Since 1997, Acoustic Harvest has been bringing folk music to the masses in the Scarborough neighbourhood. They are extending a very warm welcome to people who love this kind of music and want to support veteran artists that make this city great as well as introduce a new wave of artists with their gifts of storytelling.

The story starts with Rick Fielding, who was a great musician and singer/songwriter. He was a multi-instrumentalist, leather maker, radio host. He approached me and wanted to start a folk club in the Scarborough area. He wanted to get an eclectic mix of artists together to play. Rick soon said he wanted to pull back from the responsibility of choosing which artist would play at these get togethers. He left that task to Lillian and whoever else wanted that job.

Venues

We started in a couple of venues that only had us there one or two times. We then move to Birchcliff church for the next 9 years. That was working well until the church decided to move a food bank into the basement.

We then moved over to St Nicolas Church which was just a block east. We settled in for a number of years until we decided on St Paul’s church on McIntosh St. Recently, they reconstructed the stage and the lighting and put in a new sound system. It sounds really good.

A Community Effort

Even though the shows do well, we still would like to connect with the entire community and bring them closer together. Even though these events happen in church, do not let that deter you from coming out and seeing quality music, everybody is welcome.

We have put up the posters, we have ads in newspapers, but those methods are not as strong.

We would also like to see a shift in the crowd. Most of our audience is made up of older people, but we are bringing in young artists that should attract a younger audience. It would be great if we could have families come to our show and let the young people experience this kind of music as well.

If you are not aware of their location, St Paul’s is at 200 McIntosh Street. It is roughly at Kingston and Midland Area. One block north of Kingston Rd and Sandown Ave. So, I would like to see more people from Scarborough as well as the Beaches. We know you are loyal music fans, now you have a new place to explore.

The Artists

Bringing in artists is always a challenge. We would love to have big name artists like Julian Taylor last year, but we also want to promote the up-and-coming artists that can make an impact on the folk scene. We had a young man named Nicolas Campbell last year open for the Barrel Boys and now he is coming back as a headliner. This is the kind of encouragement we love to give. One day you are knocking on our door, and next you are playing on bigger stages.

Incentives

With the price of big concerts these days, there isn’t much leftover for smaller venues. So Acoustic Harvest and Blast Toronto will be coming up with incentives for you to discover your music. Acoustic harvest will be having a raffle at each show with a few prizes being handed out. You can win merch from the artists; you can win a pair of tickets to the next show or win the 50/50 draw.  Blast Toronto would also love to give a pair of tickets away to a show as well. All you have to do is make a comment at the bottom of this article and we will randomly draw a name to go to the next show.

I have been to a couple of these shows, and they have such a good community spirit to them, you will come back for future shows. Personally, I also go there for the variety of different Teas and the baked goods. You won’t get this at your typical dive bar.

Here are a bunch of Links to the kind of music you will experience at this year’s harvest.

Welcome– Acoustic Harvest Link

Friends of Fiddler’s Green- The Friends of Fiddler’s Green

Nicolas Campbell- Instagram , Home

Black Umfolosi- Instagram ,

Anne Walker- Anne Walker

Mary Kelly- Mary Kelly

The Slocan Ramblers- The Slocan Ramblers

The Laws- The Laws

Dave Gunning- DAVE GUNNING