Live Music Halifax

Fencing
2025-10-11 14:00 - 17:00 (America/Halifax) | Sanctuary Arts Centre Downstairs, 100 Ochterloney St.
Free show for all ages!

Sam Wilson
2025-10-11 16:00 - 17:00 | Morley’s, 45 Portland St.
Free show!
Sam Wilson is a guitarist-composer whose practice focuses on creating instrumental music for improvisers. Her current artistic muse is wild spaces and site-specific responses, evident by her latest release Wintertides (April 2024), featuring drummer Jen Yakamovich and bassist Geordie Hart. Written in the winter of 2022 on both the east (Scotsburn, NS) and west Coast (at Lena Residency, Galiano Island BC); it’s inspired by contrasting landscapes and the collaboration of bi-coastal communities. Her albums Into a Heart Pt. II and New Doors(Jackson/Wilson Duo) won Music Nova Scotia’s “Jazz Recording of the Year” in 2022 and 2023, respectively. All of her releases have been nominated for the East Coast Music Awards. In 2021 Sam won the Paul Cram Creation award and composed her first piece for orchestra, ‘Recover-we’, which was performed by Symphony Nova Scotia at the 2023 Open Waters Festival.
Sam was raised in Ontario but has made Nova Scotia her home for more than a decade; she currently resides in Halifax. She performs regularly with her collaborator Andrew Jackson in their duo project (JacksonWilson Duo), as well with her trio that features a rotation of musicians including Caito Macdonald, Kyle Tully, Gabriella Ciurcovich, Jen Yakamovich and Geordie Hart. She has worked with Phillip Greenlief (Elephant Heart), Andrew Mackelvie, Ellen Gibling, Matt Gallant (Borrowers), Nicholas D’amato, Nicola Miller, Music Declares Emergency, Votive Dance, Upstream Music Association, among others and supported artists such as Laura Roy and Kaia Kater. She is an alumni of St.FX University and the Creative Music Workshop.

Steven Lambke
2025-10-11 16:00 - 18:00 | Morley’s, 45 Portland St.
Free show!
Steven Lambke is a writer of songs and poems. He has been described by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson as “a working musician – that is, someone who is embedded in, responsible to, and who holds space for a community of artists that create against the odds of the music industry, without contracts, awards, and acolytes.” His most recent album Volcano Volcano was saluted by Pitchfork as “a battle cry for romantic radicals.”
Steven Lambke is also a member of the Constantines: young hearts be free tonight. He sings in the band Spider Bite and will see you in the pit.
In 2009, Steven Lambke and Daniel Romano co-founded You’ve Changed Records. From 2017-2021 was the Creative Director of Sappyfest in Sackville, NB.
Steven Lambke lives in Toronto, ON or Sackville, NB depending on the season.

Joe Abbot
2025-10-11 16:00 - 18:00 | Morley’s, 45 Portland St.
Free show!
Joe Abbott is a musician, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Vancouver, BC, with a rich background in jazz, blues, and American roots music. His unique blend of folk and country delivers a fresh yet timeless sound that resonates with audiences across genres.
A natural storyteller, Joe’s songwriting is filled with humor, warmth, and an authenticity that sets him apart. Whether it’s his time on the road with Petunia and the Vipers or his experience performing alongside the late blues icon Harpdog Brown, his music carries the depth of a seasoned artist.
With a growing reputation in the Canadian folk and country scene, Joe Abbott continues to captivate listeners with his sharp lyricism and compelling performances. If you haven’t heard him yet, now is the perfect time to dive in.

Hayden Pedigo
2025-10-11 19:00 - 22:00 | The Sanctuary Arts Centre, 100 Octherloney St
Hayden Pedigo (born March 26, 1994) is an American avant-garde musician, politician, performance artist, and model. Much of his work has been informed and inspired by his upbringing and residence in the Panhandle of Texas.
Life and music
Hayden Pedigo was raised in the West Texas city of Amarillo. It was his upbringing in—and embrace of—his home in the rural Texas Panhandle region that would eventually draw him national attention. At age 12, Pedigo decided he wanted to learn guitar, and his parents paid for lessons. Pedigo grew obsessed with the instrument, carefully studying to play like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Ry Cooder. As his skills grew, his influences would expand to include John Fahey, Robbie Basho, Daniel Bachman, and Mark Fosson—guitarists of the American Primitive Guitarstyle.
Soon, the young Pedigo had moved on to studying European experimental rock acts such as Soft Machine and King Crimson, and jazz artists like Miles Davis and Pharoah Sanders.
In 2012, Pedigo sent a video of himself playing guitar in an abandoned elementary school to the Austin label Maramara Records The ensuing partnership would result in Pedigo’s first album, Seven Years Late, released in 2013.
For his second album, Five Steps, Pedigo used internet channels to approach various musical heroes for collaboration—including the German guitarist Steffen Basho-Junghaus and the English guitarist Nick Jonah Davis, as well as art rock influences like Charles Hayward (a founding member of This Heat) and Faust drummer Zappi Diermaier. Five Steps was released by the Seattle label Debacle Records[4] in November 2014. In a feature article that same year, Texas Monthly said of the album: “Only twenty years old, [Pedigo] had revealed through sound the world he had grown up in and the sense of wonder he felt at being alive.”[5] Vogue magazine wrote of Five Steps: “Pedigo mixes his own unique playing style with disconcerting ambient tracks, creating a sound that comes off as entirely original.”
In 2015, Pedigo curated a solo guitar compilation, Imaginational Anthem Vol.7 for Tompkins Square Records. For the project, Pedigo solicited contributions from several friends and influences, including Kyle Fosburgh, Mariano Rodriguez, and Sean Proper.
In 2018, the 23-year-old guitarist released Greetings From Amarillo under the Los Angeles-based Driftless Recordings. The album, said Pedigo, was “a tribute to the landscape of Amarillo, Texas, and the different spaces I’ve discovered here.” At the time, National Public Radio’s All Songs Considered said of the album’s title track: “’Greetings From Amarillo’ blooms like a field of Texas bluebonnets swaying on the side of the highway. Over four minutes, the delicate and lilting melody dips in and out of major and minor keys, swirling sand into a dancing dust devil.”
A year later Pedigo released an LP, Valley of the Sun, also from Driftless Recordings. The album release coincided with Pedigo’s (ultimately fruitless) run for a seat on the Amarillo City Council.
In the spring of 2021, Hayden Pedigo announced that he had signed a three-album contract with the Brooklyn-based independent record label Mexican Summer, which T: The New York Times Style Magazine has described as “a bastion for experimental pop, not to mention a model for successful music publishing in the 21st century”.
On November 2, 2021, Pedigo made his runway debut in Gucci’s 100th anniversary fashion show, “Love Parade.” He modelled their Spring-Summer 2022 collection alongside fellow musicians St. Vincent, Phoebe Bridgers, and Steve Lacy.
Pedigo married his girlfriend L’Hannah in 2015. They currently reside in Oklahoma City.
Pedigo released his fifth studio album, I’ll Be Waving as You Drive Away, on June 6, 2025, via Mexican Summer.
City Council run
In the fall of 2018, at the age of 24, Hayden Pedigo drew national attention when he mounted a campaign to fill a city council seat in his hometown of Amarillo. In a profile on the young candidate, Rolling Stone noted: “If [the surrealist film director] David Lynch were in charge of a political campaign, it might look something like Pedigo’s.”
Pedigo’s campaign began to gain steam when he launched his first campaign ad, an absurdist lo-fi video featuring the young candidate, dressed in a suit he’d purchased from Goodwill, hurling a metal folding chair around a public park. In the video, Pedigo propped his foot on the chair and declared, “I believe that a lot of local business owners are straight up getting bonked.” The video—and subsequent videos produced by the Pedigo campaign—drew thousands of views on social media, garnering attention from local news affiliates, and eventually from national media.
At first, the Pedigo campaign was seen by many locals as simply a prank. But, as the campaign wore on, it became clear that Pedigo was intent on winning. A documentary film crew, helmed by the documentarian Jasmine Stodel, arrived from Los Angeles to film the campaign—and the surrounding commotion.
In the meantime, Pedigo grew more serious about attaining victory in the race, researching policy and speaking with former city officials. Pedigo soon drew the attention of the Amarillo pro-development PAC “Amarillo Matters,” which, according to Rolling Stone, has been known to employ questionable tactics like sending out mailers with factually incorrect claims about candidates they oppose (a group which included Pedigo). As the campaign rolled on, Pedigo began to use his amplified voice to draw attention to what he saw as rampant cronyism and inequality in Amarillo.
Ultimately, Pedigo finished a distant second in the race behind incumbent Elaine Hayes. But the campaign was not an out-and-out failure, as Texas Monthly noted: “Just by running—and by doing it for the camera—[Pedigo] exposed Amarillo’s hidden-in-plain-sight corporatocracy.”
Kid Candidate, director Jasmine Stodel’s documentary on Pedigo’s city-council campaign, was released in 2021. The film, produced by Gunpowder & Sky, premiered as part of the virtual South by Southwest film festival.
Tickets: prices vary from $0 to $40

Nadah El Shazly
2025-10-11 19:00 - 22:00 | The Sanctuary Arts Centre, 100 Octherloney St
Born and raised in Cairo, El Shazly began her musical journey as a member of Sick Gdrch, a Misfits cover band, before venturing into electronic production and composition. Her debut album, 2017’s ‘Ahwar’, earned global praise for its merging of heritage and innovation, and established Nadah as a leading figure in the contemporary music landscape. She appeared on the cover of The Wire in 2018 in an issue announcing “Cairo’s New Wave.”
El Shazly’s live performances are equally immersive, combining her enthralling voice with intricate sound manipulation and dynamic collaborations with other musicians. She has worked with a host of innovators including Sam Shalabi, Elvin Brandhi, Maurice Louca, and many more. She’s graced stages at prestigious venues and festivals worldwide, including Irtijal, Le Guess Who?, Rewire, Best Kept Secret, FIMAV, Roskilde, Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Nusasonic, and Marfa Myths. Beyond her solo work, Nadah is an active contributor to Cairo’s independent music scene, supporting emerging artists and engaging in cross-disciplinary projects.
Nadah is also known for her soundtrack work. In 2022 she scored the film Les Damnés ne pleurent pas (The Damned Don’t Cry), that follows Fatima-Zahra and her teenage son Selim who move from place to place, forever trying to outrun the latest scandal she’s caught up in. El Shazly won the Best Original Music award at the Bordeaux International Independent Film Festival and at the Dublin International Film Festival. In the last year she’s also scored Last Party in R. Desert! by Mahmoud Sabbagh, and To a Land Unknown by Mahdi Fleifel.
In 2024, she released the experimental noise album ‘Pollution Opera’ with Welsh producer Elvin Brandhi. Facing hell in full defiance, their nine-track album covers the spectrum of electroacoustic fragments and vocalization, suspended between the roar of engines, evocative intonations and guttural retching.
Within ‘Laini Tani’, El Shazly’s immense, captivating voice weaves through impeccably crafted synth-work and a propulsive rhythmic foundation co-produced with 3Phaz, with Patrick Graham’s rattling percussion alongside. Layers of kinetic bass and scorching electronics intertwine like the labyrinthine backstreets of a city. Sarah Pagé’s harp adds a textural, dreamlike quality to El Shazly’s deftly constructed arrangement, an edifice of bold and physical design that’s also surreal and otherworldly. A mosaic of unconventional instrumentation interacts throughout, with Nadah at its centre as the architect and cynosure. Her commanding performance and vocal stylings act as a guide through this intricate ecosystem.
Tickets: prices vary from $0 to $40

Dark for Dark
2025-10-11 19:00 - 22:00 | The Sanctuary Arts Centre, 100 Octherloney St
Dark For Dark sings immaculate three part vocal arrangements, thick with harmony and interplay, over Rebecca Zolkower’s original songs. Their new album, All Dressed, was produced by composer / musician Jay Crocker in Crousetown, NS and expands on the folk and country influences of their previous work to include sounds drawn from early Beatles and 60s girl groups.
Tickets: prices vary from $0 to $40

G Street Band!
2025-10-11 20:00 - 23:00 | Pacifico, 5171 George St
G Street Band electrifies the dance floor with their high-energy fusion of classic and current, pop, rock, funk…and a touch of jazz!

Miranda Ceara & The Odd Fellows Orchestra
2025-10-11 22:00 - 23:59 | Sanctuary Arts Centre Downstairs, 100 Ochterloney St.
‘Miranda Ceara & The Odd Fellows Orchestra’ reimagine the sounds of prewar jazz, blues, and calypso, weaving them together to create an original and entirely modern cabaret-noir of brass, strings, and rhythm, all tied together by Miranda’s unique songwriting and vocal delivery.
In October of 2024, their first EP was recorded at Sud-Ouest Recording Studio in Montreal. They are currently in the process of creating a full length album of original songs to be released in 2025. After only a few months of forming, this Orchestra has performed extensively across Ontario & Quebec.
This vivacious ensemble is a diverse group of well-seasoned musicians who create original compositions, seamlessly blending influences from early 1900’s world music & many genres into their dynamic sound.
The Odd Fellows are…
Miranda Ceara Vocals, BanjoCorey Pool Drums & PercussionJames Arif Sousaphone, TromboneOscar Evans TrumpetOccasional membersSonny Aiken Guitar, FiddleCA Jackson Mandoline, upright BassSEAN MCCarthy Clarinet, Soprano Sax
Tickets: prices vary from $0 to $40

Penny & the Pits
2025-10-11 22:00 - 23:59 | Buffalo Club, 2 Wentworth St
Debut album, Liquid Compactor, out now! It’s about a very hot and exclusive g*rl gang that discovers a sentient underwater machine and harnesses its power to do their vengeful bidding.
Tickets: prices vary from $0 to $40

Nate & the Busy Boys
2025-10-11 22:00 - 23:59 | Buffalo Club, 2 Wentworth St
Nate and the Busy Boys are the freshest band on the East Coast sporting the oldest sounding tracks. Their debut album is a bold exploration of rock and roll through the ages where the common thread is the unexpected, and the performances are raw and lively.
The Busy Boys aren’t a “music lover’s” band in the same sense that a guitar player would like a band playing 20 minute long guitar solos, they are a band whose love of music shows through the diversity and wide reaches of their musical influence, from surf and country, to rockabilly, psychedelia, punk, bar rock, and more. What makes the album cohesive are songs that are full of sly wit, but never negative or snarky.
While it may at times sound like a genuine era artifact, it was recorded and mixed live-to-tape at Never Nuthin, the fully analog studio of celebrated bluesman Keith Hallett, and produced by lo-fi recording guru Adam Mowery (PAPAL VISIT). The tracks ooze a certain coolness and confidence that is only attainable by the right group of people coming together to make something special.
Tickets: prices vary from $0 to $40

Paul St. Amand & Kenneth Pasher
2025-10-12 11:00 - 13:30 | The Roastory, 12 Ella Lane, Bedford, B4B2J6
Singer & trumpeter Paul St-Amand teams up with guitarist Kenneth Pasher for a midday jazz set at The Roastory: where every cup has a rhythm. Bedford’s coolest new cafe is rooted in two timeless crafts: the art of specialty coffee and the soul of jazz and blues.

All Saints Cathedral Choir
2025-10-12 16:00 - 17:30 | Cathedral Church of All Saints, 1330 Cathedral Ln, Halifax
The ‘Sundays at Four’ Music Series returns to the Cathedral Church of All Saints, Halifax September 28 at 4 p.m! Join us for a new season of inspiring choral music, offered freely to the public every Sunday afternoon. Sunday’s service is a Choral Evensong for the Eve of St Michael and All Angels, sung by the Capella Regalis Men, Boys, & Girls Choir, directed by Nick Halley, with organist Paul Halley.

Schedule

Shirley Jackson & Her Good Rockin' Daddys
2025-10-12 16:00 - 18:30 | Colleen’s Pub, Dartmouth
Good Rockin’ fun and some horn-powered Blues!

Jazz @ the Lion's Head
2025-10-12 17:00 - 21:30 | Lion’s Head Tavern, 3085 Robie St, Halifax
Mainstay jazz crew l-r David Burton, Jeff Goodspeed, Silvio Pupo and Larry Bjornson. Players subject to change. Interesting guests each week.

Sunday night blues jam
2025-10-12 20:00 - 23:00 | Bearly’s House of Blues & Ribs, 1579 Grafton St, Halifax
Local blues musicians try out their stuff at the traditional blues jam run by Andrew Gillis and his back up band.

Morgan Davis
2025-10-13 19:30 - 22:30, 2025-10-14 19:30 - 22:30 | Bearly’s House of Blues & Ribs, 1579 Grafton St, Halifax
Morgan Davis is a Canadian blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He was born and spent his childhood in Detroit, Michigan, before relocating to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 2001. His song “Why’d You Lie” was a hit for Colin James and featured on James’ 1988 debut album.

Jazz Night
2025-10-14 18:00 - 21:00 | Ragazzi Restobar, 5187 Salter St, Halifax
Jazz Night with Ken MacKay
A native of Truro NS, Ken first started teaching in the Public School system in 1976 and has been active as an educator as a Clinician, Adjudicator and Soloist throughout his career. Ken retired from Astral Drive Junior High where he has been Director of Bands for over 20 years. Ken is Past-President of the Atlantic Federation of Musicians and is currently on the board of NS Honour Jazz and co-leader of the NSHJ Funk Unit.
Ken’s list of his professional credits is impressive. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Regis Philbin, Natalie Cole, jazz great Ernie Watts, Mary Wilson (The Supremes), Blues Brother Dan Aykroyd, daughter of the blues Shirley King, Rosemary Clooney, the Temptations, and Lionel Ritchie are just a few of the artists Ken has shared the stage with. He currently performs with The Back Alley Big Band, Asia NuGruv and The Aviators.

Jazz jam
2025-10-14 19:00 - 22:00 | Economy Shoe Shop, 1663 Argyle St
Jazz Night upstairs at Economy Shoe Shop run by Leo Cox, bass/guitar, Ben Tucker, guitar/voice and Dante Keirstead, drums.

Garrett Mason
2025-10-14 20:30 - 23:00 | Bearly’s House of Blues & Ribs, 1579 Grafton St, Halifax
Garrett Mason is a true bluesman at heart. He was raised in Truro, Nova Scotia by his mother Pam, and father, veteran Canadian Bluesman Dutch Mason. His quest to become a blues musician started at a very early age; being surrounded by music blues music, Garrett’s favorite tapes at 3 years old were Canned Heat and Buddy Rich. What really sealed the deal for Garrett to become a blues guitarist came after watching a video of Stevie Ray Vaughn “Live At the El Mocambo” – he was hooked.
His dad, Dutch Mason, stopped playing guitar before Garrett was born due to crippling arthritis in his hands. Although he was not able to teach his son to play, he has certainly been able to teach Garrett the structure of the Blues and to influence him about the resulting sound. Surrounded by his father’s peers, Garrett has had the benefit of hearing and learning from a wide variety of musical talent. The late Rick Jeffery was a great inspiration to Garrett; they would talk and play for hours together. Rick once said “Garrett is the only guitar player I know that can play Albert Collins’ style down to a T”. The combination of his father’s advice, Jeffery’s guidance and his own natural talents provide that special brew for Garrett to become the musical influence he is destined to be.
Garrett would be the first to tell you that riding the coat tails of others won’t take you very far in this business, but striving to be truly original is the secret to longevity and lasting success. Garrett launched his debut CD I’m Just a Man at the 2004 Harvest Jazz and Blues festival in Fredericton, New Brunswick to a sold out crowd.
This debut CD features Garrett’s talent for strong original songs, a voice that is reminiscent of a veteran performer and his extraordinary aptitude for playing electric guitar. Garrett’s original talent was awarded in 2005 when he received a Juno for Best Blues Album. Garrett Mason is poised to be one of the brightest stars to emerge from the East Coast Blues scene in years.
Garrett’s band released their sophomore album Love and Sound in July 2008 which was nominated for a Juno Award. The album won Blues Artist/Group Recording of the Year at the 2009 Music Nova Scotia and Industry Awards.

Jazz Spotlight
2025-10-15 18:00 - 23:00 | Gus’ Pub & Grill, 2605 Agricola St
Eli Lubell Quartet • Paul St-Amand Trio • Behrooz Mihankhah
We are thrilled to announce the lineup for the 7th edition of the Jazz Spotlight at @guspubandgrill; it’s going to be phenomenal! This event is a platform for Halifax’s Jazz Community to share new music and projects. This 7th edition might just bring us GOOD LUCK.

Jazz Vespers with Holly Cole
2025-10-15 19:00 - 21:00 | First Baptist Church, 1300 Oxford St.
Sacred Silence Sacred Sounds with Holly Arsenault
The piano has been Holly Arsenault’s favourite toy since the ripe old age of 4 when she came upon the tired old upright at her grandmother’s house in Cape Breton. In the years since, she has traveled the globe as a pit musician, music director, sideman, soloist and leader of her own trio . These days, Holly lives and plays in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with forays into the wider world as opportunities and adventures beckon.
Over the past 30 years she has earned acclaim as a leader, soloist and sideperson. She has performed with Symphony Nova Scotia, The Daniel Matto Quintet, Karen Myatt, and has many shows to her credit as a pit musician at Neptune Theatre. Her original compositions have been lauded nationally and abroad, and have been featured in Global/ABC TV’s Rookie Blue; her work in musical theatre has been recognized with Dora and Merritt awards. She is the producer and host of Holly Arsenault Presents, a series showcasing some of her favourite vocalists from her extensive work as an accompanist, and is currently in collaboration with playwright Bruce Graham on a musical about Charles Tupper and the founding fathers of Confederation

Live Jazz with the Matt MacLennan Trio
2025-10-15 19:00 - 22:00 | Obladee wine bar, 1600 Barrington St, Halifax
Matt MacLennan is a bassist and bandleader, bringing a mix of velvety ballads, smooth bossa novas, and breezy swing to Obladee!
You can expect balanced and inviting sets with an easy and conversational style that fills the room without crowding it. Lean in and listen, or simply let the sound and textures carry you away.
A warm welcome to Matt and his band – we just know you’ll love them!
Please reserve your spot as seating is limited.

Jazz Night @ The Local
2025-10-15 19:30 - 23:00 | The Local, 2037 Gottingen St, Halifax
Jazz night with Silvio Pupo, keys, Ronald Hynes, bass and Damien Moynihan, percussion.

Danny Martin, Geordie Haley, Ron Hines
2025-10-16 18:00 - 21:00 | Wooden Monkey, Alderney Landing

Mat Elliott and Lindsay Misiner
2025-10-16 19:30 - 21:30 | The Carleton, 1685 Argyle St, Halifax
Mat Elliott makes his début at The Carleton with a night of deep pockets, smooth guitar work, and sharp songwriting, along with special guest Lindsay Misiner, on Thursday, October 16th. Show time is 7:30 PM and tickets are $20 + HST. Expect top tier musicianship, standout songs, and a room full of people who love both.

Big Easy Fridays!
2025-10-17 17:30 - 19:30 | Bearly’s House of Blues & Ribs, 1579 Grafton St, Halifax
Sounds of New Orleans with Mike Cowie & John Alphonse
More events all week on Bearly’s website

The Mellotones
2025-10-17 20:30 - 23:30 | Pacifico, 5171 George St
For over two decades, The Mellotones have been bringing their high-octane party to stages around the world. Lighting up dance floors wherever they go, the R&B Funk band is an 8-piece powerhouse.
