Fraser / Daley
2025-05-16 17:30 - 19:30, 2025-05-30 17:30 - 19:30, 2025-06-13 17:30 - 19:30 (America/Toronto)
A popular concert and recording act for over 14 years, Toronto-based Fraser/Daley has released three CDs of original music and performed widely, consistently entertaining audiences with their large and varied repertoire, big sound and spontaneous sense of fun. Alec Fraser hails from Glasgow, Scotland and is a respected bassist and Juno and Maple Blues Award winner. Mike Daley was dubbed by Jeff Healey ‘one of Canada’s finest guitarists’ and has a long list of live and studio credits. Alec and Mike met while working in Healey’s touring band in the mid-2000s and found that they enjoyed singing together after the gig. In 2008 they began playing together regularly in Toronto as Alec perfected a unique bass-drums combination instrument that gives this duo the unmistakable sound of a trio. Their three albums, Fraser/Daley, The Whole Fam Damily and Fifty Miles of Elbow Room have garnered steady sales and strong airplay on blues and folk radio, and Alec and Mike have become sought after for their versatile performances, playing everything from intimate house concerts to street dances. Learn more at fraserdaley.com.

Divine Brown
2025-05-17 17:00 - 19:00
Divine Brown, formerly known as Divine Earth Essence, is a Canadian-born R&B singer whose expansive octave range and engaging soul sound has made her one of Canada’s most prominent R&B artists in the new millennium.

The Del-Fis
2025-05-18 15:00 - 18:00
I don’t know what The Del Fi’s are; the more I think about it, the more I don’t know what to say. But I know it’s right, and I know it’s good. I know it works. I mean, it’s Jerry Leger’s thing, but when I asked him what he would say The Del Fi’s are, all he would tell me is that I (meaning me) am The Del Fi’s, just as you (meaning you) are The Del Fi’s. And because you are you, you understand. Don’t you?
Okay, maybe we should try this again. Jerry Leger is a Toronto singer/songwriter, and one of the best in the world, as far as I’m concerned. If you haven’t heard him, you have no right to be one of these people constantly moaning about how music was so much better when people actually played instruments, blah, blah, blah.
Jerry loves Bob Dylan, Neil Young and John Lennon. Sometimes it sounds as though all three are fighting for space in his songs. But those songs are his own, the product of a natural born storyteller with a sense of rhythm that would make Little Richard’s big toe shoot up in his boot.
Jerry’s songs hit deep in your soul, but he also often loves just making music with folks just to flex some of his old time rock and roll muscles, and explore some of the paths his songwriting normally doesn’t take. That’s kinda where The Del Fi’s come in.
It’s rock and roll that we all care about right? I’m sure you wouldn’t still be reading this if you didn’t agree. So I guess that does make you a Del Fi. Welcome aboard and grab an instrument, we’ve got a show to do.

The 501 East
2025-05-19 18:00 - 20:00, 2025-06-16 20:00 - 22:00

Trivia Night @ Castros
2025-05-20 19:00 - 21:00, 2025-06-03 19:00 - 21:00, 2025-06-17 19:00 - 21:00
Join us for a fun and friendly trivia night on the 1st Tuesday of every month at Castros. Free to play and prizes for the winners.

Mike Daley & Tyler Yarema
2025-05-22 18:00 - 20:00
Tyler Yarema is a Canadian Toronto-based singer/songwriter. A self-taught pianist, Yarema’s early influences in music stem from the stride genre, and he takes his cues from musicians such as Willie “the Lion” Smith, Fats Waller, Pete Johnson, Lionel Hampton, and Duke Ellington. Yarema’s bands specialize in a unique hybrid of blues, jump-blues, swing, boogie-woogie, and original popular music.
After moving from Thunder Bay to Toronto in 1994, Yarema became a nightclub regular. He gained traction by playing alongside the late Jeff Healey, Chris Whiteley, King Biscuit Boy, Downchild Blues Band, and the late Doug Riley before forming his own band entitled Tyler Yarema and His Rhythm. Yarema has since played, produced, arranged, and sung on over 40 albums.
Currently, Yarema is working on a recording project through the vehicle of his band Empire Avenue that steers away from traditional jazz and blues and focuses on an original sounding adult pop.
Tyler joined Downchild Blues Band in 2021, after the death of their long-serving keyboard player Michael Fonfara.
—
Mike Daley is a guitarist and singer based in Toronto. A professional musician for over 30 years, Mike has toured Canada, the United States and England and has recorded extensively in a variety of musical styles. He is a longtime member of Fraser/Daley with bassist Alec Fraser and is also proud to work with a variety of bands around Toronto including the Tom Waits Appreciation Congregation, the Travellers and others.

Sugar Rush
2025-05-23 17:30 - 19:30, 2025-06-01 15:00 - 18:00, 2025-06-15 15:00 - 18:00
Sugar Rush is the ultimate party band, playing really fun, upbeat covers spanning different genres from classic rock, funk, soul, blues, country, jazz, disco, 80s, motown, hard rock, reggae, oldies, R&B, and folk! Get ready for a full evening of dancing, singalongs and just really good music!
Sugar Rush has been a GTA staple since 2007, returning to the circuit after a brief hiatus, familiar to many a musician and music fan for their jam nights at the Curzon, their Friday night residency at the Loaded Dog, beach parties and corporate events. Anchored by Frankie Dee and Tony Carpino with a rotation of top notch players with special surprise guests and currently featuring Gary Lee Hill. This dynamic crew brings all the best classic rock, funk, soul, blues and much more to keep the floor filled. Always guaranteed sweet sounds with Sugar Rush.

Danny Marks
2025-05-24 17:00 - 19:00
This iconic rocker’s roots go back to the sixties as a founding member of Capitol Records’ group, Edward Bear. After a span as a journey man session musician throughout the seventies, Danny settled in to the club scene, establishing a cult following as a genre bender in music and humor.
A house band gig at Toronto’s famed Albert’s Hall led him to host his own nation-wide TV show, Stormy Monday. Through the eighties, Danny starred in CBC radio’s hit series the Hum Line.
Most recently, Danny Marks recorded two original music albums, Guitarchaeology and True, before paying tribute to Toronto’s R&B roots with Big Town Boy in 2005.
Danny’s in his thirteenth year as the radio host of JAZZ.FM91’s Saturday night blues show, bluz.fm.
As a child, young Danny would lock himself in his room with a stack of 45’s, an old Seabreeze record player, and a fantasy of having his own radio show. More than a few years later this pre-pubescent propensity paid off.

Hayden Ryann
2025-05-24 20:30 - 22:30
Hayden Ryann is a prolific artist with 100+ songs, blending modern and legacy sounds. Inspired by her Beaches neighborhood, she’s recorded in NASH, TO, and MTL.

Lucas Stagg & The Junctioneers
2025-05-25 15:00 - 18:00
Based in the heart of Toronto’s Junction, Stagg has toured endlessly and released over a dozen albums in the past two decades, each a reflection of his choice of the troubadour life. By turns confessional and narrative, the songs are presented in an unadorned performance style that throws their lyrical and melodic content into sharp relief. It’s edgy and cartoony; country, blues and rock ‘n’ roll.

Music Bingo @ Castros
2025-05-27 19:00 - 21:00, 2025-06-24 19:00 - 21:00

Mike Daley & Bazil Donovan
2025-05-29 18:00 - 20:00
Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia — but raised in Toronto — Bazil “Baz” Donovan gained fame as the longtime bassist for Blue Rodeo. Though traditionally associated with country music (especially hardcore old-time country classics), he is adept at every genre he attempts. He first picked up a guitar at nine and the bass at 13, and started playing professionally at 17. His first group — composed of friends from high school — was a covers band called Demons. His first touring gig was the All-Star Bar Band, a country covers outfit that Donovan describes as “a human jukebox.” In 1980, Donovan joined the Sharks (a new wave-funk combo) with Blue Rodeo’s original drummer Cleave Anderson, David Baxter, and vocalist Sherry Kean, before joining up with two Toronto groups, Strike One (a reggae-ska band) and Scab (a punk outfit).
In 1984, Donovan answered the now-famous ad in NOW magazine that read, “If you’ve dropped acid at least 20 times, lost 3 or 4 years to booze and are looking good and can still manage to keep time, call Jim or Greg.” At a friend’s suggestion, Donovan answered the ad, leaving a message with Jim’s wife, Rena. By serendipity, Greg Keelor, Jim Cuddy, and Donovan’s old friend Cleave Anderson (who had just joined the band) were sitting around the Bamboo discussing who they could get for bass. Since they all knew one another from the circuit, Donovan’s name came up and Cuddy recalled seeing his name in response to the ad. The threesome called from the restaurant and Donovan was rehearsing with Blue Rodeo the next day. Their first gig came six months later at Toronto’s Rivoli.
Donovan has continued to play with other artists despite remaining one of the three founding members of Blue Rodeo, playing with artists like Oh Susanna (co-writing two songs on her Sleepy Little Sailor album) and Justin Rutledge. His unique relationship with Greg Keelor is chronicled in the song, “Me & Baz” on Blue Rodeo’s Tremolo album. His predilection toward country music is ironic in that, in his own words, “I did not love country music (when I started playing it) — it was my parents’ music — but I had my Jimi Hendrix and King Crimson records at home to rock my world.” Bazil Donovan’s ability to pick up a guitar and bass and launch into a song from any genre — he performs an impromptu version of Randy Travis’ “Diggin’ Up Bones” on Blue Rodeo’s 2008 documentary, Blue Road — is what makes him the ultimate musician’s musician. He can play with any artists and make whatever style of music they may be delving into literally “rock.”
Donovan’s “solo” country career actually began when he was still in high school, playing on the country music circuit in Toronto. At the time, his girlfriend was a singer who was performing to make extra money to put herself through school. One night at one of her gigs, the band’s bassist — who was also an ambulance driver — got an emergency call just as the gig was starting. Donovan filled in for what became the first of many shows — soon after, he was working Queen Street regularly: three weeks at the Winchester Hotel, two weeks at the Claremont Tavern, a month at the Drake Hotel, and a month at the Parkdale Tavern. Eventually, for matinee shows, lead vocalists wouldn’t show up because of hangovers and Donovan began singing the cover songs, leading him to title his first solo album Matinee (a set of his best-loved cover versions).
—
Mike Daley is a guitarist and singer based in Toronto. A professional musician for over 30 years, Mike has toured Canada, the United States and England and has recorded extensively in a variety of musical styles. He is a longtime member of Fraser/Daley with bassist Alec Fraser and is also proud to work with a variety of bands around Toronto including the Tom Waits Appreciation Congregation, the Travellers and others.

Yukon Cigar
2025-05-31 16:00 - 2025-06-01 19:00
Yukon Cigar was lit in 2005. The idea? To take an earthy, hushed songwriting style and set it on fire. Now, after years on the Toronto club circuit (playing the likes of Cameron House, Castro’s Lounge, C’est What, El Mocambo, Rancho Relaxo, and the NXNE festival), mainstays Craig and Peter have taken to backyard parties and neighbourhood pubs, just two acoustics and a growing list of standards. With countless songs in the fire, here lies the promise of sweet sing-alongs to come.

Tom Waits Appreciation Congregation
2025-06-02 19:30 - 22:00
The Tom Waits Appreciation Congregation (TWAC) comprise of some of the best musicians in all of Toronto coming together for their love of Tom Waits and paying Tribute to him and his music!

Mike Daley & Jacob Moon
2025-06-05 18:00 - 20:00
Jacob Moon is known for his giftedness as a singer, songwriter of award-winning pop and folk songs. He is also a master of the art of ‘live looping’, a performance style where he records what he’s playing in real time and layers sound on sound to make one guitar sound like an orchestra.
Artists like Rush, Marillion and Gordon Lightfoot have taken a shine to Moon’s renditions of their songs and have lavished him praise and a spotlight that has gained him international attention. It is these inventive covers that draws the fans in, but it’s Moon’s original material (12 albums) and his compelling live show that make them pull up a chair.
Mike Daley is a guitarist and singer based in Toronto. A professional musician for over 30 years, Mike has toured Canada, the United States and England and has recorded extensively in a variety of musical styles. He is a longtime member of Fraser/Daley with bassist Alec Fraser and is also proud to work with a variety of bands around Toronto including the Tom Waits Appreciation Congregation, the Travellers and others.

Isaak Bonk & The Roast Chicken Ramblers
2025-06-06 17:30 - 19:30

Craig Robertson & The Really Live
2025-06-07 17:00 - 19:00
It’s now been a decade since Craig Robertson released his debut solo album, and during that time the Canadian singer/songwriter has made five more recordings that have found him grow into one of the most compelling voices within the roots music community.

The Gary Kendall Trio
2025-06-08 15:00 - 18:00
Gary Kendall, originally from Thunder Bay, Ontario has been a working musician since the late 1960s. He is a multiple Maple Blues Award winner as bassist of the year[1] and a Juno Award winner with the Downchild Blues Band. His distinguished musical career was so honoured by the Maple Blues Awards as early as 1993 and a Juno Award in 2014.[2] Since 1999, Kendall has acted as the musical director of the Maple Blues awards program.[3]

Mike Daley & Lance Anderson
2025-06-12 18:00 - 20:00
Lance Anderson is a Juno award winning producer and Maple Blues Award winning keyboardist. He was honoured to be nominated for the MBA ‘Keyboardist of the Year’ once more in 2022 for his sixth nomination. Lance is a specialist in the N’Orleans piano style.
Mike Daley is a guitarist and singer based in Toronto. A professional musician for over 30 years, Mike has toured Canada, the United States and England and has recorded extensively in a variety of musical styles. He is a longtime member of Fraser/Daley with bassist Alec Fraser and is also proud to work with a variety of bands around Toronto including the Tom Waits Appreciation Congregation, the Travellers and others.

Will Whitwham & Jared Craig
2025-06-14 17:00 - 19:00
Will Whitwham is one of Canada’s most prolific and talented singer/songwriters. As a founding member of the Wilderness of Manitoba, he has written and recorded five albums and three EPs. The group was nominated for a JUNO award. The Wilderness of Manitoba toured Canada, the US, the UK, the Netherlands and Germany including performances at the End of the Road Festival, WOMAD, SXSW and the Reeperbahn Festival.
He has also written and recorded two albums as Lake Forest, an EP for the Whateverly Brothers, an album for Pyramid Tropic, and collaborated with recording artists Martha Johnson, Eamon McGrath and Delhi 2 Dublin. The Wilderness of Manitoba was nominated for Sync Artist or Songwriter of the Year at the first Canadian Sync Awards during Canadian Music Week. Their songs (written by Whitwham) have appeared in such US television series as This Is Us, Elementary, Parenthood and No Tomorrow among others. Whitwham’s next project is an EP under his own name called End of Dreams.

Mike Daley & Jenie Thai
2025-06-19 18:00 - 20:00
When you meet her, Jenie Thai is composed, pleasant, amiable, friendly, and — she won’t like the word but you have to live with it — sweet. She has an open face, long hair, a ready smile and an easy laugh.
And she is also tough, and gritty, and plays barrelhouse piano steeped in the blues — and if that wasn’t enough to get your head around, she also writes and sings tough and tender ballads, direct from her heart to yours.
There’s a new album, Night on Fire, with a sold out show at Toronto’s Hugh’s Room and — while she now calls Toronto home — she lives on the road, and there’s dust on her shoes, love in her heart, and a whole lot of music in her soul.
Mike Daley is a guitarist and singer based in Toronto. A professional musician for over 30 years, Mike has toured Canada, the United States and England and has recorded extensively in a variety of musical styles. He is a longtime member of Fraser/Daley with bassist Alec Fraser and is also proud to work with a variety of bands around Toronto including the Tom Waits Appreciation Congregation, the Travellers and others.

Red Velvet
2025-06-20 17:30 - 19:30
Red Velvet is a high energy band that loves to entertain and get people to dance and rock out! We love playing music and we have a ton of fun doing it together!
