James Irwin crafts moody acoustic songs with a cinematic quality, mostly while wearing a red sweater. Plaintive guitar lines are given momentum by chugging railroad rhythms and eerie percussive clatter, and embellished by wooing tenor vocal melodies that linger for days. -- er

Fragile and bittersweet, Neil Holyoak's songs reflect a sense of wide-eyed wonder, whether he's performing alone with an acoustic guitar, or backed by a rotating cast of Montréal's finest artists. Sometimes folky, sometimes swelling with lush instrumental accompaniment, Holyoak's music never fails to charm. — JS

With effortless chops, Carl is a true countryman. He sings with a butterscotch voice about the important things in life (love, loss, loneliness and landscape) from a Canadian perspective. -- ny

Shaun Weadick, aka Light Rail Coyote's music sounds like Southern Ontario Gothic: having little or nothing to distinguish it from everyday, garden-variety type realism and something born of desperation. It's called country gospel.

Keyboardist Katherine Peacock used to be a member of Telefauna and Adam & The Amethysts. She also performs as Mussaver. In 2009 she wrote Olivia: A Folk Opera, telling the sad, true story of a Montréal nanny who died penniless. Performed with the Coal Choir, it attracted huge audiences. — MCD