With over 17 combined Canadian Folk Music, East Coast Music, and Music Nova Scotia awards and nominations, the JUNO-Nominated powerhouse duo, Cassie and Maggie, are an unstoppable force on the global folk stage.

You’ll love their magnetic energy, and the seamless way they weave their deep Celtic heritage with contemporary influences. Committed to not just preserving but also propelling Nova Scotia’s folk traditions into new realms, Cassie and Maggie bring an exhilarating energy that is both timeless and irresistibly modern.

Traverse is a trio with fiddler Laura Risk, ReJigged veteran accordion and flute player, Nicholas Williams, and Maritime-based pianist, Rachel Aucoin. Another ReJigged veteran, the beloved dancer and storyteller, Nic Gareiss, joins Traverse as a partner and collaborator. Traverse’s self-titled debut album won the prestigious OPUS Prize for Album of the Year in Traditional Québécois Music. The band’s sound is heavily inspired by their deep-rooted immersion in traditional musical communities spanning from Montreal to the Gaspé, and over the ocean to Ireland and Scotland.

Cassie and Maggie

With over 17 combined Canadian Folk Music, East Coast Music, and Music Nova Scotia awards and nominations, the JUNO-Nominated powerhouse duo, Cassie and Maggie, emerge as an unstoppable force on the global folk stage. Unleashing a magnetic energy, they seamlessly weave their deep Celtic heritage with contemporary influences. Committed to not just preserving but also propelling Nova Scotia’s folk traditions into new realms, Cassie and Maggie bring an exhilarating energy that is both timeless and irresistibly modern. Their eagerly anticipated 5th studio album, “Gold and Coal,” poised to solidify their status as folk music trailblazers.

Traverse

Winner of Quebec’s prestigious OPUS Prize for Album of the Year – Traditional Québécois Music, Traverse is a musical journey into the heart of traditional fiddle music that resonates with nuance and vitality. “Gorgeous, refreshing” raves The Guardian, while Songlines calls their music “mature, dignified and rewarding.” With Laura Risk on fiddle, Nicholas Williams (Genticorum) on accordion and flute, and Rachel Aucoin (Eloise & Co.) on piano, Traverse draws from deep immersion into traditional musical communities, from Montreal to the Gaspé via Scotland, as well as a curiosity towards innovation and exploration. The result is “melodically memorable, beautifully played, heart-lifting music, full of intelligence, delicacy and detail” (RootsWorld). The band features three top musicians who have each come to Quebec from elsewhere—Laura from California, Nicholas from Ottawa, and Rachel from the Maritimes—and have been deeply involved with traditional Québécois music for decades. Together, they play with knife’s-edge precision and a rare intuitive connection that draws listeners into a riveting musical experience.

Nic Gareiss

One of Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch, Nic Gareiss (he/they) grew up at folk festivals learning Appalachian, Irish, English, and Canadian step dance surrounded by fiddlers, cloggers, and folk singers in what some folks call Michigan. This mix of traditional movement, music, and song has become the heart of Nic’s creative work as a contemporary folk performer. Hailed by the New York Times for “dexterous melding of Irish and Appalachian dance,” Gareiss has been called “the most inventive and expressive step dancer on the scene” by the Boston Herald. In 2020 Nic received the Michigan Heritage Award, the region’s highest distinction bestowed on traditional artists. Holding a MA in Ethnochoreology from the University of Limerick, Nic’s thesis was the first piece of scholarship to query the experience of fellow LGBTQ+ Irish step dancers. He has performed in seventeen countries including at composer Steve Reich’s 75th birthday celebration at the Cork Opera House, as well as at London’s Barbican Centre, Paris’ Salle Gaveau, the Munich Philharmonic, Jacob’s Pillow, and Fall For Dance North, which presented Nic’s collaboration with dancer Caleb Teicher at rural farms, parks, and vineyards. More recently, Nic’s visual album with banjoist Allison de Groot made NPR’s yearly list of best roots music. Entitled The Thrill, it serves as an ongoing mutual aid project for Appalachian flood relief and can be experienced on Bandcamp. www.nicgareiss.com / @NicGareissLFI

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