Travis Berhardt: Blog

Renee de la Prade is a dynamite solo performer. Her eclectic music spans from traditional French and Irish to 80′s pop-punk to funny songs and children’s music. She is a busking celebrity and one of the forces behind the cult “Accordion Babes” Pin-Up Calendar. She also works at an accordion repair shop, so any treacherous injuries inflicted on the mighty accordions will be promptly healed.

Hailed as “the sexiest man alive,” by Travis Bernhardt, Jack Garton is a growing presence in the Vancouver performing arts stagescape. As a co-founder of Maria in the Shower and Playmore Theatre, he is honoured to have worked with the Nucleus Collective, Blackberry Wood, In the House Festival, Mind of a Snail Puppet Co., the Dusty Flowerpot  Cabaret, Walking Fish Theatre Festival and the Vancouver Fool’s Society to produce some of Vancouver’s most entertaining and interactive musical theatre

Paul Silveria is an old-time banjo player who covers a variety of intriguing Americana: mountain ballads, country blues, jug band tunes, and originals, all with a ready wit and engaging delivery. He plays for grown-ups as “Professor Banjo: Detention Hall,” where he gets to dip into the rich musical well of inebriation, homicide, and heartbreak. Paul is heavily involved in Vancouver’s burgeoning old-time scene as a player and as a square dance caller for the very fun, very welcoming “Wrong Way Grand” Square Dances.

Born and raised in a cedar cabin on a remote gulf island and daughter of a legendary west coast one man band, T. Nile has blended the best of a traditional folk upbringing with modern electronic beats to create a sound that is at the leading edge of the electro-folk movement. Sook-Yin Lee, of CBC’s Definitely Not The Opera, called her “a ray of sunshine on a cold day.” We call her, “murderously charming, and ready to kick butt.” She’s a finalist in the 2012 Peak Performance Series, so for the love of banjos, help her win!

Jonas Shandel has become familiar to west coast audiences as one of the driving forces behind acoustic roots bands, Headwater, with whom he has recorded two albums and toured western Canada as well as Europe. Since 2001 Headwater has garnered a reputation as one of Canada’s best folk and country groups. In 2009 he recorded his first (self-titled) solo album with Mathew Rogers producing seven tracks worth of smooth vocal harmonies and hanging steel guitar over neatly arranged songs which drill themselves into the listeners brains and suck the meat right out (just kidding) “Jonas is uncommonly gifted, as a songwriter, a singer, and a musician. ” –Shari UlrichHeadwater is a finalist in this year’s Peak Performance series, so if you are a banjo fan, help them keep fighting for the win!

Maren and Lily have been playing together since they met at high school last year in grade eight. They attend Lord Byng Secondary School in Vancouver, where they are enrolled in the specialized arts program. They are both 15 years old and decided to form Days on Mars to follow their EP with a full album of their original songs. Although the pair embody the “cuteness” wielded by every ukulele player, insiders know that their sweet facades hide the muscular ferocity of a pair of Siberian Tigers.

“[Adler] guides the audience with the easy charm of someone who loves what they do.” CBC