Borealis Records is pleased to announce that Newfoundland trio The Once is joining our roster of fine artists with their self-titled debut album.

The Once (Andrew Dale,Geraldine Hollett and Phil Churchill) is a band of exceptional singers and musicians armed with bouzouki, guitar, mandolin and banjo who deliver ballads, shanties and original songs stemming from the rich traditions of their Island home. While Newfoundland music is often known for its raucousness, the Once come from the province's quieter and more intimate side; weaving their music around riveting vocal harmonies and tasteful acoustic accompaniment. 

Winners of four Music Newfoundland and Labrador awards in 2009 and nominated for an East Coast Music Award in 2010, The Once are quickly making their presence felt on the Canadian folk/roots scene. Most recently the group has appeared with Stuart McLean on CBC Radio's Vinyl Cafe and this summer will be performing at a number of festivals across Canada before embarking on a fall tour of Ireland.

The group's combination of gorgeous harmonies, thoughtful arrangements and compelling live performance are sure to put The Once on a path that will connect with audiences far and wide. We at Borealis look forward in helping to make that happen.

TORONTO CD LAUNCH CONCERT - Thurs. Sept. 16th - 8:00 PM

The Gladstone Hotel Ballroom - 1214 Queen St. W. Toronto

$15.00 at the door only. Doors open at 7:30

View the Borealis artist page for The Once.

Our own Grit Laskin is this year's recipient of the Ontario Council Of Folk Festivals' Estelle Klein Award. The award recognizes the work of an individual or group that has made significant contributions to Ontario's folk music community in memory of Estelle Klein, a long-time advocate of Canadian folk music and for many years the trail blazing artistic director of the Mariposa Folk Festival. As anyone who has met Grit will testify, he is a positive and a driving force in any and all endeavours that he is associated with, whether that be building fantastic instruments, being actively involved in his community (he is a board member of CIMA, the CFMA and the Woods Music & Dance Camp) or as a partner in Borealis. A big congratulations to our pal Grit from all of us at Borealis for an award that is richly deserved.

For more information on the OCFF and the Estelle Klein Award please visit: http://www.ocff.ca 

Freedom Row is boundary-pushing fiddler Oliver Schroer's final full-length album with his band, The Stewed Tomatoes. Recorded in various studios and even from his hospital bed as he battled leukemia, the music is compelling and soulful, all the while representing Oliver's unique and celebratory approach to working with a other musicians. Although the album had been started ten years earlier, it was in the last year of his life that Oliver was able to collect what had been recorded earlier, and along with the band added new tracks that finally put the finishing touches to the project. And as Oliver said at the time, "the album just finished itself. It was a breeze. The last overdubs were a joy and the mixing was a pleasure"  

And indeed the album is a pleasure to listen to. Bravo to Oliver and the Stewed Tomatoes!

Congratulations to Beyond The Pale for winning this year's Indie Award in the Multi-genre category. The band won for their latest release "Postcards" which as the title suggests brings us a taste of several diverse musical worlds that all come together on this terrific new album.

The Indie Awards were created to generate increased awareness of independent artists and record companies by recognizing outstanding works of independently produced acoustic music from around the world, and to provide a means of helping the artists to reach a wider audience.

Bravo to all the nominees and winners!

 Famous for having written over a thousand songs James brings us a dozen of his latest, which true to form are finely crafted, topical and sometimes surprisingly intimate. All to say, new music from an excellent songwriter at the top of his craft.

Joining James on "My Stars Your Eyes" are Katherine Wheatley, Jude Vadala, ex Tanglefoot member Sandra Swannell along with James' sons Evan and Geordie. James recorded the album at his Pipe Street Studio in Guelph, Ontario with additional recording and mixing by Paul Mills at the Millstream in Toronto.

You can sample the songs by clicking on the album cover at the top of this page.

Silence At The Heart Of Things is a beautiful new documentary about Oliver Schroer, fiddler and composer extraordinaire. In a career cut short by illness Oliver recorded and produced more than 100 albums, composed some 1000 pieces of music and inspired a generation of young musicians.

The film follows Oliver in the last months of his life as he collaborates with several musicians who have travelled from far and wide to work with him. Through his own words, the documentary explores Oliver's music and the unique voice he brings to his instrument - a voice that challenges traditional views of the fiddle. With several excerpts from Oliver's last sold-out concert, Silence At The Heart Of Things is a joyful celebration of his life's work.

Oliver Schroer’s leukemia diagnosis in the spring of 2007 prompted him to put the making of an album of hymns on the top of his pile of things to do. While waiting for treatment, Oliver recorded Hymns And Hers. During his final illness, Schroer said of his compositions, "I used to write a lot of jigs, reels and waltzes - as a matter of fact I still do. But over the years new kinds of melodies emerged - more rarefied, harder to pin down. There were prayers, incantations, whimsies, melismas, mysteriosos, heisenbergs, fractal reels, forest blues, blessings.... This music is, dare I say, more spiritual."

Unlike Camino, Hymns And Hers is not a solo recording, but an ensemble project, with production values harkening back to his earlier work on albums like Jigzup. On this CD Oliver collaborated with some of Canada's finest musicians - friends old and new - to create a breathtaking sound.

A new album from Le Vent du Nord is always an exciting event. This band just gets better and better with each passing year and every album they release. This is certainly the case with "La part du feu" By touring globally the band has picked up new ideas and themes from fellow world musicians and blended them with the Québec musical traditions for which they're so well known. Band members Simon Beaudry, Nicolas Boulerice, Réjean Brunet and Olivier Demers have created a new set of tunes with brilliant arrangements along with spirited songs. The result is they bring us a wider musical palate than ever before - one their fans new and old will be listening to years from now. Brilliant! 

After a successful September - October tour of the UK James is back on Canadian soil and about to hit the road in support of his new album "House Of Cards"

James' songwriting has often been cited for its keen sense of history both present and past. This coupled with a command of the language and delivered with an unmistakably rich baritone and it's ot surprising that James has come to be considered one of Canada's all-time great singer songwriters - unmatched on today's folk/roots circuit.

"... he displays a genius for finding his way deep inside big stories, building them outward from palpably intimate moments"  The Boston Globe

"... he is one hell of a good songwriter, and as a guitarist his playing is practically faultless"  Time Out, London

"Canada's finest singer songwriter"  Dave Marsh, Rock critic, historian and author. 

For a listing of James Canadian tour dates please go here:

The powerful singing and songwriting tradition of the Rogers family continues strong and true on Nathan's new album "The Gauntlet. This powerful recording delivers tales of vengeance, abandonment, disillusion, anger and, finally redemption and freedom – personal themes for a universal audience.

Joining Nathan on The Gauntlet are several members of The Duhks – Leonard Podolak, Tania Elizabeth, Christian Dugas and Jordan McConnell. along with producer Jaxon Haldane, Gilles Fournier and Keri Latimer.

“Maybe the expectations placed on the son of Canadian folk icon Stan Rogers are extremely high – he fulfils them effortlessly, with his own quality as a first class songwriter and interpreter.” –Ulrich Joosten, Folker Magazine, Germany

Check out Nathan's tour schedule here:  

http://www.nathanrogers.ca/calendar.html

 Our remarkable friend and musician Jackie Washington passed away on Saturday, June 27th after two weeks of failing health. To all who knew him or ever heard him sing, we have lost an incredibly positive spirit and generous soul. It was not uncommon to find Jackie after performing through a long hot day at a folk festival to be jamming until five in the morning without repeating a song and more impressively, fielding requests to play any old pop or jazz standard you could think of. In fact Jackie's encyclopedic knowledge of songs, musicians and recordings was only matched by his ability to remember the birthday of everyone he met. His infectious smile and laugh never failed to light up a room. The room may have dimmed, but Jackie's light will continue to shine for a very long time to come. (photo courtesy of Ron Scheffler) 

"True Love Don't Weep" is the much anticipated debut of James Hill and Anne Davison as a duo. Songs of life, death, longing and jubilation, alongside some of the smokin'-est ukulele instrumentals ever recorded.

Having established himself as one of the world's true ukulele virtuosos, James Hill along with cellist partner Anne Davison now bring us a fine collection of songs and show that they are just as expressive as singers as they are as players on their respective instruments.  

James and Anne will be in Toronto May 9th to launch "True Love Don't Weep" For details please click on the Read more link.

Borealis is honoured and pleased to make available the late Oliver Schroer's catalogue of recordings. Oliver was a friend to all of us at Borealis and we are proud to help keep his memory alive through the wonderful music he created and shared with the world. 

When Annabelle Chvostek joined the Wailin' Jennys in 2004, the rest of the world found out what a grassroots network of Canadian roots fans had known for years: Chvostek is a formidable songwriter whose beguiling left-of-centre compositions straddle the divide between mainstream roots and acoustic indie pop. Find Out More / Purchase

CDs and MP3s are great but... there's nothing like LIVE music.

• The Bills - Castoro Cellars, Templeton
  September 11, 2010
  
• The Bills - Ojai Valley Woman's Club, Ojai
  September 16, 2010
  
• The Bills - Millpond Festival, Bishop
  September 17, 2010
  
• Ken Whiteley - The Uxbridge Celebration of the Arts Gala, Uxbridge
  September 18, 2010
  
• The Bills - Congregation Beth Shalom, Modesto
  September 19, 2010