From the Heart Community Show | Jenny Belzberg Theatre Grand Opening Celebration

Photo by: Erica Chan

Dustin Bentall is what you'd call a rustic troubadour, a counter-culture cowboy, and a purveyor in the finest of cosmic Canadiana. 

For years, Dustin has honed his rebel songwriting craft in every dive bar, club and honky tonk across Canada. He's sought inspiration by following his musical heroes to the American desert and returned to write and sing the tales. And, of course, music is embedded deeply in Dustin's DNA: his father is legendary BC rocker Barney Bentall. Every fall season, they hit the stage together for the Cariboo Express Tour. Along with several other talented souls, they have raised over 4 million dollars for local charities.

photo credit: Erica Chan

Photo by: Amanda Marie Creative

Bow Valley folk-pop songwriter Amelie Patterson is a pop music workhorse with hooks to spare.

Having weathered the COVID storm by writing, Amelie continues with the releases of rolling singles for The Playlist, her concept-driven studio project. Rather than recording and releasing all at once, The Playlist is a stream of rolling singles, traversing the emotional, lyrical, and genre spectrum. Whatever captures Amelie’s creative imagination is harnessed and brought to the world in a living and breathing series of songs. The first four tracks from the project have already received critical acclaim including winning Alternative Recording Of The Year from the YYC Music Awards in 2020 for ‘The Patient Kind.’ Her debut album Roll Honey Roll received Alternative Recording of The Year in 2017.

Amelie has performed alongside Sarah Harmer, Matt Anderson, and Serena Ryder, and has performed at festivals including the Calgary Folk Festival, Canmore Folk Festival, BlockHeater, and Stampede City Sessions. Amelie is a songwriting tour de force drawing heavy comparisons to indie-folk contemporaries including Arcade Fire, Kathleen Edwards, Begonia, and Feist. Patterson served as the inaugural poet laureate of Banff, Alberta. Amelie has new music being released this June.

Photo credit: Megan Kemshead

Discovery is the beauty of music. It reveals itself in layers. Such is the evolution of Celeigh Cardinal.  With a confident voice and boundless energy, Cardinal owns a stage, connecting deeply with her audience through humour, passion and love. In 2020, Cardinal achieved one of Canada’s highest musical accolades, a JUNO Award for Indigenous Artist of the Year. She also received two Western Canadian Music Awards nominations, including Indigenous Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year.  With two full-length albums completed and her third release slated for Fall 2022, Celeigh’s voice is quickly becoming one of the great Canadian voices that make up the fabric of the Canadian roots music scene.