Likened to “a traveling musical caravan burning brightly across the night sky” (music critic Alan Cross), the 12-member Lemon Bucket Orkestra is Canada’s one and only “Balkan-klezmer-gypsy-party-punk-superband”. Born on the streets of Toronto as buskers in 2010, the original quartet of guerrilla-folk troubadours quickly amassed a battalion of troops armed with brass and bows, and started touring far and wide.
The multi-award-winning ensemble has been heralded as a groundbreaking, genre-bending phenomenon by media critics and fans alike, and for more than a decade it has performed all over the world, from WOMAD in New Zealand and Pohoda in Slovakia, to Festival d’été in Québec City and TD Sunfest here in London, Ontario. The Guardian (UK) proclaimed that LBO’s performances are “gorgeously sung and passionately played” and The New York Times declared its members “charismatic…handsome and ambitious.”
Equal parts exhilarating precision and reckless abandon, LBO’s live shows are a truly immersive experience, ranging from the ecstatic to the cathartic and all points in between. The band’s greatest achievement is an ability to push past mere sonic pyrotechnics to warmly draw their audiences into the social experience of the band’s live performances, which are like a festive birthday party, wedding and Bar Mitzvah all happening at once.
“Our music is joyous and contagious because it pushes back against the darkness. We try to pass our own exuberance and joy on to the audience,” says LBO frontman Mark Marczyk.
Emily Jean Flack is a vibrant young Canadian singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, composer and step dancer who spent her formative years immersed in the Canadian Celtic music scene. Emily’s foray into folk began at home with her mother Denise, the principal vocalist for the legendary family band Leahy. Gifted with a natural ability to sing and dance, Emily soon developed into a unique and dynamic artist in her own right. She has never been content to play it safe and stick to the status quo. EJF’s rich, soulful voice, and emotionally unfettered lyrics, along with a fearless approach to blending traditional Celtic music and progressive modern sounds (pop, jazz, Americana, classical etc.), is what sets her apart, and creates an electrifying live concert experience.
Emily grew up in Dorchester, Ontario (17 kms from London), but is now based in Toronto. After completing her Master’s in Traditional Irish Song at the Irish World Academy, University of Limerick, she stayed in Ireland to tutor at the Academy. It was during her time there that EJF recorded and released her 2019 debut EP, “Throwing Shapes”.
Emily’s most recent project pushes her pop sensibility with guttural percussive, acoustic, and synth instrumentation. In 2022, she released three singles (Changing, Goldie, and Wild Horses), with the full album, titled How You Love Me, set for release later this spring.
If you enjoy Emily’s TD Sunfest debut at The Wolf, you can catch her special April 20th appearance in East Coast Kitchen Party at London’s Grand Theatre. Three days later, she joins Canadian and U.S. National fiddle champion Shane Cook for a short tour of Scotland.