The Young Novelists are a Toronto-based band fronted by husband and wife Graydon James and Laura Spink. Since the band’s inception they have played stages across the U.S. and Canada and released three full-length albums, the most recent in May 2018 ’in city & country’. Their last record ‘made us strangers’ landed them a Canadian Folk Music Award for New/Emerging Artist, a Vocal Group of the Year nomination, and reached top 20 on !earshot’s and Stingray Music’s (formerly Galaxie) folk charts. The same year, the band won the Grassy Hill Connecticut Folk Songwriting competition and James received the Ontario Art Council’s prestigious Colleen Peterson Songwriting Award.
Since 2016 Spink quit her job as a scientist, they packed their things (and their five year old son Simon), and went on a massive North American tour. After over 100 shows, including a 10-week stint on the road, the pair returned to Toronto to start working on ‘in city & country’, drawing inspiration from their travels.
With a sound that has been compared to everyone from The Band to ‘pre-weirdness’ Wilco, the band’s personal mission is to ‘create sad songs for happy people’ — whether that means a nostalgic ballad or an upbeat anthem, The Young Novelists’ ability to tell familiar stories with a modern folk edge make them, and their songs, instant classics.
http://www.theyoungnovelists.com
Nico Rivers & the Black Grass
Nico Rivers & the Black Grass is a Boston based indie-rock group under a constant state of evolution. Over a backdrop of ethereal sounds, their sweeping harmonies question our concepts of reality and the human condition. They have toured throughout the US & Europe including stops at many festivals and events including SXSW, SS Cape May, Club Passim’s Campfire. Festival and many more. Their new record, Tiny Death, was released in May 2018. After spending a summer on the road in Europe as a duo, Nico Rivers & Emily Graham-Handley are bringing their stripped-down performance to the Burren on October 21st.
(unless otherwise indicated) © 2019