Dance and be merry!

Live musical performances are a key component of the Fall Fest activities. Local performers will ‘pop up’ to serenade you all throughout the long weekend, with live shows taking place on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings of the festival. Let talented performers from the region get your toes tapping and your heart pounding, in a lively and intimate environment.

Musical Shows & Performers:

Shanneyganock

When: Saturday, September 19th 8:00pm
Location: Nurse Myra Bennett Centre for the Performing Arts
Ticket Price: $ TBD


30 years in the making...

Shanneyganock are true Newfoundland ambassadors, well-known for their authentic brand of Newfoundland folk music and rollicking, high-energy live shows.

After 30 years together, they continue to perform sold-out shows, inspiring and entertaining audiences of all ages while keeping traditional Newfoundland music alive across multiple generations!

From headlining major festivals to performing to sold-out audiences across the province, Shanneyganock has built an extraordinary fan base and loyal following, travelling around the world to promote and preserve the culture, music and songs of Newfoundland and Labrador. 

The Misfits

The Misfits are local musicians from Cow Head and the surrounding area. Learning at early ages the music of their forefathers, playing mainly for kitchen parties, they are happy to oblige during Fall Fest and other community events. The Misfits will be popping up at various times throughout the festival.

Calvin Payne, Rick Biggin, Max Brown, and Wayne Finley will be playing for you this year.

June Finley and Daryl Hopkins will be joining throughout the weekend as well.

Rugged Shores

When: Friday, September 19th 8:00 pm
Location: Nurse Myra Bennett Centre for the Performing Arts
Ticket Price: $ TBD

Rugged Shores is a 2x Music NL Traditional Group of the Year nominated band based on the east coast of Newfoundland. The band first began in 2009, and since then have released several singles as well as their debut album “Wild River”. This upbeat group is able to create the greatest party atmosphere, mainly because they are having so much fun themselves on stage!

Described by fans as "a party on stage", Rugged Shores is a five-piece band consisting of Evan Aucoin, Rowan Sherlock, Jim Feehan, Jeff Kinsman and Bryan Efford. The instruments on stage will include guitar, violin, mandolin, bass, drums and bouzouki. These elements all blend together to create an exciting and entertaining group that is sure to delight any audience. In addition to this, the band's crisp vocals and soaring harmonies are sure to delight and entrance even the most discerning of musical palates. The secret element you have to see to understand is how much fun they have on stage, every gig their smiles and laughter become infectious and next thing you know, your toes are tapping and you're dancing the night away.

Jim Payne & Fergus O’Byrne

Two of Newfoundland’s most respected performers combine instrumental prowess and humorous repartee, to cover a broad spectrum of Newfoundland folk culture, including songs, stories and dance tunes. Their repertoire includes rousing sea shanties and work songs, poignant ballads, comic ditties, folk tales and recitations, and toe-tapping jigs, reels and polkas on a variety of instruments.

Jim Payne (vocals, accordion, mandola, guitar)
A native of Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland, Jim Payne is a leading performer, collector and producer of traditional Newfoundland music. He is also one of the province’s most prolific songwriters, as well as being a singer of traditional songs, a storyteller, writer, actor, step dancer and instructor and caller of traditional Newfoundland set and square dances. He has performed extensively on radio and television both in Canada and abroad, and has toured throughout North America, the US, Europe, Japan and Australia.

An ECMA nominee, Jim owns and operates his own record label, SingSong Inc., which has released twenty seven titles to date featuring traditional and contemporary music that reflects the Newfoundland experience.  They include recordings by legendary Newfoundland traditional musicians as well as those by contemporary folk and traditional artists.  

He has appeared in most of Rising Tide Theatre’s annual REVUEs, and is also member of the Newfoundland band A Crowd of Bold Sharemen. In April 2005, along with Fergus O‘Byrne, he was the recipient of the inaugural Arts In Education Award by the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council. He is a recipient of the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council’s Outstanding Cultural Achievement Award, and teaches a course in traditional Newfoundland accordion music at Memorial University’s School of Music. 

 Fergus O’Byrne (vocals, 5 string banjo, guitar, bodhran, concertina)
Fergus, originally from Ireland, became a familiar voice on radio and television as a member of the renowned folk group, Ryan’s Fancy, with whom he recorded 14 albums. Since then, he has followed a busy solo and freelance career, touring throughout Canada, the United States, Europe, Hong Kong and Australia.  He can be heard on recordings by Newfoundland artists Great Big Sea, and he has contributed to several anthologies of Newfoundland music. Fergus has also developed a curriculum-based school production that he tours throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. 

Fergus was a member of the celebrated Newfoundland traditional band Tickle Harbour, whose album Battery Included, besides being an ECMA nominee, won three awards at the 1999 Newfoundland Music Industry Association Awards. In 2001 he produced a Ryan’s Fancy retrospective CD Songs From The Shows, featuring songs from the renowned 1970’s CBC National television series, Ryan’s Fancy and in 2011 he produced the highly acclaimed CD Ryan’s Fancy – What A Time!

In 2004, as part of Ryan’s Fancy, he received the ECMA’s Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes an individual who has had a profound and lasting effect on the Atlantic Canadian Music Industry. In 2010 he was awarded Music Educator of the year by MUSICNL and in 2011 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Arts Society. Along with Jim Payne, he is a member of the Newfoundland band A Crowd of Bold Sharemen.  For the last thirteen years he has produced a program for young folk and traditional musicians under the auspices of the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Arts Society and other folk organizations around the province.

Opening Concert Act - TBD

When: Opening Concert Thursday, September 18th 8:00 pm
Location: Shallow Bay Motel
Ticket Price: $20 or donation at the door ( purchasing a ticket ensures your seat)