The Winnipeg Folk Festival is now in its incredible 49th year, brining over 70 artists to Birds Hill Provincial Park for four days from July 11 to 14.
This year's lineup mixes veteran staples of the roots music scene, as well as some of the genre's modern leaders and up-and-coming talents. But the festival isn't constrained by a narrow definition of the genre, with some artists pointing an adventurous way forward with inventive styles and globe-spanning sounds.
Tickets for the festival are on sale now, so here are Exclaim!'s five must-see acts for the 2024 instalment of the Winnipeg Folk Festival.
Cowboy Junkies
Few bands have caused a louder buzz with quieter music than Cowboy Junkies achieved with their classic 1988 album The Trinity Sessions. In the decades since, they've remained an understated luminary for roots music.
Kaia Kater
The full range of Kaia Kater's work can be heard in the first two singles from her upcoming album Strange Medicine: there's "Fédon," and banjo-led ballad about an 18th-century Grenadian revolutionary, and "The Internet," a decidedly modern commentary on disconnection.
Orville Peck
The masked country singer has gone from outlaw upstart to full-blown superstar, as he subverts country stereotypes and remakes the genre in his own image. Be sure to bask in that big baritone. Yeehaw!
Lucinda Williams
With raw, dust-caked roots rock dispatches that consistently buck industry trends, there's a good reason why so many artists cites Lucinda Williams as an influence there days.
Zoon
Starting off as a shoegazer, Daniel Monkman has continued to expand their artistic breadth, with last year's sophomore album Bekka Ma'iingan landing on Exclaim!'s year-end list by incorporating lush orchestrations, acoustic strums and wafting electronic textures.