NEW THE KEY OF ME 
LOCATION! Army & Navy windows, 10411 82 Avenue
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, we are reimagining our singer-songwriter event in a brand new, safe location. In the early evenings Thursday to Saturday, and weekend afternoons from March 4-7 and 11-14, you can catch pop-up music performances taking place in the window display of the Army & Navy. The Key of Me Stage will be placed safely behind the glass, surrounded by our Visual Art Exhibit, with music pumped to the street as you stroll on by!
*To prevent gathering and crowds forming, we are unable to give a specific schedule of which artist will be performing when. Reminder to please wear a mask, social distance, and do not gather.
Featuring:
Ru Manyonga
RU MANYONGA
Ru is a singer-songwriter out of Canada who looks for inspiration from every aspect of life to bring soulful tones to the stories of her own life and the ones of those around her. Ru’s music takes on inspiration from Indie, Neo-soul, Folk-Pop and R&B music to give her the sound that she has today. To keep up to date with her next performances and new music you can find her on all social media platforms @rumanyonga!
Melody Stang
MELODY STANG
Melody Stang is an active and multi-faceted musician and performer, captivating audiences with the soft strength of her voice and ease with articulate guitar. A blend of ballads and heavy-hitting strums will be pulling at your heartstrings and have you stomping your feet.
Spinning honest and well-crafted stories into her lyrics, the songs are bound by catchy melodies and a clever take on classic harmonic structures. She puts her downbeat on songwriter with musical idols like Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac and Serena Ryder.
Photo by Paul Howard Photography.
Mallory Chipman
MALLORY CHIPMAN
Shannon Brown
SHANNON BROWN
Shannon Brown is a queer, local student & singer-songwriter with a passion for folk music and everything women’s and gender studies. She mixes her interests in both the literary and musical atmospheres to bring forward a sound that celebrates both the soft and raging side of her role as a woman in folk. When she isn’t reading or fiddling with her own music, she can be found worshipping artists like Joni Mitchell, Joan Armatrading, & Tracy Chapman.
Photo by Emma Brown (Emma Brown Productions)
Of Candor
OF CANDOR
Of Candor is an Edmonton based singer/songwriter whose music is influenced by the songwriting of artists Sara Bareilles, Liza Anne, and Maggie Rogers. With captivating melodies and dreamy textures, Of Candor’s music is introspective and catchy. The lyrics of her songs accessibly capture an inner dialogue shaped by themes of discovery, doubt, and growth – feelings we all experience.
Photo by Quinton Berger of Shot by Q
Cindy Paul
CINDY PAUL
Cindy Paul‘s rich vocals and rhythms combine for a melodic and insightful journey through your imagination and into your heart. This Metis song bird’s passion for sharing her northern stories and her unique neo-folk sound captured her nominations from New York’s Native American Music Awards, Western Canadian Music Awards, Canadian Folk Music Awards and Milwaukee’s Indian Summer Music Awards. Cindy is an advocate for health & healing through natural therapies, traditional medicines, music, visual arts and cultural teachings incorporating her love for the arts and natural health into her work, her music and her life.
Amy Nicholson
AMY NICHOLSON
Mackenzie Brown
MACKENZIE BROWN
Mackenzie Brown is a First Nations Cree woman from the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, currently residing in Amiskwaciwaskahikan, Edmonton. She is a performer, drummer, tourism entrepreneur, philanthropist and advocate for at-risk youth in the Edmonton area. Mackenzie and her mom perform as “Warrior Women”. They drum and teach around Alberta for the Northern Alberta Teachers Conference, the annual Jasper Dark Skies Festival, Youth Dream Catchers Conference, Canada Day, Aboriginal Day festivities and more. Along with drumming, Mackenzie is also an avid acrylic artist and traditional First Nations crafts artisan. Her art has been featured in the Pump House Gallery, the Edson Gallery Museum, the Gray Gallery Grant MacEwan, recognized for the Alberta Indian Arts and Crafts Award of 2017, featured for the Alberta Business Competition 2017 and sold to people travelling world wide at Jasper Park Lodge. She is the recent recipient of the 2019 Esquao Award for Children’s Future, 2019 Indigenous Woman of the year from the Alberta Assembly of First Nations and Top 30 under 30 From Alberta Corporation for Global Cooperation 2020. Mackenzie was also recently highlighted as the only Indigenous and Albertan artist on the reality TV show Landscape Artist of the Year Canada where she placed in the top 3 finalists.
Stephanie Urquart
STEPHANIE URQUART
Stephanie Urquhart’s debut album “Concealment” works on the boundaries between structurally determined and more freely improvised music, blending the melodic intimacy of traditional jazz music with modern complexities and virtuosic performances. Written as a reflection of her experiences with with depression, “Concealment” engages the listener with beautiful melodies and compositions telling Stephanie’s story about developing depression, and the healing and acceptance that followed.
Billie Zizi
BILLIE ZIZI
Edmonton’s Billie Zizi deftly combines the groove of classic soul with a flair for contemporary RnB melody, while adding an avant-jazz vibe with her adventurous guitar forays to create a sound as accessible as it is experimental.
Kirsten Elliott
KIRSTEN ELLIOTT
Kirsten Elliott is a flute player, vocalist, and also enjoys playing the ukulele and melodica. Community and Collaboration are two of her favourite words. She has a Bachelor of Music and a Bachelor of Education in Secondary Music, both from the University of Alberta. Currently, Kirsten is the Elementary/Junior High Music Enrichment teacher and Band Director at the Waldorf Independent School of Edmonton. She has performed in a number of different contexts over the past 25+ years, and loves to incorporate her instruments into many different musical genres. She performs in a variety of projects, mostly in the realms of folk, jazz, and hip hop. She is always inspired by improvisation.
ACCOMPANIED BY THOM GOLUB
Thom Golub lives in Edmonton, Alberta. As an acoustic and electric bassist, he can be heard in many venues across Canada, and on many recordings. He’s performed with Jazz artists Brett Miles, Bob Tildesley, Jim Head, Mo Lefever, Bobby Cairns, David Babcock, Andrew Glover, Charlie Austin, The Parkers, Thom Bennett and Ryan Davidson. With songwriters/performers Terry McDade, Terry Morrison, James Murdoch, Alfie Zappacosta, Scott Cook, The Good Lovelies, Paul Reddick, Kevin Cook, Al Brandt, and Anna Beaumont. In addition to strictly musical pursuits, Thom has collaborated with actors and directors (numerous NextFest performances, various musicals, workshopping plays etc.), visual artists Nicole Galellis and Cynthia Sentara and choreographers Gerry Morita/Mile Zero Dance and Kate Stashko (Good Women Dance Collective).
Hannah Goa
HANNAH GOA
The fiddle is not generally considered an accompaniment instrument. Having made its mark at barn dances and ceilidhs, in ragas and concertos, the fiddle – or violin – is often compared to the human voice, a lead, melodic instrument. Introduced to back-up chording on a fiddle at a bluegrass workshop over 15 years ago, Hannah got hooked on an expanded vision for the fiddle – a little less virtuosity, a little more musical support. With later exposure to a world of singing with the fiddle, drawn from Appalachian traditions, Hannah was further enamoured of this vision.
Stumbling into this world by accident as much as by design, Hannah is making it her own. Drawing on Appalachian tradition (Dirk Powell, Bruce Molsky) and modern innovations in Bluegrass back-up (Darol Anger, Casey Driesen, Crooked Still), and blessed by this past year’s “opportunity” to focus on solo projects, Hannah has completed arrangements for a number of songs for fiddle and voice. Complex harmonies and rhythmic push characterize these songs, which range from traditional ballads to contemporary Americana, bearing witness to human hardship and societal injustices while drawing strength from people’s goodness, creativity, and resilience.
Hannah Goa is a founding member and currently plays with the trio Sadie’s Ghost (Toby Tellier and Amber Lynn Yourk) and duo Three Kinds of Water (Bruce Ziff). Former bands and projects include: The Strawflowers, Amerada Road, Proper Charlies, Allen Christie Band, and Annie Lou.
Melody McArthur
MELODY MCARTHUR
Melody McArthur is a melodic hip hop & R&B artist hailing originally from Treaty 8 Territory. McArthur has 3 full length albums under her belt including her most recent release, Rising Waters; described as a mix between Doja Cat meets Demi Lovato and The Weeknd and featured in the Edmonton Journal’s list of 2020 local releases. McArthur is a two-time Edmonton Music Award Nominee (2018, 2019) for Indigenous Recording of the Year, was awarded the 2019 Indigenous Artist of the Year Award (IWBP, Edmonton) and most recently received a nomination for R&B Single of the Year (International Indigenous Hip Hop Awards, results pending). McArthur has traveled across Canada and into the U.S. performing original music from her debut and sophomore album and intends to set forth on a small western Canada tour pending lifted restrictions concerning the COVID19 pandemic. She has had several singles chart the National Indigenous Music Countdown and is set to release multiple collaboration singles in 2021.
Photo by Sebastien Buzzalino
Kayla Williams
KAYLA WILLIAMS
Kayla Williams is a Central Alberta based singer/songwriter who unabashedly loves soulful pop. Her appreciation of oldies music is represented by her timeless vocals and thoughtful lyrics, while modern influences are clear in her songwriting. Her latest single, “Stealing From My Youth” (October 23, 2020) a’70s inspired ballad, was recorded with JUNO Award winning producer Spencer Cheyne (Jocelyn Alice, BrettKissel) from OCL Studios in Calgary. “In many ways, not being able to live life ‘normally’ felt like there were days being taken from me, like the pandemic was stealing from my youth” says Williams. Despite the impact of COVID-19 on the live music industry, Williams performed more shows in the summer of 2020 than any year previously. She debuted the new single at a sold out live event October 23rd at Bo’s Bar and Stage, Red Deer.
Over the past three years Williams has released three other singles (“Something Right” 2019, “Parking Lot”2018 and “One More Dose” 2017), which have all received local radio airplay. She’s been interviewed by CBC Calgary’s The Homestretch and CBC Edmonton’s Radio Active. “Something Right” was specifically written for the 2019 Canada Winter Games and was performed in front of an audience of over 8,000 at the closing ceremonies in Red Deer and broadcast nationally on TSN. Kayla was also one of 11 Western Canadian musicians invited into Canada’s Music Incubator’s AE West professional development program at theNational Music Centre (Nov-Dec 2019).
Photo by Rachelle Dandur and Marc Lefebvre
Kimberley MacGregor
KIMBERLEY MACGREGOR
Kimberley MacGregor lovingly crafts, and passionately performs songs that will move your heart, change your mind, and stomp your feet. Weaving seamlessly between blues, folk and rock, her common threads are strength, vulnerability and badassery, always sizzling with soul.
Photo: Erin Walker, East Meets West Photography, Artwork: AJA Louden
Lily Monaghan
LILY MONAGHAN
Born and raised in Edmonton, Lily Monaghan is a blues/folk singer-songwriter with a warm, unique tone. Often using a biographical approach to songwriting, she creates a raw and relatable atmosphere for anybody who listens. Studying in 3rd year of her Bachelor of Jazz and performance, she dedicates her time to improving her skills as well as adopting new ones. Lily seizes any opportunity to create music, drawing inspiration from many songwriters including Gord Downie, Hozier, and Stevie Nicks.
Jemma Hicken
JEMMA HICKEN
Jemma Hicken is a folk-pop singer-songwriter hailing from Cortes Island, BC. Jemma’s songs are introspective and personal; she writes emotional and comical stories about her island upbringing, her travels, and the people who inspire her along the way. Jemma grew up listening to the Beatles and Supertramp on her family stereo and learning to harmonize during long island-wide power outages. At age 14, Jemma wrote her first song. Now, a decade later, she has amassed a huge catalogue of original tunes. She has drawn recent inspiration from songwriters such as Fiona Apple, Kimya Dawson, Paul Simon, and Kate Nash – among many others. Jemma is known for her unique voice, compelling lyrics, and heartfelt performances. She is currently studying music in big-city Edmonton and is the enthusiastic bandleader of Jemma & the Good Thing.
WARA WARA
WARA WARA
Paxsi (they/them) is a two-spirit, Aymara-Welsh singer-songwriter, beader, and multidisciplinary artist. Combining elements of folk and rock, Paxsi plays their original music under the stage name WARA WARA. Paxsi’s art, poetry, and music offers moments of tenderness and honesty—they hope to nurture community through a practice that is raw, vulnerable, and politically charged.
Emme
EMME
Emme is a Canadian electronic/pop singer songwriter and producer known for her unique vocal tone, dramatic electronic production, and emotionally honest song writing. Heavily involved and dedicated to her sound, Emme’s writing and production shares an intimate piece of herself with every song.
Most recently, with the release of her debut single “Dear Anxiety”, Emme takes her listeners through her own journey of reconciliation with anxiety and mental health struggles during times of uncertainties, reaching out to those who have had similar journeys. Through her use of heart-wrenchingly honest lyrics, layered vocals, and smooth production, Emme is bound to reach the hearts of her listeners with her gentle touch of honest passion and openness.
Salty Aunty
SALTY AUNTY
On a mission to uncover life’s subtleties through her music, Salty Aunty is fond of songs that are able to reflect on bittersweet circumstances with a light heart. Through her simple, yet intentional lyrics, she is able to craft an emotional picture for her audiences to delve into. Currently studying composition of Jazz and Contemporary Popular music at MacEwan University, Salty Aunty’s sound is reflective of these influences. Her songs range from sweet tunes about road trips to groovy works focused on her coming of age experience. Composing her first documented piece at age three titled, “Why Is Your Room A Pig Sty”; it is apparent that music has played a large part in Salty Aunty’s life from a young age. Recent works include her soon to be released “Little White Car” and “A Saint”. She is influenced by the likes of Big Thief, The Brook & The Bluff, and Hayley Heynderickx.
Karen Shepherd
KAREN SHEPHERD
Karen Shepherd is an Indigenous singer/songwriting, musician, and composer from Edmonton, Alberta. She is studying at MacEwan University in the Bachelor of Music Composition program.
Karen has travelled to South Africa, The Netherlands, Belgium, the United States, South Korea and Malaysia performing both as a soloist and in various musical groups in the past 2 decades.
With her good friend, Julie Golosky Olmsted, she formed a folk group called, “The Crow Girls” and was awarded a 2008 Native American Music award for Best Folk Album.
Recently, she’s been working with multiple award winning recording artist Laura Vinson and Dave Martineau.
Esther Forseth
ESTHER FORSETH
Esther Forseth is an alternative-folk singer-songwriter based in Edmonton, Alberta. The combination of Esther’s soft vocal performance, and her figurative lyrics, is often described as “moody” and “haunting.” Esther twists her life experiences into a journey of metaphors, with melodies that play a balancing act between unpredictability, and familiarity. Taking influence from highly expressive artists such as Feist, Bon Iver, and Phoebe Bridgers, Esther’s recent infatuation with songwriting comes from her simple desire to connect with people.
Lexene
LEXENE
Lexene is a genre-bending Canadian singer-songwriter who seamlessly blends folk, country, soul, and pop. Her journey began over 20 years ago when she chose her stage name, so sure even at 4 years old, that performing would be her only calling. Lexene’s warm and ebullient personality transcends the stage and resonates with fans and friends alike.
Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Lexene then spent several years working and performing in Vancouver. She returned to Edmonton to complete her Bachelor of Music Degree.
Her debut album is set to drop in Fall 2021, working alongside some of the best musicians in Western Canada.
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