NOW WITH OPENING ACT JAMES GRAY!

Matthew recently recorded his 4th studio album in Sheffield, UK, and is set to release it in Fall 2024. Folk legend Martin Simpson produced this latest project, which features instrumentation from some of the finest musicians on the English folk scene, including Nancy Kerr, Andy Cutting, Liz Hanks, James Fagan, Louis Campbell, and Ben Nicholls. Matthew Byrne’s previous two recordings each won Traditional Album of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards, and his highly anticipated 4th recording will grab further attention from traditional audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.

Storytelling through song is a fundamental duty of traditional music, and Matthew Byrne does this brilliantly. His musical upbringing has shaped his repertoire, and Byrne supports this tradition with powerful vocals, polished guitar work, and a presence that fills the room.

With parents who were both singers and song collectors and a strong family focus on sharing songs, Byrne has inherited a unique repertoire and a fascination with unearthing and reimagining traditional songs.

“I’m not a folklorist or ethnomusicologist, at least not officially. And I’m not a purist. I’ve poured over the nuances of the pub standards as much as the obscure murder balladry. What attracts me to a traditional song is the right combination of melody and language, which have always fascinated me.”

But Byrne is also a student of history whose love of traditional music goes well beyond the words and music. For him, songs are ways of understanding people before him…their lives, work, language, and worldview.

“I see songs as sources of the past—windows into my own family history. Traditional music has always been the most important tool for me to understand where I come from and who I am. My live performance is meant to take audiences on a journey through the lineage of my repertoire and share what these songs have revealed to me.”

Tickets are $29.95 + HST each.

ABOUT JAMES GRAY

James Gray is a contemporary version of an old-school traveling folk singer. In the past decade, Gray has toured throughout Canada, Europe and Australia, seeing the world and sharing his beloved songs along the way. A unique finger style guitarist, with a vocal that is hauntingly beautiful, Gray, often accompanied by a rather droll, humorous stage patter, immerses himself in each and every song with a soulfulness and attack that is infectious and disarming.

James has released three albums, the most recent in 2023 entitled “New Friends That Talk Like Old Friends.” In 2019 James won himself a spot at The Mariposa Folk Festival through their showcase auditions. James has since been invited to perform at 5 Mariposa folk events, The Northern Lights Festival Boreal, 2 Troubadour Festivals and the Muskoka Music Festival in James’ home of northern/central Ontario.

Gray has recently returned home from touring throughout Switzerland, Germany and Austria. This 2024 festival season James was invited to perform at both the Northern Lights Festival Boreal and the Mariposa Folk Festival where he had the honor of warming up the main stage for Bruce Cockburn. 

BUY TICKETS ONLINE HERE

Tickets can also be purchased during our business hours by calling our Box Office at 705-746-4466 extension 405 or visiting us at 2 Bay Street, Parry Sound.