Our Artists

Nicolette & The Nobodies

“The best country songs take you home,” says Nicolette Hoang, frontwoman and songwriter for the Guelph, Ontario-based band, Nicolette & The Nobodies. “I want to write music that does that, songs that take you home.”

Nicolette is romantic about retro Western music; she speaks with a soft grit, a warm and distinguished rattle that lends her observations weight. Performing, she loosens into an unabashed howl, a fluid force turning upward at the edges with unmistakable twang. She keeps her lyrics no-nonsense—earthy comments on the human condition, floridity be damned. She reserves her flamboyance and flair for onstage attire—cowboy hats, fringed vests with matching hot pants, boots by all accounts made for walking.

The child of Vietnamese immigrants, Nicolette’s embrace of Country music and all its glittering accouterments comes as some surprise, to even herself.

Nicolette calls herself a “late bloomer” and is prone to a cheerful sort of awe in acknowledging any of her feats. It’s a charming humility, and in fascinating contrast to the storm of sonic energy she becomes on stage—a galvanized woman, whose rebellious radiance and incandescent holler recall the glory of those legends she reveres.

She says, “In some ways, I’ve already surpassed my own dreams for myself in having simply written a song. But now that I’ve found that voice, I want to see what it has to say.”

Spencer Burton

Already living quietly in a slow country town, a period of intense world isolation prompted Spencer Burton to leave the city even further behind.

An overload of negative information and fear left him feeling hopeless and uninspired to create music. He sat back for a couple of years watching what felt like the world crumbling around him.

Retreating to a small off-grid cabin in Northern Ontario, Spencer reconnected with nature and found peace and comfort in isolation. Taking a step back from the realities of life let him step back into making music.

“I always felt this need for importance, this need to be poetic. It came, but it felt mandatory at times. I struggled with that,” says Spencer. “But then I found beauty in the simple things. A bird's song. A rustling gale. A ripple in the water. With the beauty of those simple things came importance and poetry in an unforced, natural way.”

The majority of North Wind was written in the north woods, in solitude and reflection. And while the songs have a spiritual importance, they also speak to ordinary life away from it all–fishing, an encounter with a coyote, sitting with your own thoughts.

“It’s really interesting what pleases the ear, musically, when isolated for a few weeks at a time. The only inspiration being yourself and the beauty of true untampered nature. It’s a different atmosphere than what we’re accustomed to. It really helped bring these songs to life.”

Recorded again in Nashville with Andrija Tokic the album fits sonically with the rest of Spencer’s catalogue, but the tone is noticeably different. The songs are easier, more comfortable, at ease. They encapsulate that same feeling he had out there alone, of singing by the campfire into the woods.

Dorothea Paas

For over a decade, Dorothea Paas has honed her unique, prismatic style of folk songcraft and has lent her talents as a guitarist and vocalist to artists like Jennifer Castle, U.S. Girls, and Badge Epoque Ensemble. Her debut album, Anything Can’t Happen (2021), was nominated for Polaris and FACTOR songwriting prizes and described by Exclaim as “Joni Mitchell fronting Shellac at a coffee shop.” Paas has just released her second album, Think of Mist, on Telephone Explosion Records.

Julianna Riolino

Julianna Riolino cut her teeth in the Niagara music scene, establishing herself as a formidable front-woman as a member of the Outfit.

Inspired by artists like Linda Rondstadt, Stevie Knicks, Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris, the cosmic country singer/songwriter effortlessly blends genres and eras as she captivates audiences, harkening to the familiar but placing herself squarely on the precipice of something new. Nicknamed The White Hot Lung, Julianna Riolino brings unparalleled energy to her stage performance as she belts her way into your brain stem and makes herself at home.

Increasingly, Riolino has contemplated the role of gender identity and power in her work. Her recent performance on "In the Company of Sisters" on Fucked Up's release Someday reflects on the politicization of our bodies, both in the US and Canada. Facing the prospect of growing conservatism, anti-trans legislation and restrictions on women's right to reproductive healthcare, Julianna has chosen to act.

On a Bluebird's Wing is a dream taking shape and reflects Julianna's desire to care for others while fostering hope for the future.

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