Tunes on the Town Sydney - Downtown Sydney Street Festival

August 20 11:00am – 4:00pm

Ava Vallis

Mature beyond her years, Ava Vallis is writing music that challenges our thoughts on how we perceive youth. Held under the pressure of the old guard, but expected to be ready to solve the problems created by generations of mistakes. Ava performs as a youth whose opinion and passion (spoken through song)speaks for itself and for others who may wish to take refuge in them. With political and social views on full display, and a fierce ambition to succeed on her own terms, Ava walks a path filled with love and understanding.

Barn Bhreagh

Featuring musicians Morgan Toney, Isabella Samson, Jesse Cox, and Keith Mullins, Barn Bhreagh has been characterized as a travelling singer-songwriter circle where the musicians all play on each other’s songs. Morgan Toney is an award-winning 23-year-old Mi’kmaq singer-songwriter and fiddler from Wagmatcook First Nation who combines his Mi’kmaq roots with his love of Cape Breton Celtic tunes. Eighteen-year-old folk-pop singer-songwriter Isabella Samson is an up-and-coming East Coast/Acadian artist, born and raised on Cape Breton, who has been part of the local music scene for a number of years. Winner of the 2022 Canadian Folk Music Award for Young Performer of the Year, Isabella released her debut album If It’s Not Forever earlier this year. Surrounded by music from a young age—being hauled around music venues by his touring folk musician parents—raspy-voiced Jesse Cox’s songs are grounded, rootsy, and earthy, like his Cape Breton home “down north”. The group came together when Toney, Samson, and Cox were each working with award-winning producer and musician Keith Mullins on solo albums at his Barn Bhreagh Studios. Now they are wowing crowds wherever they play with their high-energy and diverse shows that seamlessly blend their varied influences and backgrounds into a sound that is solidly based in folk, roots, and indigenous traditions, and the joy of making music together.

Jon Hines

Jon Hines is a national touring blues, jazz and folk singer-songwriter based in Cape Breton Nova Scotia. Digital recording, release Down To Funk, (DTF) was nominated for blues recording of the year ECMAs 2022. Jon is endorsed by Godin Guitars & Black Mountain Thumb Picks. A perfect combination of Canadian products for this Canadian travelling blues man. Jon has toured nationally, opening for international acts Steven Page, Jesse Roper & Daniel Champagne. Jon’s debut album, “Wild Things Roam” was featured in ISC (International Songwriting Competition) where it advanced into the semi-finals two years in a row, out of 19,000 song entries worldwide. 

2017 ISC semi-finalist
2018 ISC semi-finalist
2020 ECMA showcase artist
2020 selected as a Black Mountain Picks Artist
2021 Godin Guitars artist
2021 Live At Heart Newfoundland artist
2021 Cape Breton Jazz Festival showcase artist
2021 Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival showcase artist
2022 ECMA nomination, Blues recording of the year

Be sure to spend some time in town before and after the show – grab a bite to eat, visit the shops and stay for the night.

Tunes on the Town is a live music series in downtowns throughout Cape Breton Island during summer and fall 2022. The program is supported by funding from the Government of Canada through the Rediscover Main Streets program.