Riverfest Elora Day 3
August 18, 2024
Bissell Park Elora, ON
Celebrating its 14th year, Riverfest Elora showcased another amazing weekend of music and community. Day 3 did have some rain but all performers and raingear-clad audiences took it in stride and had an amazing last day of the festival.
Kat Steeves (Main Stage)
Kat Steeves is an emerging queer singer-songwriter from Guelph, Ontario. They are known for their soulful yet uplifting vocals and captivating stage presence with a unique blend of folk, jazz, and pop influences.
The Red River Ramblers (Koop Tent)
The Red River Ramblers perform Métis fiddle music. While rooted in a deep respect for the Métis fiddle tradition, the music burns a new path for the genre. The Red River Ramblers set fire to fierce tempos and crooked metres.
Sister Ray (Grasslands Stage)
Sister Ray, the project of Edmonton-born songwriter Ella Coyes, was conceived out of necessity; a self-designed vehicle built to examine trauma with unflinching honesty. Armed with a voice that soars and scrapes in equal measure, Coyes converts first-person recollections of big, complicated love into universally potent allegories.
Mariel Buckley (Main Stage)
Mariel Buckley’s signature brand of angst-ridden alt-folk has quickly established her as one of the most celebrated artists with a modern take on roots music.
The Fellow Camper Country Dance Band (Koop Tent)
Fronted by singers Lee Watson and Benjamin Roy (Fellow Camper), who sing in a close, two-part harmony style, the band aims to deliver a high-energy, two-steppin’ good time for all.
Quote the Raven (Grasslands Stage)
Quote the Raven, consisting of Jordan Coaker and Kirsten Rodden-Clarke have been performing together for over a decade. The pair got their start in the small bars and pubs around St. John’s and in the past few years have rapidly grown to a household name around Canada and are steadily growing their clout on an international level.
Wild Rivers (Main Stage)
Platinum-selling indie trio Wild Rivers, Khalid Yassein [guitar, vocals, keys], Devan Glover [vocals], and Andrew Oliver [lead guitar, synths], have a gift for penning introspective lyrics and genre-fluid melodies that transmit wisdom beyond their years.
Nicolette & the Nobodies (Koop Tent)
“The best country songs take you home,” says Nicolette Hoang, frontwoman and songwriter for the Guelph, Ontario-based band, Nicolette & The Nobodies. “I want to write music that does that, songs that take you home.”
Willi Carlisle (Grasslands Stage)
For folk singer Willi Carlisle, singing is healing. And by singing together, he believes we can begin to reckon with the inevitability of human suffering and grow in love.
Corb Lund (Main Stage)
Much like his music, Lund is decidedly hard to define. The western Canadian singer-songwriter is an elusive artist — onstage, offstage, and in the studio — seamlessly weaving between the outlaw country, Western, and indie-folk realms with an honest curiosity and rowdy devotion to each.
Raygun Cowboys (Koop Tent)
Raygun Cowboys are a brass-heavy, punk rockabilly band hailing from the very best dive bars and back alleys of Edmonton, AB. This 50’s 50-influenced 6-piece outfit plays insanely high-energy badass rockabilly with elements of punk and rock n roll that instantly get people up on the dance floor from the first to the last song.
Sarah Shook & the Disarmers (Grasslands Stage)
It’s obvious listening to Sarah Shook and the Disarmers’ clear-eyed, biting, and unafraid songs that integrity is the most important thing to the Chapel Hill, North Carolina, country-punk outfit.
Josh Ross (Main Stage)
Echoing the primary themes of country infused with a fresh, modern sound, Josh Ross is developing an ever-evolving career amidst the drawbacks of injuries, lockdowns, and conflicting relationships. An artist bound by the act of forging past and overcoming restraints, Josh Ross debuted with his independently released cathartic ballad on romantic losses, “First Taste of Gone,” which garnered stellar traction across North America for the Nashville-based singer and proved his emerging presence in the genre.
