The Family Name (Ben & Jacob Matte) are a natural outgrowth from a musical family tree that finds its roots with the Everly Brothers, Smothers Brothers and Simon & Garfunkel, takes a bluegrass/newgrass detour along the way before branching out from the Milk Carton Kids to create their own unique, tight, familial sound.

What really surprised me was that The Family Name basically started from scratch, learning how to sing and play guitar & mandolin together only 6 years ago. It was a fateful booking mix-up that forced them to take a deep dive and learn 3 hours worth of material, developing and honing their tight sound on the fly.

The Family Name are featured along with Ethan Mitchell on the May 1st edition of CKCU Presents Friday Night Folk

Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.

Tap this link to purchase yours.

The Hard Folk podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon etc. or visit https://tr.ee/RweJx2PNii

Suzanne Nuttall has only been a part of the Ottawa music scene for a few years, but as I said in today’s show it’s felt like she’s been entrenched in the community for much longer.

Suzanne’s story is a great example for aspiring musicians to follow. She made the move to Ottawa from Toronto and put herself right out there, attending open stages and making connections with fellow musicians.

And Suzanne made sure to include those connections in her album release show at Night Oat (750 Gladstone) on April 9th, featuring Libby & Cal, Dawn Sev, Slo’ Tom, Erin Okrainec and Patrick Shanks. Tickets are available to purchase here.

The Hard Folk podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon etc. or visit https://tr.ee/RweJx2PNii

About five years ago I sold Brian Gunther a Martin guitar. He was just settling into a more stable existence, which gave him the opportunity to begin his pathway towards writing and recording original music. Along with that Martin guitar, I was able to give Brian some advice and encouragement to get started and we’ve been writing back and forth to each other on Instagram we’ve since. We delved into finding a balance between work, family & music, how a love of progressive rock & metal led to his ethereal folk sound and writing in English vs writing in French.

SHOW ALERT:

This Saturday, March 28th I’ll be playing the John Allaire Show at Quinn’s Pub - 1070 Bank St from 3-5pm. Doors open at 2pm and admission is PWYC.

The Hard Folk podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon etc. or visit https://tr.ee/RweJx2PNii

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Ethan Mitchell for the Hard Folk podcast. What really stood out to me was his voice. I’m not talking about his singing voice, although he does exude a certain vintage authenticity. What I mean is that it’s evident in Ethan’s songwriting that he knows who he is and doesn’t shy away from that. And really, that’s the most important lesson any aspiring songwriter can learn. It’s taken me years to develop my voice and the fact that Ethan has done this at such a relatively young age is truly impressive. Be authentic, be yourself - thats the key to achieving artistic success.

We talked about how he discovered true creative freedom by giving up the expectation to make a living playing music professionally, being resourceful with the equipment he has on hand, applying what he learned while playing cello in university to guitar and using his humour as a tool to cope with bigger feelings and emotions.

The Hard Folk podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon etc. or follow this link.

Today I’m joined by Gareth Auden-Hole, better known as Jack Pine. We talked a lot about the history of his band Jack Pine and the Fire, we also discussed his more open songwriting process as a solo artist compared to the approach he brought to “The Fire”. Later on, we talked about his tour through western Ontario & Manitoba and the joy of playing more intimate venues in smaller towns.

Jack Pine will be featured along with Lefty McRighty at CKCU Presents Friday Night Folk at Art House Cafe March 6th. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Visit thearthousecafe.ca or follow this link for tickets.

The Hard Folk podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon etc. or visit https://tr.ee/RweJx2PNii

Today I’m joined by Greg Beaudoin, better known as Lefty McRighty to folks in the Ottawa music scene. We talked a lot about mental health and the importance of therapy, especially for people in the arts community. We also talked about the dynamic between Greg and his wife Tracy, working closely together on their CKCU radio show Feelin’ Alright as well as in their duo Catbird.

Lefty McRighty will be featured along with Jack Pine at CKCU Presents Friday Night Folk at Art House Cafe March 6th. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Visit thearthousecafe.ca or follow this link for tickets.

The Hard Folk podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon etc. or visit https://tr.ee/RweJx2PNii.

I’m joined by John Allaire to discuss the ever shifting triangle between artists, venues and audiences. After an initial run of success at Brews & Blues in Stittsville, attendance started tapering off, leading to a cancellation of John’s Thursday shows (note: The Allaire Show on Saturday afternoons at Quinn’s is still going strong). After recently posting a clip of my podcast where I discussed the “love triangle”, I thought it’d be good timing to get the perspective from a veteran of the Ottawa music scene who’s had a first hand view of the many changes in dynamic between the shifting love triangle between artists, venues and audiences.

Today on Hard Folk, I’m joined by Colin Prentice. We talked about the upcoming single his band Baby Richman will be releasing in March, giving Oasis a second chance, having all of the band’s recordings (on a hard drive) stolen from their car during recording session and most importantly how much Algonquin College’s Music Industry Arts program impacted his career as a musician.

Visit https://ottawamic.com/news/miamatters to sign the petition to keep the MIA program at Algonquin College running!

The Hard Folk podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon etc. or visit https://tr.ee/RweJx2PNii

Today I’m joined by author John Stubbings

to talk about his book The Devil Is In It: A History of the Acoustic Guitar. We chatted about how John’s love for guitars took him from guitar player to collector and eventually an author, chronicling the instrument’s journey from its origins in Europe to its evolution in the USA.

On today’s episode of Hard Folk, Graven (aka Matty McKechnie) and I have a lot in common to the point where I’ve been mistaken for him a few times. We’re both Ottawa based singer songwriters & podcasters, we’re both releasing new albums this year (Graven’s latest is called “Geographics”), we’re both devoted dads and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that he’s as big of a baseball nut as I am.

We also discussed how challenging Ottawa’s music scene can be for performers. We zeroed in a couple of factors, but it’s a city whose formula is hard to crack. It’s kind of a teetering triangle between venues, artists and music fans that despite our best efforts can’t always connect.

Be sure to connect with the first single off Graven’s album “Geographics” on Jan. 26th. Visit graven.ca to give it a listen.