After much anticipation, Folk On The Rocks Wave 2 is hitting all the right notes with artists like Jennifer Castle, Amos the Kid, DJTMixxy and the return of festival favs like Carmen Braden and Josh Q.
Following Folk On The Rocks custom, the lineup of artists is released in three waves. On March 28, the first wave of the festival was announced and today at long last, came Wave 2.
“Wave 2 includes a really exciting roster of artists from all over Canada. We’ve got folks coming from Ontario, Winnipeg, other parts of the North and the N.W.T.,” says Carly McFadden, who is the artistic director of Folk On The Rocks.
McFadden offered True North FM a guided glimpse of Wave 2’s spectacular artists.
Amos the Kid
McFadden said of all the performers, she is probably most excited about Amos the Kid. “They’re very much a sort of Nouveau Country Act or Indie Country, produced by Adam Fuhr of Yes We Mystic and House of Wonders Records who’s played the festival before with Yes We Mystic A really interesting spin on what a country sound should be like, since he doesn’t come from a country background,” McFadden says.
Amos the Kid’s debut LP, Enough as it Was, came at the heels of an astounding rise that took the Winnipeg musician from “reclusive songwriter to hometown hero.” Only a few years have passed since his music career took off and he’s now playing sold-out shows.
Aurora Fiddle Society
“The Aurora Fiddle Society is back for their fiddle workshops, which are always fun and jam-packed,” explains McFadden. The Aurora Fiddle Society is known for engaging people of all ages across Yellowknife and the North Slave Region with the art of fiddling through their legendary fiddle jams, workshops and events.
Bella Beats
“The Bella Beats will be rocking on the main stage, showing us the best dance moves that they’ve got from all the work that they’ve done this year,” says McFadden. The Bella Beats are a show-stopping dance troupe based out of Yellowknife, noted for their high-performance level routines and their focus on community connection.
Carmen Braden
Carmen Braden, a local favourite, is returning to the festival after a number of years’ absence. McFadden describes Carmen Braden as “a beautiful take on Electro pop and Jazz” with the “sort of 90s vibe.” Carmen Braden is a creator and performer of innovative, beautiful and unique music. Her songwriting and live performances are known for their “dynamic, chamber-pop” sound that defies genres.
Cassandra Blondin Burt
Cassandra Blondin Burt is a Two-Spirit Dene Author, Artist, and Traditional Medicine Maker. Their work is rooted in the “exploration of healing through co-creation with earth and story.” McFadden explains that this February, Burt played to a sold-out crowd at the Setting the Stage show in Yellowknife, and their return promises to deliver another packed house.
Caylie G
“We’ve got Caylie G coming from Edmonton. They describe themselves as “sad-cowboy pop,” says McFadden. Caylie G (they/she) is a Queer Pop-Roots artist living on Treaty Six Territory (otherwise known as Edmonton, Alberta). Caylie’s “ethereal and nostalgic sound” expresses the complexities of queerness, humanity and beauty.
DJTMixxy
DJTMixxy’s music journey began with playing music for family gatherings and set the foundation for what would become a deep passion. “ DJTMixxy is known as a master of mixing sound. “DJTMixxy kind of comes on with a pretty hard dance vibe. So I think they’ll be shaking up the beer garden at least one night,” muses McFadden.
DUMAI DUNAI
Known as the “ Slavic dub-punk missionaries,” DUMAI DUNAI have an Eastern European “punk, rock sound.” With members hailing from the Ukraine, Bulgaria and Canada, the multi-lingual seven-piece band combines the “deep grooves of dub” with punk rock, the blasting horns of Balkan brass and the “joys and sorrows of Ukrainian village polyphony.”
If folks liked Lemon Bucket Orkestra, the past couple times that they’ve come to the festival, they will like DUMAI DUNAI, says McFadden. There are members of the band from Lemon Bucket Orkestra playing with DUMAI DUNAI. “It’s again another really high energy sort of ‘Ukrainian Village punk sound,” says McFadden.
Jennifer Castle
McFadden explains that Jennifer Castle is probably the ‘headline’ or ‘big news’ of Wave 2’s lineup. McFadden describes Castle’s new album, called Camelot, as “beautiful, mystical, magical, psychological.” Entering into Castle’s Camelot, the “fantastic interpenetrates the mundane, and the Grail, if there is one, distills everyday experience into art,” into music. “I think it’s going to be something really beautiful for everyone to sort of gather around on the main stage.”
Josh Q
“Of course, we have Josh Q back from Nunavut. Josh Q of the Trade-Offs, who’s also come with Jerry Cans in past years. Always, always a festival, favourite, people love him and it’s always a rocking good time, kind of soul, rock and roll, all the way from Iqaluit, which is very, very cool,” says McFadden.
MOOCH – MOOCH
MOOCH – MOOCH is a heavy psychedelic rock trio based in both Montreal and Yellowknife. They have built a reputation for blending desert rock with 90s grunge and 70s psychedelia. They’ve played at the festival before and McFadden says FOTR are excited to have them back.
Moonbean
Moonbeam is a band out of Ontario, who do a sort of “acid house techno disco style performance.” They will also be doing a synth workshop over the weekend. The electronica duo boasts rich vocal melodies and airs of acid-house, techno, disco, and a performance style that “serves punk energy and messages of love.”
Northern Mail Service
Northern Mail Service is a new band that’s never played the festival before, but is known as a local supergroup. McFadden describes their sound as going from folk, to country, to rock and pop. They have an “indie rock sound of the early 2000s,” with echoes of bands like Death Cab for Cutie and Rilo Kylie.
Rock The Arts Puppets
“We’re also announcing a really cool children’s act called Rock the Arts Puppets,” says McFadden. They have been to the festival before in 2017 for an environmentally focused puppet show. “They’re coming back with a pirate-themed puppet show, so we’re pretty pumped about that,” exclaims McFadden.
Rock the Arts Puppets is an Ottawa-based company known for their high energy family puppet shows. Creator Sarah Argue and her “Creatureville puppet pals” have captured the love and laughter of audiences across the country.
Taiga Yoga
Taiga Yoga Yellowknife yoga studio will offer yoga instruction during their sets. “Taiga Yoga is back to do some yoga with us on Friday afternoon in the park and Sunday afternoon on the main stage as well,” says McFadden.
Folk On The Rock’s third wave of artists is scheduled to be announced on May 16.
For anyone interested in hearing music from this year’s lineup of artists, Folk On The Rocks has compiled a 2025 Spotify playlist.
If you’re interested in getting your hands on Folk On The Rocks 2025 early bird tickets, you can head to the FOTR website ticket page
Festival goers looking for the ultimate Folk On The Rocks experience might want to consider picking up “Owl passes,” formerly known as VIP passes, scheduled to go sale at midnight on Sunday, May 11.
Dubbed “the ultimate FOTR pass” the pass includes access to the hospitality area where festival goers receive 10 free drink tickets as well as ‘Owl meals’ and snacks all day, plus the ability to skip the line at the beer garden throughout the weekend (capacity permitting) and a chance to bump into some of this year’s artists.
The much-anticipated summer festival returns to Yellowknife July 18 to 20.
