2024 Canadian Folk Music Award nominees Moonfruits craft contemporary folk that addresses our collective humanity with heart, wit, and wonder. Led by partners Alex Millaire and Kaitlin Milroy, Moonfruits pen songs in both French and English, a reflection of their bilingual lived experience in their hometown of Ottawa.

Theirs is the music of open-minded dreamers and diligent doers, confronting dehumanizing capitalism and environmental catastrophe with a rousing message of solidarity.

Tragedy Ann is a compassion project from Guelph, Ontario. When they write songs together, Liv Cazzola & Braden Phelan evoke humanizing questions with pump organ, singing saw, guitar, and accordion. In harmony, their voices sensitively tread between the impossible fragility of bent porcelain and the nuanced joy of torn fabric, lovingly mended.

Leading with curiosity, empathy, and charm, Cazzola & Phelan share vignettes inside stories inside songs – compelling listeners to consider community in ways that feel both familiar and audaciously forward-looking.

Maggie’s Wake is a Canadian contemporary folk group, creating a new traditional sound. Blending high twang, classic country with fresh jigs and reels, Cajun twin fiddles and reggae rhythms, their music is an original, genre-hopping adventure that is constantly evolving.

United in their passion for fiery tunes, soaring vocals with rich harmonies, meaningful stories, and beautiful melodies, Maggie’s Wake embraces their wide-ranging influences and has built an exciting, new sound.

The band features award-winning songwriter and musician Tara Dunphy (The Rizdales, Luther Wright and the Wrongs) on tin whistle, flute, fiddle, guitar, banjo, and lead vocals, and award-winning musician Lindsay Schindler (Rant Maggie Rant, Trent Severn) on fiddle and vocals. The powerhouse backing band includes Stephan Szczesniak on percussion, Andrew Kosty on bass, Dean Harrison on piano and accordion, and Kenneth Palmer on guitar.

Pretty Archie’s genuine, heartfelt writing connects listeners with a saltwater perspective on modern living. The fun-loving and at times heartbreaking music finds common ground in the blurred genres of Country, Folk, Bluegrass, and Americana. Their unique sound and energetic shows leave listeners with a lasting memory.

With every record and tour, Pretty Archie carries a little piece of home a bit farther afield. Since their 2013 debut album, the band has built an ever-larger following on the East Coast and across Canada and is now set to continue growing its international audience.

Pretty Archie released their sixth studio album (produced by Mark Howard) in February 2022 and celebrated their 10th anniversary that year!