2025 DEVELOPING ARTIST PROGRAM

Freya Milliken is an award-winning singer-songwriter known for her rich voice and introspective songs, blending folk and indie rock influences. Her debut EP Wholeheartedly explores queer

love, longing, and joy with raw honesty, embracing the beauty and challenges of loving and being loved. She has performed at major Canadian festivals like the ECMAs, Deep Roots and

Winnipeg Folk Festival, and toured in Europe with the Acadia University Singers for the Singing In Flanders Fields Project.

Kaiday is a bilingual singer songwriter born and raised in Ottawa. Her songs pull together a unique blend of folk, Rnb and pop. Sharing her stories with authenticity and vulnerability all while combining her Franco-Ontarian roots and English upbringing. Kaiday’s music is a collection of her heartbreaks, growing pains, and self discovery.

Lucy Ellis is a singer/songwriter based in Toronto who is always writing songs in her head. She finds inspiration in the poetry she read growing up, in movie soundtracks, and in the time she spends outdoors. As a musician and actor, she incorporates both art forms in her storytelling to connect with her audience. She released her debut EP "Come of Age" last year, and continues to write songs on themes that explore emotion, identity, and memory. 

Mars Aspen (they/them) is an emerging singer-songwriter from Ottawa, Ontario. Their songs explore themes of vulnerability, love, heartbreak, and everything in between. They weave aspects of personal identity and experience into saccharine-sweet indie folk that invites any and all listeners to find a new home within their sound. Recognized for their contributions to the local music community, Mars was nominated for the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition's (OMIC) Newcomer of the Year award in January. Stay tuned for Mars' upcoming EP coming out in 2025

Emerging Canadian singer-songwriter Matt Bazinet has a strong bond with his guitar, using it as a means to discover his true self. Exploring themes of masculinity and vulnerability in his songwriting, his debut EP Pieces of the Picture bridges honesty and nostalgia, all strung together by his rich baritone vocal tone.

With over 500k views and 100k likes on TikTok, Bazinet has garnered a devoted audience through both covers and original music. His cover of “Jersey Giant” stands out, having garnered over 200K views, showcasing the synergy between his captivating voice and his guitar.

As he continues his journey to share his music with the world, Matt Bazinet looks to captivate his listeners from intimate campfire settings to festival stages with his magnetic voice and songwriting. All you have to do is lend an ear.

Mimi Dominique is a folk singer-songwriter born and raised in Toronto. She is inspired by the art of storytelling and the exploration of melodic play. Her lyrics are immediate and sensory, compelling listeners to join her in the moment. Mimi draws inspiration from a vast well of artists including Laura Marling, Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Diane Cluck, Adrianne Lenker, and Weyes Blood. The daughter of two actors, Mimi grew up with the theatre as her second home. She began songwriting at a young age and after high school lived in Sweden and Montreal, before moving back to Toronto to attend Seneca College’s Independent Songwriting and Performance program, graduating in the spring of 2024. Mimi has performed at an array of well-loved Toronto venues including the Tranzac, Cameron House, Supermarket, Bampot, and the Burdock. She also plays shows across Canada, frequently performing in Montreal and Halifax as well as playing the 2024 Filberg Festival on Vancouver Island. This past winter, Mimi lived in Brooklyn, working on her music, then in the spring she travelled to Nashville followed by playing her first show in Chicago in July. Recently Mimi has been inspired by the raw truth-telling of traditional folk music. She has been singing old Irish, Scottish, and English folk songs with her sister and in the fall of 2024 she joined Kosa choir, learning Ukrainian polyphony.

Piner (aka Claya Way Brackenbury) is a Singer-Songwriter based in Katarokwi (Kingston, ON, Canada) who steps into the stories of others and connects listeners with all the complexities of the greater human experience. Piner blends confessional songwriting with gritty guitar and tender melodies that invites both reflection and resistance. Her critically acclaimed 2018 debut album “The Breaking Point” showed “a display of pure confidence and vulnerability” said Mac Cameron, Dominionated. The follow up full-band EP “Root Bound” recorded at North Of Princess Studios in Kingston, ON was released in June 2019. Piner’s latest album, “A Netherworld”, recorded at Joel Plaskett’s Studio in Dartmouth, NS, is a project of hope and yearning, during fractured, challenging times. Piner creates a world of connection, care, and change through her songwriting and direct action for charitable initiatives. After the release of "A Netherworld", Piner toured, opening for and sharing festival and show bills with Georgia Harmer, Terra Lightfoot, Charlotte Cornfield, Ombiigizi, Skye Wallace, Mo Kenney, Crash Test Dummies and recently headlined the Emerging Artist Series sponsored by RBC and Canadian Live Music Association. In May 2025, Piner was selected for the prestigious Winnipeg Folk Festival Young Performers Program, where she was mentored by celebrated Canadian singer-songwriter Basia Bulat, culminating in a celebrated live performance that marked a new chapter in her artistic growth.

Talise is a folk roots musician based in the Canadian wilderness. Her music is raw and rooted in tradition, shaped by a life spent practicing land-based skills and living close to the natural world. Drawing from old-time, country, blues and Appalachian influences, her sound stays grounded with a warm, haunting sound and a strong focus on storytelling.

York Street Thought Process is a charming folk duo made up of Jaron Camp & Rachael Frankruyter. The duo has captured the hearts of audiences across Canada with their playful approach to folk music, blending strong storytelling with improvisation.

A year after the release of their debut album 'Roots', the duo ventured off to the East Coast of Canada to record new music in 2023. This resulted in their sophomore album 'Colder' which gained recognition from Exclaim!, CBC, Stingray, and charted on CHRW, securing the #2 spot at its highest. The duo celebrated their release with an album release tour in 2024 making stops in Toronto, London, Stratford, and St. Marys Ontario alongside Wild Bloom. The duo just released their new single 'Dignity' and will be performing across Canada in 2025, including the highly esteemed Mariposa Folk Festival and Winnipeg Folk Festival as a part of the Young Performer's Program.