Helen Austin is a prolific singer/songwriter from the UK now living on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. Helen is no stranger to the stage and has worked as a professional performer for over 20 years, building a career as an award winning, musical comedian and regular headliner on the UK comedy circuit.

A prolific songwriter with a degree in performing arts, she is now concentrating solely on the music - writing, producing and performing. A regular MC and performer at Vancouver Island Musicfest, Helen is enormously comfortable on stage has played many venues which range from thousands at Glastonbury Festival, UK, to intimate house concerts and everything in between.

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Liz Beattie is a singer/songwriter based out of Victoria BC. Inspired by issues of social justice to personal experience, Liz sings honestly and from the heart.

Having grown up in a very musical family, in Prince George BC, she was exposed to an incredible array of live music from a very early age. Her background is in piano and songwriting, but after receiving her first guitar she further pursued the instrument and carried it on a lengthy trip to Europe and furthermore, everywhere else.

Liz moved to Victoria to pursue music which is where she started playing bass with the rock band, Machina. After a busy five years with the band, she began to pursue her solo career.

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Imagine Joni Mitchell playing guitar for Feist and you may come up with something similar to Deanna Cartea's unique approach to music that blurs the lines between Folk, Rock and Pop.

Her captivating vocals are like a blend of woodsmoke and wonder and combine well with the rocking and rhythmic undertones of her songs. Deanna's songwriting is full of emotion and soul inspired by her own life experience and from those around her. As clear and true as the tide, Deanna Cartea is an artist you don't want to miss.

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With an innovative approach to music, Jean-Paul De Roover is much more than a solo artist. Accompanied by live looping, guitars and a voice used as an instrument, this ‘sonic architect’ builds his songs from foundation to facade before your very eyes. Beginning with dead silence, his performance could lead anywhere: full a capella harmonies, rhythmic tribal beats, noise-layered worlds of ambient rock, campfire-folk, electro-ballads and anything in between. With lyrical content that can be brutally honest, or lovingly truthful, one thing is certain: the originality and creativity of his timeless performances shines through to every listener. 

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Two years can go by in the blink of an eye, or can stretch into a prolonged series of cross-country tours, weddings, funerals, rehearsals, odd jobs and getting your drivers license. Just ask Aidan Knight, the 25 year old songwriter and namesake of the Victoria-based band who unveil their second album Small Reveal on October 23rd.

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Seventeen year old Gillian Pinder hails from Saskatoon, SK, where she has just graduated high school and is preparing for her first year in university. She is an accomplished instrumentalist, playing piano, guitar, bass guitar, and drums..... but is her singing and songwriting that make her shine.

Gillian has been writing since the ripe age of twelve and has just completed a seven song EP entitled "Demos". Her music is profound, sensitive, topical, and unique She has been compared to a young Joni Michell and deservedly so.

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All natural experimenters, Jeff Zipp (guitar), Tylor Rolyt (vocals, guitar) and Nick Beddow (bass) each contribute unique but complimentary musical sensibilities to create the fleshed-out modern Brit-pop sound that is The Light Machines.

Zipp is a fan of Chuck Berry's sloppy rhythm licks and plays with an easy looseness, and Tylor's cranking vocals are reminiscent of a young Jagger with undertones of David Bowie. Beddow pulls from the inimitable baselines of bands like Sonic Youth and the Rolling Stones and is unafraid to infuse a classic blues riff with disco beats or a reggae baseline

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The o'darling, a seven-piece orchestral collective, is defining a new Canadian sound and quickly becoming one of the country's most promising bands. Exceptional musicianship, thoughtful song-writing, achingly beautiful vocals and sophisticated harmonies make the o'darling nothing short of celestial. From coast to coast; Jennah Barry, Ida Maidstone, Chantel Emond, Olivier Clements, David Barry, Galen Perry and Colin Nealis met in Toronto in 2008.

Their contrasting personalities and diverse musical sensitivities have shaped their unique sound evolving from an acoustic fairytale to indie alt-pop.

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