Ash Ravens, an award-winning guitarist, singer-songwriter, and recording artist, now calls Ottawa, Canada home. Despite his recent arrival in the Canadian music scene, his musical journey spans nearly a decade, reaching from his native Bangladesh to iconic venues on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip and Melbourne’s streets.
A true musical nomad, Ash Ravens graduated from the Los Angeles College of Music before honing his craft in Australia, where he earned two music degrees from Melbourne Polytechnic and graced some of the nation’s largest music festivals.
Throughout his journey, Ash has collaborated with various bands and solo artists in Los Angeles and Melbourne, including touring with country artist Adrian Thomas at the Tamworth Country Music Festival 2016 and performing alongside Tamworth Battle of the Bands 2016 winner Megan Sidwell.
Trained by world-renowned music educators at the Los Angeles College of Music, Ash’s guitar style seamlessly blends into any musical setting while retaining his unique musical identity. Now, in Canada, he aims to merge pop, country, rock, and alternative sounds into something fresh and captivating for audiences worldwide.
- Ash Ravens – vocals & guitar
- Sue Turpin – guitar & vocals
- Szymon Szanczuk – Bass
- Jamie Holmes – Drums
- Nicolas Code – Keyboard
The Big Train Wreck is the Roots-Music love child of four folks from Ottawa, Ontario. “Roots music” is code for “no drummer”. So this band works even harder to inspire foot stomping and hand clapping along to every folk, traditional country, blues, and quirky modern acoustic cover played. Favourites you know from Johnny Cash, Elvis, John Prine and the Stones; plus originals in lock step with that feeling. The Big Train Wreck plays the best vibing music venues in Ottawa and surrounding area– leaving happy crowds wherever they hit the stage.
- John Cormier – vocals and guitar
- Gary Schertzer – vocals, harmonica, and percussion
- KJ Thomas – vocals and ukulele
- Donna Chiarelli – bass
Sonny Aiken is a cowboy and a clown. Just as entertaining off-stage as on, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better yodeller in all of Ottawa. Having completed a world tour with Cirque Eloize in the cowboy-musical ‘Saloon’, Aiken is back in Ottawa reestablishing roots. Nearly always performing as one half of a duo, Aiken has released music with The Noisy Locomotive, Aiken & Beggs, The Aiken Brothers, and most recently, he released his seminal solo album, Lost, Lonesome Cowboy in 2020. After more than a decade of touring and performing across Canada, Aiken’s latest venture is as one half of C.A. and Sonny.
Hailing from New Brunswick, C.A. Jackson has now firmly planted his feet in the Ottawa area. Although he has spent time performing in bands and other ensembles, Jackson has spent countless hours honing his craft. After a fateful year-long pilgrimage to Charlottetown where he spent his secluded days, nourished by his guitar alone, he has ventured back to society to accompany Aiken with his resolute harmonies and relentless fingerpicking.
- C.A. Jackson
- Sonny Aiken
The Bushpilots closed out 2023 seeing the band’s sixth album, ‘Kings of Mustang’, charting #2 on Ottawa’s 93.1 CKCU-FM’s year end top 50 albums.
The Bushpilots have been a cornerstone of the Ottawa roots rock and blues scene for over two decades with four appearances at RBC Ottawa Bluesfest under their belt, along with countless rollicking club and theatre appearances. Occupying a music space somewhere between Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young and Crazy Horse with a dash of Wilco and The Band thrown in for good measure.
The songs across ‘Kings of Mustang’ evoke romance wrapped in UFO conspiracies (California Agriculture Inspection Station Blues), heartbreak (Here Come Heartaches, Stuck), the perils of human migration by risking it all for a shot at a better life (Drag the Mississippi), fear of impending disaster from a wasting planet (Waiting on the Kick), a broadside at corporate culture (Leverage), a requiem for a species under persecution (King of Mustang), and just what the hell happened to that car from where you blasted the Hip’s ‘Another Midnight’ (Ghost of a Blue Car)?
The Bushpilots are thrilled to be making their fourth appearance at Barnstorm, and keyboardist Tom Pechloff has attended EVERY Barnstorm event since the beginning!
- Fred Guignion – guitar, lap steel
- Jeff Monette – bass
- Tom Pechloff – keyboards
- Rob Bennett – guitar, vocals
- Gilles Mantha – drums
- Glen Russell – guitar, vocals
What happens when a talented folk duo from Ontario invite a classically trained violinist/front woman, and a rock influenced rhythm section to play music together? RedFox is a five piece indie-folk band based in Montreal, Quebec. When the trio of Daphnee Vandal, Jono Townsend, and Tim Loten first met in September of 2017 they rehearsed as an acoustic folk and bluegrass band. After months of honing their sound, and the addition of hard rock drummer Sam Neumann as well as bassist Sam Robinson, their sound has been transformed into the epic high energy indie experience that it is. An ensemble lead by Daphnee Vandal’s dynamic voice backed by bass, drums, guitar, fiddle, and banjo, RedFox retains their acoustic roots origins, while exploring more electric sounds. The group can trace their influences back to bands such as Punch Brothers, Mumford & Sons and Paramore.
- Daphnée Vandal – Vocals/Violin
- Jono Townsend – Guitar
- Tim Loten – Banjo
- Samuel Neumann – Drums
- Sam Robinson – Bass