Canadian Indie on Tour – July 2016 Edition

Ourbasement.ca is here to help you navigate your Canadian Indie Summer Concert Schedule.

This is more than just a festival roundup folks! Montreal to Yellowknife, Pemberton to Saint John – there are hundreds of shows happening across Canada all summer long. So we’ve compiled a spread of some of the bigger indie acts for you, all in this handy dandy blog post.

If an unmentioned artist is passing through your town, give them a shout out in the comments and we’ll try to add them to our spread.

*Excuse the mess, we’re still unpacking*
Please excuse the current formatting.  We are working quickly on ways to make Canadian Indie on Tour more interactive and easier to use.
(Picture: Taken by Tiffy at The Horseshoe.  Feet belong to members of Amos The Transparent)

Click Artist Name for full tour schedule.

Arkells
BC          Pemberton       Pemberton Music Fest    July 14th
ON         Barrie                WayHome Music Fest      July 23rd
BC          Colwood            Rock The Shores               July 24th
NS          New Glasgow  The Riverfront Jubilee     July 30th

Black Mountain (WOOHOO!)
QC         Montreal        Fairmount Thatre     July 21st
ON        Ottawa            Ritual Nightclub        July 22nd
ON        Toronto          Lee’s Palace                 July 23rd
ON        Barrie             Wayhome Festival     July 24th

Coeur de Pirate
ON        Ottawa              Parliament Hill            July 1st
MB        Winnipeg         Winnipeg Folk Fest    July 9th
QC         Quebec City     Plains of Abraham    July 10th

Dan Mangan
AB        Hinton         Wild Mountain Music Fest       July 15th
AB        Banff             Shaw Amphitheatre                  July 16th

Darcys
ON       London        London Music Hall    July 4th

Fast Romantics
ON        Vaughan      Woodbridge Fairgrounds    July 16th

Grimes
QC        Montreal      Osheaga Festival    July 31st

Hannah Georgas
BC         Vancouver     Khatsahlano Festival    July 9th

Hey Rosetta!
ON        Picton                 The Hayloft                            July 12th
ON        Peterborough   Peterborough Musicfest    July 13th
ON        Field                    River & Sky Festival            July 14th
ON       Ottawa                 Hope Volleyball                    July 16th

Hollerado
AB         Edmonton       West Edmonton Mall         July 1st
BC          Port Renfrew  Tall Tree Music Festival     July 2nd
BC          Vancouver       Red Truck Brewery             July 9th

Joel Plaskett
AB          Calgary              Calgary Canada Day              July 1st
ON         Thunder Bay    Marina Park                             July 6th
NS          Hubbards          The Shore Club                      July 8th
NWT      Yellowknife      Folk on the Rocks Festival  July 17th
PEI         Indian River     St. Mary’s Church                 July 23rd

July Talk
ON          Bramption      Chinguacousy Park               July 1st
ON          Muskoka         Kee to Bala                               July 2nd
QC          Quebec City    Bell Stage                                  July 16th
BC           Colwood          Rock The Shores Festival    July 24th
QC           Montreal        Parc Jean Drapeau                  July 29th
NFLD     Saint John       Area 506                                    July 31st

Kathleen Edwards
AB     Calgary           Prince’s Island Park              July 23rd
AB     Edmonton     Heritage Amphitheatre        July 24th

Library Voices
SK      Regina        Summer Invasion     July 9th

Mounties
BC       Vancouver     Khatahlano    July 9th

PUP
ON      Ottawa            Ottawa Blues Fest     July 14th
ON      Guleph            Hillside Festival        July 22nd

Rah Rah
SK     Regina          Summer Invasion    July 9th

Sam Cash and The Romantic Dogs
ON    Toronto               Horseshoe Tavern  July 15th
ON    Belleville             Empire Square        July 21th
PEI   Charlottetown   Baba’s Lounge         July 26th
NS    Cape Breton      Governor’s Pub       July 28th
NS    Halifax                The Carleton             July 29th
NS    New Glasgow    Riverfront Jubilee    July 30th
NB   Moncton             Plan B                          July 31st

Sam Roberts Band
MB     Winnipeg         Winnipeg Folk Fest   July 10th
ON       Belleville         Empire Square           July 21st

Shred Kelly
AB    Spruce Grove Jubliee Park                               July 1st
ON    Arden              Lake-Up Arden                         July 8th
ON    Orillia              Mariposa Folk Festival           July 9th
ON    Orillia              Mariposa Folk Festival           July 10th
AB    Hinton             Wild Mountain Music Fest    July 15th
SK     Nesslin Lake  Ness Creek Music Festival    July 16th
ON    Kenora            Cabin Jacks                                 July 22nd
ON    Minaki             Minaki Community Center   July 23rd
BC     Kaslo               Kaslo Jazz Fest                            July 30th

Stars
ON    Barrie       WayHome Music Festival     July 22nd

The Elwins
ON    Burls Creek    OK Friday                                 July 1st
AB     St. Albert        Seven Music Festival           July 9th
ON     Toronto         Harbourfront Center             July 22nd
ON    Ottawa            Hope Volleyball Fest             July 16th
ON     Toronto          Shield to Shore Festival       July 22nd

The New Pornographers
BC     Vancouver      Vancouver Folk Fest   July 15th
AB     Calgary            Calgary Folk Fest         July 21st
BC       Victoria          Rock The Shores          July 23rd

The Zolas
BC     Pemberton     Pemberton Music Festival    July 14th
ON    London           Rock The Park Festival           July 16th
ON    Ottawa            Ottawa Blues Fest                    July 17th

Tokyo Police Club
ON    Toronto          Blue Jays Fan Festival           July 29th
ON    Bracebridge   Muskoka Beer Festival         July 30th

WhiteHorse
ON    Collingwood   Blue Mountain Village          July 9th
AB     Calgary            Calgary Folk Festival             July 22nd
AB     Edmonton       Interstellar Rodeo                 July 23rd
ON    Peterborough  Peterborough Music Fest    July 27th

Yukon Blonde
NB    Saint John     Saint John Canada Day         July 1st
ON    PEC                 The Hayloft                              July 8th
ON       Ottawa        Ottawa Blues Fest                  July 10th
QC       Quebec        Festival D’été De Québec     July 11th

Zeus
ON       Calabogie       Mountain Men Music Festival          July 1st

188 thoughts on “Canadian Indie on Tour – July 2016 Edition

  1. Hi all, nice to see we’ve landed somewhere! Good work Tiff et Al. BTW – I’ve left the CBC Radio 3 Facebook group, just felt like the right thing to do considering my last post there.

    I wonder if we can have a chat widget added here somehow? Anyways Happy Canada Day!

    Like

  2. @princefarming – we are currently running on wordpress.com. We are switching over to a server this weekend and we are going to improve the commenting (I have been looking at user profile plugins) and finally be able to actually format the site.

    Thanks @shonica!

    Like

  3. It will be in wordpress, and maybe with an updated theme / maybe not. but right now we are working on the free version… We need to get hosted somewhere.

    Like

  4. Good morning.

    Nice work Tiffy! And everyone else working on our basement. Thanks so much.

    I’m still amazed Dan Mangan’s actually coming to little old Meaford! We’re lucky this town has such an acoustically and aesthetically good venue that artists will come play here. There’s not much else to entice them… unless they like hiking, etc I suppose.

    Like

  5. @samara – One of my favrouite shows I’ve EVER seen was Dan Mangan. NxNE at the Horseshoe. He was the last act. Plated until 3:30am – the place was PACKED There was sweat dripping from the ceilings.

    Like

  6. Good morning gang! That Shaggin’ Wagon is loaded, out of the driveway and ready for the road. Y’all keep fighting the good fight and see you back here on the 11th, although I might chime in en route – where I have a cell signal!

    Lee

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Wow! Chiming in with big contrats tiffy, Garf et al! This is awesome!
    HR! is playing Picton?! Oh!

    Like

  8. Good morning. Is this the place? Seems to be *a* place, at least.

    Also: heartening to see that a handful of part-time amateurs with a free WordPress blog have in under a week managed to accomplish a technological feat beyond the grasp of CBC Music’s doubtless multi-million dollar overhaul: a playlist!

    Like

  9. hahaha thanks @loozrboy. What it really is though is a few professional web / copywritings / dev and designers who have put this together in their free time 😉

    We all do this professionally IRL, but it’s been a scramble to put together quickly in a few hours each night.

    Like

  10. Totes Loozrboy! I’m so impressed with y’all!
    also thanks yesterday for clarifying Top of our Lungs/zammy!
    🙂

    Like

  11. Tiff did this? cool!

    Sam Roberts is also at the Regina Folk Festival Aug 6
    the Wet Secrets are at RFF Aug 5

    Like

  12. @Tiffy… I have a great hosting account, or, @Garf had one in mind. I am find either way. Once done, I’d like to get my hands on the code, with a repo, so we can do custom functionality and look and feel.

    Like

  13. Yukon Blonde is at Ness Creek on one of July 14,15,16
    as is Danny Michel
    Good for Grapes
    and
    Shred Kelly

    Like

  14. Loozrboy (up there a bit): this place seems to have more (at)traction than the R3 group page set up on the Pamphlet of profiles. I think that page is fading very fast.

    Like

  15. For krib, a partial repost of tiffy’s, up there:
    “@princefarming – those are questions for Garf and Justin. Content and design is my wheelhouse.”

    Like

  16. @justingrady – sounds good. you boys figure out the back end structure / server set up. I’ll going to pass along a few options for commenting / profiles plugins that I found. Most of which sit around the $25 mark. I don’t mind paying for it.

    Like

  17. @tiffy I’m happy to chip in on costs for this endeavour. I bet I’m not alone. Keep that in mind if fees start to add up:)

    Like

  18. I noticed yesterday when i started to update phone apps (after months of ignoring them) that the cbcradio update removes Radio3.
    Gasp! Effers HOW DaRE THEY?!…:/

    Like

  19. On *q*, and I missed most of it, in the second half-hour, Shad interviews the two main (I think) guys from Insane Clown Posse. And outside of one of them saying “y’knowwhatI’msayin’?” about every ten seconds (no shit), what I heard was amazingly positive and — really? — spiritual.

    Like

  20. so, in defense of the developers of the new CBC Music site, the playlist here is just an embedded spotify. To stream music from your own site that artists have uploaded would be a bit more work.

    Like

  21. @BfO: well, the FB page seems to have been thrown up by the CBC as an afterthought, and behaves like a Facebook group because it is one, whereas this place is being put together by dedicated community members who are designing it to fit the community. I think having a “daily topic” rather than a bunch of separate discussions is a big help, or at least more like what we’re used to. Once they get a better commenting plugin going so I don’t have to keep wearing out my F5 key we’ll be all set!

    Like

  22. CDNz1, i went over to CFRU and Democracy Now is currently on..are you still listening? this is probably the best news show broadcast out of the US, albeit sobering

    Like

  23. More additions: Ness Creek also has
    Yukon Blonde
    Good For Grapes
    Danny Michel
    Public Animal

    Like

  24. OK – I need to get back to work. I’ll check in in a bit. Thanks for all of the love guys. We are all really stoked about this project.

    Instagram: @ourbasement.ca

    Like

  25. too much reality this early in the day (i usually catch Democracy Now on the way home) switching back to KEXP

    Like

  26. Woohoo! Our Basement is on Instagram! I love all this.

    I am wondering if we could have the occasional international music post. For instance, when I go to NZ in November I could do a post about a band (or bands) because I hope to catch some live music. (My sister is a musician, I will at the very least be seeing her play with one or other of the bands she works with.)
    It’s just an idea because I would be interested in reading/hearing about local music our Mexican/British/American/Puerto Rican etc bloggies are into… I am perfectly OK with this being a 100% Canadian site like R3 though, if that is the aim. 🙂

    Like

  27. Gateway Festival in Bengough, SK July 22-24
    Corb Lund
    Sloan
    Limblifter
    Bry Webb
    Mo Kenney
    Chixdiggit
    Del Barber
    Shotgun Jimmie

    Like

  28. Regina Folk Fest Victoria Park, Regina Aug 5-7 also has:
    The Strumbellas
    The Barr Brothers
    Frazey Ford
    The Wet Secrets
    The Royal Foundry

    Like

  29. Samara at 8:20 Well, back in the day when R3 decided to go all-Canuck, I’d voted for a small international content. To avoid too much navel-gazing, etc.
    So I’d say YES.

    *THIS IS THAT* IS BACK ON R2 RIGHT NOW!

    Like

  30. What I’ve wondered too, why didn’t R3 have other shows devoted to other genres, but still Canadian only, such as a one hour show to indie Canadian country, or folk, etc. Besides just rock/indie stuff. … Like KEXP does, they have all kinds of shows for different independent music.

    Like

  31. @justin – They certainly played a wider range before but I had wished they explored even more genres.

    Like

  32. jg, the thing is that R3 suffered continual budget cuts for 4-6 years now. It has been in a factual wind-down sequence for many years; so, unable to hold onto its soul — real hosts, real programming –, R3 could hardly explore expanding into other genres.

    Like

  33. So who’s going to take on the grim task of updating that Wikipedia page to chronicle the R3 death spiral? :-/

    Like

  34. HI folks! Wow, check out this blog post. Great work, Tiff! Thanks for doing this. And–since I imagine you’ll be eventually looking for other sources for content–let it be known that I would love to help with that at any point.

    Did any other NXNE Portlands attendees get that email thanking us for “making it a huge success”? I laughed and laughed…

    Like

  35. T is T just had a skit where the citizens of a small burg whose only McDonalds has closed, take over said burger joint and keep it open, because it’s the town’s heart and soul.

    Anyone else see a parallel?

    Like

  36. Holy crap, read the page I linked to (9:03). I knew about maybe 10% of what’s mentioned there. Frigging genius.

    Like

  37. “…has performed on every continent”

    Man, I saw his set at the SxS festival in Antarctica and it was off the hook!

    Like

  38. I’m off to hang with the kiddos.
    Bye for now.
    Kudos again for all the work that went into this.
    Y’all rock!
    :)xo

    Like

  39. No new R3 blog post today on the “real” site. And on the main site there is an article “The 25 Best Canadian Songwriters EVER” but has a picture of Drake.

    Like

  40. And the “R3 Stream” says, every now and then: “You’re listening to CBC Music”. Not R3.
    Too bad, the stR3am’s not bad. It has no soul, of course.

    Like

  41. @shuffle – I wasn’t able to properly embed it into the site because of our lack of CSS / HTML capabilities at this point. If you have spotify, you can search for ourbasement.ca account and find it there I believe.

    Like

  42. I can never find peoples’ accounts with Spotify’s search function, so if the ourbasement.ca Spotify account wants to follow me at “loweeda01” I will follow it back thx

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  43. So today is the last day of the old R3 sound. On commercial services, for instance.

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  44. @Samara, It wasn’t so much jetlag as being awake for for 25 hours as I had been my that point. I still feel a little tired but I should be fine after a good nights sleep (but I may be bowing out earlier than usual tonight)

    Like

  45. @wynn … the actual hosting is something @garfielduk has arranged. As long as there is FTP (and hopefully SSH). I’ll get the new WP blog installed this weekend.

    Like

  46. CDNz1, my memory remembers (hah) that we were told something about that, prob. by Mark McArthur, but I forget what. At a guess, it’s either going to be a) the same as webcast from the new CBCMusic, or b) I can’t believe they’d take it off Sirius!

    Like

  47. Second Amendment Sports of which the supreme, illegal one is human hunting.

    It has to be said.

    Like

  48. Any Sirius users ever listen to Iceberg, #758? (It’d be on the All Access, i.e. top tier subscription.)
    “100% adult alternative Canadian music for those who love rock mixed with an eclectic blend of music styles.”

    Like

  49. dontwannabeheretoday… dontwannabeheretoday… dontwannabeheretoday… dontwannabeheretoday… dontwannabeheretoday… dontwannabeheretoday… dontwannabeheretoday… dontwannabeheretoday… dontwannabeheretoday… dontwannabeheretoday…

    Like

  50. This is great! I can read & post from the swimming hole!
    The Littlest loves to holler “I hate Radio3!” because my response is to chuck her off the dock. I feel less outraged by her declaration these days mind you…

    Like

  51. Also, if I can help with anything around here, let me know. I’ve got a server along with HTML/CSS, design, and infosec experience (which hopefully will help me tap into the R3 stream that’s now off-limits to me here in the States…).

    Like

  52. Ya’ll probably already know this, but KEXP will be playing all Canadian artists tomorrow from 10:00 to 2:00 in honor of Canada day, eh. They’re also doing something with Jessy Lanza at some point (i’m not sure what that’s all about, if he’s going to host or something ).

    Like

  53. (…don’t try that if you get a similar error from your bank or gmail or something though 🙂

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  54. KEXP plays Canadian artists every year for Canada Day, they’ve been doing it for quite a while.

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  55. I’m just testing out the killer playlist I’ve thrown together for tomorrow. I’m really proud of this one, guys. It was a mind-bending effort to put together. Totally worth it, though. Probably my most eclectic mix yet.

    Like

  56. it will be a short day tomorrow at the office and busy, getting ready to head up to the mountain /lake Rabun

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  57. Hi hi hi hi hi!! Tiffy – AWESOME POST – this is gonna be fun having a basement back!!!

    Like

  58. Tiffy, a tip (not a criticism): when writing dates, it’s quite correct to go July 23, Sept. 4, etc.; no need for 23rd, 4th.

    I’m just saying that in view of the spared typing, when making up a list as you did in the post.

    Like

  59. @Top of our Lungs – What it’s not? Well I am crazy enough to think it is a good idea. :p

    @tiffy – Sorry. What did I miss? A bit scattered with stuff at work.

    Like

  60. Happy Canada Day everybody! 🍁

    I’m sure I’ll stop by again later, and over the weekend, but I am finding myself distracted and didn’t want to forget to wish you all a great weekend celebrating this incredibly beautiful country we call home or home away from home.

    Like

  61. Hi, I’ve been away from our basement since early this morning. How is it going down here?

    Like

  62. Hi Shonica! It is fricken freezing in my work basement but our basement seems pretty warm.

    Like

  63. I think it has cooled off here too but warm enough that the air conditioning is freezing me out in the concrete bunker I work in. Summer is the worst down here. Long weekend coming up soon! woot!

    Like

  64. I’m listening to R3 on the Tuned in app and I just heard an announcement that it will no longer be available on July 1. I sure hope it will continue on Sirius XM I just paid for another year subscription. I have started to listen to a couple of other channels on there now but still I will be disappointed.

    The Matinee are in the province for two shows this weekend, but they are up at Dauphin Country fest (not a fest I am interested in attending)
    So close but yet so far away : (

    Like

  65. OK I know it’s late in the day and everybody’s already halfway to the cottage by now, but I finally got around to signing up for Spotify and I just wanted to say how much I’m enjoying listening to the playlist up there.

    Like

  66. i love our basement! you are all doing a wonderful job moving us forward. sorry i am of no help but i can cheer you on:)

    Liked by 1 person

  67. The ‘new’ R3 stream is having its problems: hesitations, re-ending the same song, restarting another just played one, etc.

    Like

  68. the funny thing is that as we move forward here i am taking a journey backward in my musical lifeline; burning discs and making playlists for my kid to take to camp on iPod shuffles. i hope anyway. technology and i have a tentative relationship at best.

    Like

  69. @morgana I’m making ipod playlists for my kid to use in training as well. It’s fun picking out songs for him to enter the ring with.

    Like

  70. @shufle working on a nice blend of the new stuff we like and my archives that she has pulled out and reminded me how good it is too. music is so closely linked into memories of my youth and this is her first summer with a job so … what was the playlist of your summer when you were 15?

    Like

  71. HEY!

    So – this will be mentioned again, in another blog post.

    but I just wanted to point out that OurBasement.ca is brought to you by the letter I, N, D, I, E

    AND

    Justingrady
    Garf
    Reginula
    Zammachus
    Cath
    CDNZ
    tiffyleeson

    and the good folks like you.

    MEET YOU IN THE BASEMENT!!!!!!

    Like

  72. Sunny Day
    Sweepin’ the clouds away
    On my way to where the sounds are sweet

    Can you tell me how to get,
    How to get to Our Basement

    Come and play
    Everything’s A-OK
    Friendly neighbors there
    That’s where we meet

    Can you tell me how to get
    How to get to Our Basement
    How to get to Our Basement …
    How to get to Our Basement
    How to get to Our Basement …

    Liked by 1 person

  73. I love you all. And am *seriously* bummed that I’m missing Calgary FolkFest. Every single year is like a dream come true. Somebody who lives there should go see Whitehorse- seeing them live is like being hit by a wave of the Life Force. Okay, now I sound super weird and new-age-y and it’ s not even noon yet. Different blog, same rambling. Carry on, folks 😀

    Like

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