Welcome to the Calgary Folk Club

Where to find us:
5432 Dalhart Road NW
Calgary, AB Canada

Great music, great friends and great times!

Since 1972, the home of folk music and the favourite venue of artists from all over the world between September and April has been Calgary Folk Club.

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*RELIVE Past Calgary Folk Club Concerts*
Until we go live again, enjoy videos of some recent shows!
	Performer	Date Time

	Ray Cooper	January 31 Concert - Abridged
	GreenBank	March 12 Concert

IMPORTANT NOTICE .. COVID-19 Update

Dear Calgary Folk Club community,

Thank you to everyone that participated in our patron survey in late July. Your feedback helped our Board make some tough decisions.

We are saddened to press the “PAUSE” button on the beginning of our 2020-2021 season. We are cancelling our September and October shows and will reschedule those artists when it is prudent to do so.

We remain hopeful that we will all return to enjoying live music again soon. Any needed changes to cancellations of remaining shows will be announced at least 4 weeks in advance.

What does this mean for our 49th Season? A few things:

Due to the continuously changing landscape, it doesn’t make sense to offer our usual Season Pass option. Instead, we will offer 13 flexible tickets - for you, your family or friends to use for shows this season or next season.
If you already bought a season pass, you will be hearing from us in the next couple of weeks. You can:
Choose the 13 flexible tickets,
Request a full refund, or
Donate your season’s pass value to the Club and we will issue you a charitable donation receipt.
Our artists for the remaining shows may change to accommodate their availability and any border or isolation restrictions.
Our in-person shows are unlikely to have any food or beverages.
We are anticipating a reduced capacity for the shows, and we will be doing live streaming of our concerts in conjunction with our in-person presentations. With the guidance you provided on your survey responses, you will see:
An increase in price for in-person tickets
A fee for online viewing

We need to continue to create spaces and provide opportunities for artists to share their work and talent. We appreciate your on-going support to the Calgary Folk Club.

Keep an eye on our newsletter, Facebook page and Instagram. We will let you know of opportunities to follow the musicians through their websites and channels. We’re looking forward to returning to normal operations when it is prudent to do so.

We will continue to update you, but please reach out to us with any questions.

We are looking forward to seeing you on November 13,

The Calgary Folk Club Board

2020 - 2021	SEASON 49
	MAIN ACT	FIRST UP

November 13

John Wort Hannam (AB)

John Wort Hannam

LISTEN

Born in the UK and raised in southern Alberta, John Wort Hannam earned a degree in Native American Studies and taught on reserve in Alberta before becoming a prize-winning songwriter and performer. John is known for his unique take on the dramas of common folk, and for mapping landscapes of the human heart and his beloved Alberta in iconic songs such as Church of the Long Grass. With a keen eye for the quirky and lyrics that evoke the stories behind his songs, John has been nominated for a JUNO, three Western Canadian Music Awards, a North American Folk Alliance Award; and he received the 2010 CFMA Contemporary Album of the Year award. “You’re dead a long time,” John says, “so you better get out and make something beautiful.” We’re welcoming John back for his seventh CFC appearance!

November 27

Diyet & The Love Soldiers (YK)

Diyet & The Love Soldiers

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Born in a tent on the ancestral lands of her people in the Yukon, the musical tapestry ofDiyetis as diverse as her Southern Tutchone, Tlingit, Japanese and Scottish heritage. She started out singing on the school bus. Today she tours internationally withThe Love Soldiers(husband and collaborator, Robert van Lieshout and JUNO-Award winning producer, Bob Hamilton); but she still knows how to fish for dinner on the ice.

January 15

Ellis Paul (VA)

Ellis Paul

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LISTEN

Raised in Maine and long a fixture on the thriving Boston folk scene, Ellis Paul is a road warrior who has logged over 5,000 shows. A consummate song-writer with legions of dedicated fans, he is a true original, a poet laureate with a social conscience in the illustrious tradition of his personal hero, Woody Guthrie. His back catalogue of 20 stellar albums culminated with 2019’s The Storyteller’s Suitcase, a magnificent song cycle that showcases his prodigious ability to create songs that plumb vast oceans of emotion and meaning. From the pathos of “I Ain’t No Jesus” to the exquisite anguish of “The Innocence and the Afterlife,” his compelling message is that, as he puts it, “You only get so many heartbeats.”

TBD

January 29

Susan Werner (IL)

Susan Werner

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LISTEN

A consummate songwriter and classically-trained musician, Susan Werner navigates gospel, jazz and folk idioms with ease. Her writing is unassuming, concise, literary, wry, witty and urbane without ever losing sight of her roots in rural Iowa. Thematically, she is able to take on topics as esoteric as religious faith with conviction and intelligence. Whether it be releasing concept albums or working with the likes of Rodney Crowell, Vince Gill and Keb’ Mo, her body of work mines the great American songbook while adding to it and taking it to another level. Welcome Susan back to the Club and find out why the Chicago Tribune calls her “one of the most innovative songwriters working today.”

Tim Isberg (AB)

Tim Isberg

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All singer-songwriters draw on their life experiences, but not too many get to draw on military service in Afghanistan and Rwanda for inspiration. Sincerity, empathy and humanity are hallmarks of Tim Isberg’s oeuvre and stage presence, as is his love for Alberta that runs through songs like “Come Hell or High River.” Check out his latest release Running on the Edge (2019).

February 12

The Small Glories (MB)

The Small Glories

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LISTEN

Calgary’s own Cara Luft makes a long-awaited return in her Calgary Folk Club debut with JD Edwards, hard on the heels of their phenomenally successful, award-winning sophomore album Assiniboine & the Red (2019). Having previously won over folk festival and club audiences across North America as a founding member of the beloved and sorely-missed project The Wailin’ Jennys, lightning has struck again for Cara in the seamless, apparently instant chemistry she and JD have managed to conjure, both live and in the studio. If you’re looking for evidence of the healing powers and magic of music to be a unifying force in these times of darkness and division, don’t miss The Small Glories.

Shane Hennessy (IE)

Shane Hennessy

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This young Irish fingerstyle guitar phenom began playing traditional Irish music on concertina at the tender age of four, but things took a turn when he heard James Taylor at age 14. Precise and technically brilliant, with influences ranging from Bach to Beyoncé, he now tours the world. Even the peerless Tommy Emmanuel is a fan, enthusing that Shane “transcends the guitar.”

February 26

Scott Cook and the Second Chances (AB)

Scott Cook and the Second Chances

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LISTEN

A huge hit at the Club his first time around, Alberta’s lovable, globe-trotting troubadour pays us another visit to share his straight-talking wit, everyman charm and superbly-crafted, deceptively simple songs. With his Edmonton-based backing band The Second Chances (Bramwell Park, mandolin, banjo; Melissa Walker, bass), he fearlessly asks hard questions in disarming ways, such as how Christ would be received today if he showed up as an immigrant refugee. Scott Cook distills life lessons he gleaned from the ten years he spent travelling the world as a footloose spirit. And he transmutes those lessons into precious gifts of song for fans and true believers on many continents, believers like you and me.

Blue Moon Marquee (BC)

Blue Moon Marquee

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Swamp blues, back-alley jazz, southern Djangofried grooves. These are a few of the descriptors critics have applied to the amalgam of delta blues and gypsy jazz conspired by duo A.W. Cardinal and Badlands Jass (aka Jasmine Colette). Originally from Wild Rose country but now based on Vancouver Island, listen in as Blue Moon Marquee warm your spirits and raise the ghost of Memphis Minnie.

March 12

Jeffery Straker (SK)

Jeffery Straker

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="140" height="115" style=" float: left; margin-right: 4px; margin-bottom: 2px;"> Classically-trained piano savant and pop-folk-indie songwriting auteur Jeffery Straker learned piano on his family farm in Punnichy, SK. With eight full-length albums to his credit, Jeffery has built a devoted international fan base, playing 100 shows a year to audiences from Europe to Ghana to Chile to Panama, not to mention youth workshops in Resolute Bay, Canada’s remote northern outpost. Not one to underachieve, he has also played sold-out orchestral concerts and he is a star of the annual CTV Telemiracle telethon in Saskatchewan, helping raise millions for Kin Canada. His story-driven songs, which he aptly calls dirt road confessionals, have one foot on Main Street but his heart remains on the prairies.

Ian Foster (NL)

Ian Foster

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Newfoundland native Ian Foster spins distinctively Canadian yarns rooted in history, his home and a sense of place. Thoughtful, introspective, cinematic, atmospheric, and cathartic, he has numerous awards, nominations and co-writes to his credit, including SOCAN Songwriter of the Year nominations. The subtle beauty and soundscapes of Sleeper Years (2017) attest to an artist who is at the peak of his powers.

March 26

The LYNNeS (ON) Double Bill

The LYNNeS

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LISTEN

Self-described heartbreak poets, the Ottawa-based duo Lynn Miles and Lynne Hanson take the stage all night to share their soaring harmonies, catchy melodies and lyrics that alternate between witty and gritty. Each having had previously established solo careers, they first joined forces and their talents around ten years ago, an on-off collaboration that led to their debut album Heartbreak Song for the Radio, which earned five CFMA nominations in 2018. Song titles like “Recipe for Disaster” and “Halfway to Happy” leave little doubt as to where the relation ship is sailing, but their self-effacing humour and earthy, girls-next-door demeanour will assure you that The LYNNeS require no course correction.

The LYNNeS (ON) Double Bill

The LYNNeS

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LISTEN

April 09

The Once (NL)

The Once

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LISTEN

The indie-roots-trad trio The Once has continued to grow from strength to strength since meeting at a summer repertory theatre company in Trinity, NL in 2009. Geraldine Hollett’s crystalline voice anchors three-part harmonies and blends with the considerable multi-instrumental talents of Phil Churchill and Andrew Dale to win over audiences wherever they play, whether it be opening for Passenger on a world tour or wowing folk clubs across Canada. Using a collaborative approach to composing and writing, they have matured and gained noticeably in self-assurance, a welcome development that has garnered CFMA awards, earned critical acclaim and shows itself on their 2018 CD Time Enough.

The New Customs (MB)

The New Customs

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Winnipeg-based indie-folk duo Emma Cloney and Dale Brown weave a winning alchemy of heart-warming acoustic anthems, layered, finely-wrought arrangements, flourishes of fiddle and electric guitar shadings. Get in the mood with their 2019 release Selling Religion on Government Street, inspired by the kaleidoscope of characters they observed on the streets of Victoria, BC.