal at the 2014 New York Festival International Television & Film Awards and the program will broadcast on PBS in 2014 and 2015.

Judy’s most recent collaboration with her as a singer-songwriter is the 2019 album Winter Stories, including critically-acclaimed Norwegian folk artist Jonas Fjeld, and masterful bluegrass band Chatham County Line. Winter Stories, is a collection of classics, new tunes, and a few surprises, featuring spirited lead vocal turns, breathtaking duets, and Judy’s stunning harmony singing.

Judy has also authored several books, including the powerful and inspiring, Sanity & Grace and her extraordinary memoir, Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: My Life in Music. For her most recent title, released in 2017, Cravings, she provides a no-holds barred account of her harrowing struggle with compulsive overeating, and the journey that led her to a solution. Alternating between chapters on her life and those of the many diet gurus she has encountered along the way (Atkins, Jean Nidtech of Weight Watchers, Andrew Weil, to name a few), Cravings is the culmination of Judy’s genuine desire to share what she’s learned—so that no one has to follow her heart-rending path to recovery.

In addition, she remains a social activist, representing UNICEF and numerous other causes. She is the director (along with Jill Godmillow) of an Academy Award-nominated film about Antonia Brico – PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN, the first woman to conduct major symphonies around the world–and Judy’s classical piano teacher when she was young.

Judy Collins is as creatively vigorous as ever, writing, touring worldwide, and nurturing fresh talent. She is a modern-day Renaissance woman who is a filmmaker, record label head, musical mentor, and an in-demand keynote speaker for mental health and suicide prevention. She continues to create music of hope and healing that lights up the world and speaks to the heart.

Expect a fun ceilidh evening with stories, singalongs, tunes, dancing and more than few laughs! The show includes a demo of Irish dance steps that you can try out some steps with called Irish dance or two or three…

Celtic Chaos is a fun-loving, high energy band from Vancouver Island that perform songs, tunes, and poems from all over the Celtic world, including Scotland, Ireland, Quebec, Cape Breton, Sweden, and Appalachia. Dave Barta plays accordion & sings, Joyce Beaton on fiddle, cello, harmony vocals, John Beaton on spoken word, Gordon Lafleur on Irish wooden flute & penny whistle and vocals...

We are thrilled to welcome Scott & Pamela Mae back to Nanaimo, singing Scott's accessible songs for the people and these times.

"As good a modern folkie as we have these days. A voice perfect for the genre. An understanding beyond the norm." –No Depression

"He sings his heart and soul, and in doing so lets light flood into your own... Truly one of Woody Guthrie's children." –RnR Magazine

An evening not to be missed! BTU (Barney Bentall, Tom Taylor & Shari Ulrich) is durable musical meld of three illustrious BC based performers. The trio first played together in November 2007 at a songwriter concert on Bowen Island. Their continued collaboration grew from the undeniable enjoyment for both the artists and their audiences.Their blend of acoustic guitars, mandolin, fiddle and swoon-worthy three part harmonies along with their obvious love of performing together is enduring and inspiring.

Victoria indie-folk musician Coupland is making a name for herself as a moving song writer, a skilled vocalist, and a compelling guitarist combining smooth finger picking, jazz influenced progressions and soaring melodies. She effortlessly pulls her audience into her personal and honest world of life experiences touching on themes of love, self-doubt and optimism in the world around her. Claire's latest full-length LP, New Light is a collection of exciting new songs with bluegrass, folk, soft rock and grunge flavours.

Masters of their trade, The Lonesome Ace Stringband bring grit, skill and abandon to Americana music, bridging old-time, bluegrass and folk traditions into a seamless hybrid of original material that is at once fresh and timeless.

The trio’s sound is anchored in the fiddle and clawhammer banjo of John Showman and Chris Coole. They are joined by a rotating cast of extraordinary upright bassists (including founding member Max Malone, James Mceleney, and Lotus Wight). The band moves freely between a sound so commanding it doesn’t seem like it should be coming from a stringband, to a sparse fragility that draws the listener closer. Whether singing about climate change, modern love, BBQ techniques or life's inevitable existential crises, the band cuts to the core. They can also turn and churn out a tune with so much verve that it will make your heart spin and set the dance floor swirling.

Their touring has taken them well beyond their Toronto origin. They’ve become festival favourites at Rockygrass, Celtic Connections, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Merlefest and regularly tour the USA, UK, Germany and, of course, Canada.

Call Lonesome Ace Stringband whatever genre you want - they are just unorthodox enough to be brilliant.

Iconic and enigmatic; Jane Siberry is one of the world’s most unique and gifted singer/ songwriters. Blessed with a sincere integrity and emotional depth, her work has spanned 3 decades, with the release of 14 studio albums and performances on concert stages around the world.

Her 1985 album The Speckless Sky was a huge critical and commercial success and the follow up albums The Walking, Bound By Beauty, When I Was A Boy and her signature song Calling All Angels cemented her status as one of the world’s foremost performance artists.

Jane’s recent album Angels Bend Closer has been released to rapturous acclaim and she will be performing tracks from this alongside her classics some new songs as yet unrecorded. Jane’s songs have been covered by numerous artists, with particular success of k.d. lang's "Hymns of the 49th Parallel" recording on which she delivered stunning renditions of two of Jane's compositions.

Jane is recognized as a forward-thinking artist, using her creativity both in song and in how she operates in the music business. She was one of the first to setup ‘self-determined transactions’ (otherwise known as ‘pay what you wish’) on her website. Preferring to create without grants or fundraisers (though she had a very successful one for her last recording), she continues to explore coaching, webinars, online fashion stores and passive income streams in order to ‘keep the joy up’ and remain aware that ‘it is a privilege to be a musician’.

This is guaranteed to be a very special evening with Jane performing some of her most beautiful music. NOTE - Free parking is available at Nanaimo Yacht Club parking lot off Townsite Rd.

Josué Tacoronte is a master of the acoustic Nylon String guitar: - Flamenco, Cuban Classical, Jazz/Flamenco Fusion. With Marty Howe (flute and chromatic harmonica) and special guests Mark Woodside (vocals and guitar), and Lili Nogueras (vocals). As an international composer (Cuba/Mexico) Josué has worked as a composer, music director and musical arranger in the most important Spanish Ballet and Flamenco Companies in Cuba. As his reputation spread internationally, he was invited to do the same in Mexico.

One of Josué's greatest musical achievements has been his consistent contribution to recording the Cuban guitar repertoire, also crossing over into other genres such as flamenco without losing Cuban essence. Josué's performance schedule takes him to Cuba, Mexico, Spain, Argentina, USA, Switzerland, Austria, Morocco, France, Dominican Republic, Peru & Canada.

With two previous JUNO nominations and multiple Western Canadian Music Awards under their belts, expect the musical magic you’ve come to love from this extraordinary quintet. Now in their 28th year, The Bills are renowned for their instrumental virtuosity, lush vocal arrangements, evocative songwriting, and a refreshing sound that transcends musical boundaries and defies simple categorization.

The Bills’ most recent album, Trail of Tales features 14 original tracks. For the first time in their storied career, the album sees all five members of the band contributing compositional talents in a truly collaborative offering. The Bills are: Marc Atkinson (mandolin, guitar, voice); Adrian Dolan (fiddle, accordion, piano, voice); Chris Frye (guitar, voice) Richard Moody (violin, voice), and Scott White (upright bass, voice).

A prolific and diverse artist, Richard Grainger is a singer, songwriter and musician who has been performing on the British Folk Scene since the 1980's.

He is a widely respected songwriter and guitarist with a clear and 'captivating' vocal style. His songs are performed widely by performers at home in his native England and abroad.

Richard’s songs are inherently singable, and his powerful delivery resonates. Experience Richard singing a variety of traditional and original songs, revealing his intimate relationship with maritime traditions and the sea, particularly those centred around North Yorkshire.

With 14 CDs, most of which are available for purchase through his website, Richard continues to be a stalwart contributor to the musical landscape celebrating England’s maritime legacy.

To learn more, visit Richard's website: www.richard-grainger.com

Raised on the mud banks of the Avon River, award-winning Nova Scotian funeral director-turned-songwriter Terra Spencer charms audiences with her deft guitar, gospel piano, butterscotch voice, crackling wit, and wood-paneled warmth. Her startlingly intimate songs have caught the eye of collaborators including David Francey, Ben Caplan, and Matt Andersen. Every show is a knee-to-knee conversation with a natural storyteller.

“The real deal.” - Ron Sexsmith

“Terra Spencer is a sparklingly intelligent writer, open-hearted, insightful and eloquent. As natural a poet as ever put pen to paper and a soul as beautiful as her melodies would imply.” - David Francey

Valdy is bringing his distinctive voice and exuberant energy to kick off another Harbour City Concerts season. His songs showcase the joys, struggles and accomplishments in all of our lives, all spiced with his wry wit. Known for "Rock and Roll Song", his first mainstream single, over his long career Valdy has received two Juno Awards for Folk Singer of the Year and Folk Entertainer of the Year and has received seven additional Juno nominations. Don't miss this special Canadian folk treasure! Free parking is available at the Nanaimo Yacht Club parking lot off Townsite Rd.

Expect an evening of authentic Scottish history and tradition in song with this master storyteller and Battlefield Band alumnus. Glasgow born Alan has been taking Scottish folk music all over the world since 1975. He joined, toured and recorded with the legendary Battlefield Band. Along with former Battlefield Band colleagues he was inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame in November 2016 in recognition of their contribution to Scots traditional music. Tickets through Eventbrite: https://Alan_Reid_Nanaimo.eventbrite.ca