Rugged, raspy, and roaring with charisma, Ben Caplan’s voice is to song as smoke is to bourbon: perfectly coupled. He is a songwriter and performer who is bold in both range and ferocity. The music is fuelled by a quality of melodrama and powerful lyricism that sets Caplan apart from his peers. Either solo or backed by his band, The Casual Smokers, Ben Caplan has captured the attention of music fans and media across Canada, Australia, and throughout Europe.

Ben Caplan is supported by upright bass, drums, Eastern European inspired strings, and occasionally horns. Ben himself moves between guitar and piano, marking his place in the world's music landscape with an outrageous musicality and a growling spirit. 
 
Besides writing and recording, Ben Caplan is almost perpetually on tour, having played more than 1000 shows since the release of his debut album in late 2011. His songs, his voice, his humour, and his charm collude to create a rhapsodically energetic live show – an elegant cacophony drawing fans in ever widening circles.

On the strength of his debut album, In The Time of the Great Remembering, Ben Caplan won numerous Canadian awards, including Nova Scotia’s 2012 Entertainer of the Year and the East Coast Music Award for Rising Star Recording of the Year for 2013. He’s shared stages with acts ranging from Grizzly Bear and Dirty Projectors to The Staves and Blondie. In addition to his 1000+ club shows, He’s played major festivals around the world including the UK’s Glastonbury in 2013.

In 2015, Ben Caplan will continue to break new ground with dates planned across North America and around the world. His highly anticipated second album, Birds with Broken Wings, is prospected to be released internationally in fall of 2015.

Amrit Kirtan is a composer and singer connecting with the angelic realm for the creation of heavenly, healing, and heart opening music.

Rhiannon Giddens is a celebrated artist who excavates the past to reveal truths about our present. A MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient, Giddens has been Grammy-nominated six times, and won once, for her work with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, a group she co-founded. Pitchfork has said of her “few artists are so fearless and so ravenous in their exploration,” and Smithsonian Magazine calls her “an electrifying artist who brings alive the memories of forgotten predecessors, white and black.”

Over the years the Gipsy Kings—whose members hail from the gypsy settlements in Arles and Montpelier in the south of France—have included singers and guitarists from the Reyes (Canut, Nicolas, Pablo and Patchai) and Baliardo families (Diego, Paco and Tonino). Lead singer Nicolas Reyes is the son of famed Flamenco singer José Reyes, who, with Manitas de Plata, sold millions of records in the 1960s and 70s. The band’s vigorous guitar work and passionate vocals are the trademarks of an indigenous musical tradition known as “rumba flamenca.”

There are no other examples of a non-English speaking band (the group’s language is the Gypsy dialect of gitane) with such a consistent winning streak in the U.S., where the group is the biggest-selling French act ever. Since the 1987 release of the international hit single “Bamboleo,” from their platinum-selling eponymous debut album, the Gipsy Kings have dominated the World Music charts and sold more than fourteen million albums worldwide—more than four million in the United States alone. Their platinum compilation, The Best of the Gipsy Kings, was on the charts for more than a year.

Since 1995 Alanis Morissette has been one of the most influential singer-songwriter-musicians in contemporary music. Her deeply expressive music and performances have earned vast critical praise, 14 Canadian Juno Awards, 7 Grammy® Awards (with an additional 14 nominations), a Golden Globe nomination and sales of over 60 million albums worldwide. Morissette’s 1995 debut, “JAGGED LITTLE PILL,” was followed by such eclectic and acclaimed albums as “SUPPOSED FORMER INFATUATION JUNKIE” (1998), “MTV UNPLUGGED” (1999), “UNDER RUG SWEPT” (2002), “SO-CALLED CHAOS” (2004), “JAGGED LITTLE PILL ACOUSTIC” (2005), her greatest hits album, “THE COLLECTION” (2005), “FLAVORS OF ENTANGLEMENT”(2008), HAVOC AND BRIGHT LIGHTS (2012), and “JAGGED LITTLE PILL: COLLECTOR’S EDITION” (2015), released in honor of the 20th anniversary of the groundbreaking debut, as well as musical contributions to theatrical releases, some of which include “The Chronicles of Narnia,” “Prince of Persia,” and “City of Angels.” Alanis has acted on the big and small screen with roles in “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Dogma,” “Sex and the City,” “Weeds” and “Up All Night,” and has appeared as a celebrity guest mentor on the 2nd season of “The Voice.” In 2015, Alanis was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Outside of entertainment, she is an avid supporter of female empowerment, as well as spiritual, psychological and physical wellness. She has contributed her writing to a variety of outlets and forums, and participates in worships, special speaking engagements and keynote speaking worldwide. Alanis has also donated her time to a number of causes that help raise awareness and funding on a number of issues including Equality Now which benefits international human rights, Music for Relief, UN Global Tolerance for which she was honored for her contributions for promoting tolerance through the arts, “Every Mother Counts” CD for which she contributed her song “Magical Child” to help prevent needless maternal deaths, and P.S Arts which has worked tirelessly to provide access to the arts through in-school programs to thousands of children in some of the most under-served neighborhoods in California. Alanis has also been outspoken on the issue of home child birth, its benefits and challenges for mothers across the world. Currently she is working on new music as well as a book, which will be released in late 2016. For more information see www.alanis.com.

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