10 ACTS TO CHECK OUT AT NLFB 2019

Northern Lights Festival Boréal is coming up quick! Make sure you’re set to take in all the action July 4-7 as the NLFB crew take over Bell Park with a celebration of music! The line up this year features artists from all over the world with a focus on the art of songwriting. Who hasn’t listened to a song and connected to the words being sung? The mastery of wordplay is a thread you will see though out the festival including their headlining acts Sam Roberts Band, K’Naan, Bedouin Soundclash and Half Moon Run. Its going to be a blast and we hope you’re as excited as we are to enjoy the fest!

You can still nab your tickets to the festival July 4-7^th by heading to nlfb.ca. Get in on all the action with a FULL FESTIVAL PASS still available at advance pricing for just $90, grab DAY PASSES starting at $35-50, get in on the all new FLEX PASS and enjoy the full day Satuday or Sunday, or enjoy an AFTERNOON PASS for $15 at the gate. This is a family friendly event, bring the kids for children’s entertainment, activities and all the memories (free admission for children under 14 with an adult). Food vendors will be on site with all your favourite festival treats and makers with fabulous wares to shop.

To get you ready to make the most of your weekend we’ve gone ahead and browsed the NLFB 2019 playlist. Here are some of the acts we’re most excited to see! Check out the NLFB 2019 playlist on Spotify here. Happy listening!

HAVIAH MIGHTY

Haviah Mighty didn’t need to change her birth name when she decided to dedicate her career to music. In fact, Mighty couldn’t be more accurate a word to describe the 26-year-old artist, named one of XXL’s  15 Toronto Rappers You Should Know in 2019.

Well-known for being one of the four MCs who make up The Sorority — a hip-hop group born during an all-female cypher on International Women’s Day in 2016 — Mighty is making equally large waves as a solo artist.

In 2019, Mighty is preparing to release her most fully realized body of work to date, and continues to carve out spaces that boldly defy gendered expectations for women in hip hop.

SHOWTIME

Thursday 12:30 am Townehouse Tavern – After hours

ZEUS

Zeus is a Toronto-based Canadian classic/modern rock band. They’ve been nominated for the prestigious Polaris Prize, earned accolades from New York Times, Rolling Stone, and NPR, and have served as the backing band for Canadian musician Jason Collett. Zeus’ third LP is the unapologetically titled Classic Zeus (2014), resuming its affair with timeless melody, vintage ambience, and instant future classicism. Classic Zeus is the band’s most cohesive and heartfelt record to date: a truly collective effort of singular vision: 11 songs of introspective pop and spirited rock and roll, buoyed by Zeus’ studio mastery reinvented.

SHOWTIME

Thursday 9:30 pm Main Stage
Friday 12:30 am Townehouse Tavern – After hours

K’NAAN

The product of a creative family, K’NAAN fled Mogadishu, Somalia with his family at age 13. After learning English, partly by immersing himself in the classic hip-hop albums of the ‘90s, he came to prominence in 1999 with a spoken word performance at the United Nations that caught the attention of Senegalese superstar Youssou N’Dour. K’NAAN’s debut album, 2005’s The Dusty Foot Philosopher, won the Juno for Rap Recording of the Year, and was nominated for the Polaris Music Prize.

2010’s Troubadour contained the smash single ‘Wavin’ Flag’. The song was first used as the soundtrack for the Haiti earthquake relief campaign, and then Coca-Cola’s theme song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The song quickly reached #1 on iTunes in 18 countries around the world, and launched K’NAAN into superstardom. 2012’s God Country or the Girl included features from household names like Nas and Bono, and produced several hits of its own, marking a new trajectory for this eclectic artist.

SHOWTIME

Friday 10:30 pm Main stage

ECHLO

ECHLO is the echo of Chloe Charles’ past, looking to start over, only keeping the echoes of the lessons learned and leaving the pain and mistakes behind. The uncompromising tenacity of her work is informed by her Trini-Canadian background, being a black female in Toronto’s music scene which is essentially a boy’s club, fighting to be heard.

Naked and daring, ECHLO places a new focus on intent, imbuing subversive social critique into her compelling modern pop gleaning from R&B and electronic explorations. On the transition, Charles divulges, “Much like an echo the delay after the direct sound, this is the embodiment of who I am and it took a long time to get there.” The haunt that remains of her echo is the most genuine form of expression, darker and truer.

SHOWTIME

Friday 8:30 pm Main Stage
Sunday 12:30 am Townehouse Tavern – After hours

OH GERONIMO

Oh Geronimo crafts anthemic songs for the sentimental soul. “Music that hits the right note of gentle reflection without coming across as melodramatic or overly sombre… represented with a clarity and honesty that many bands aspire to but fail to actually realize.” (Sonic Abuse)

A testament to conscious growth and dedicated lyrical ingenuity, their songs are a call to optimism from the field of affliction: balancing tenderness and adversity. A salute to persistence in all pursuits, Oh Geronimo champions the complicated rhythm of towing heaviness, carrying listeners with linked arms.

SHOWTIME

Friday 8:00 pm Canvas Cabaret
Sunday 12:30 am The Lounge – After hours

ANSLEY SIMPSON

Ansley Simpson is a Toronto-based Anishinaabe singer-songwriter and inaugural winner of the BullsEye Emerging Artist award from ImagineNATIVE. Her much-anticipated debut album Breakwall is a swelling, soft symphony of stirring lyrics and intricate guitar. A natural performer, she holds audiences spellbound with her haunting vocals and poetics. Simpson is currently working hard on her sophomore album She Fell From the Sky.

SHOWTIME

Saturday 2:00 pm Canvas Cabaret

KEVIN BREIT

There is no doubt that one of the most innovative and enigmatic guitarists that Canada has ever produced is Kevin Breit. As one of the most in-demand guitarists in North America, Breit has recorded and /or toured with Norah Jones, Rosanne Cash, k.d. Lang, Holly Cole, Amos Lee, Molly Johnson, Serena Ryder, Natalie McMaster, and many others. His accolades are many – Breit is a two-time Juno Award winner for Best Instrumental Recording, a National Jazz Award winner for Best Electric Jazz. He’s performed on albums that have a collective 13 Grammy Awards. Breit is also an accomplished and brilliant performer on the mandolin.

SHOWTIME

Saturday 9:30 pm Main Stage
Sunday 4:00 pm Canvas Cabaret

FRED EAGLESMITH

Fred Eaglesmith and his alternative country stylings give us a window into the life of someone who has really gotten to live it. Stories of the open road, struggles, triumphs, love, loss, rock bottom and peak success are what shape Eaglesmith’s music. After all these years touring USA, Canada, and Europe – having his songs covered by some of the biggest names in music and appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman – the enigmatic, countrified, rock n’ roll troubadour will be joined by Tif Ginn for NLFB 2019. Together they are The Fred Eaglesmith Show Starring Tif Ginn.

SHOWTIME

Saturday 10:30 pm Canvas Cabaret
Sunday 5:00 pm William Ramsey Cruise

BOOGÁT

Boogát is a Canadian-Mexican musician from Montreal, blending hip-hop with Latin Music styles such as Cumbia, Salsa and Reggaeton. His album Neo-Reconquista won the Juno and Félix award for World Music Album of the Year at the 2016 Juno Awards and the ADISQ gala, respectively.

SHOWTIME

Saturday 12:30 am Townehouse Tavern – Afterhours

Sunday 5:00 pm Canvas Cabaret

SAFIA NOLIN

With her dark, folk-inspired songs, Safia Nolin won over fans and critics alike, winning the Félix for Female Artist of the Year at the 2017 ADISQ Gala, one year after being named Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the same gala. Whether singing her own songs or covering Quebecois classics, she guides us through her unique universe. Safia Nolin’s third album – her second LP of original songs – is titled Dans le noir and was released on October 5th, 2018 via Bonsound.

SHOWTIME

Sunday 8:00 pm Main Stage

RAYANNAH

Rayannah bends noise into music by running voice, breath, synth and percussion through loop pedals. Underscored by intricate beat-making, her evocative lyrics in French and English rise above dense soundscapes, pulling listeners into a world both dark and sweet.

Innovative on stage and in the studio, Rayannah is now unveiling music from her first full length album to be released in early 2019. Beginning with singles “En attendant demain” and “Best of You”, this new collection of songs pursues and pushes the sounds and textures explored in Rayannah’s debut EP Boxcar Lullabies.

SHOWTIME

Sunday 3:00 pm Acoustic Stage
Sunday 11:00 pm Townehouse Tavern – After hours

HALF MOON RUN

The music of Half Moon Run is often described as dreamy alt-pop, bucolic alt-folk, and psychedelic indie rock. Armed with classical training and omnivorous influences, they build on cerebral, acrobatic arrangements and harmonies, lilting prettily in one moment then feral the next.

SHOWTIME

Sunday 10:00 pm Main stage

For more info on this years fest check out these links:

HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR NLFB WEEKEND

NLFB PROFILE: ANSLEY SIMPSON

NLFB PROFILE: BROOKE BRUCE

NLFB VENDOR HIGHLIGHTS

SONGCRAFT TAKES CENTRE STAGE AT NLFB 2019

SUDBURY 2019 SUMMER FESTIVALS