McKay Stage/Garden Saturday, August 17, 2019 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm GUH is a band that has managed to defy conventions and categories for the length of their 28 year long bizarro career. The Toronto (and now Guelph and Belleville) collective has operated with a dedicated core group of musicians as well as a revolving door membership system since its beginning, acting as a place to roll around for the city’s more experimentally bent players. To narrow it down (ha!), their genre-bending songs have been described as being: jazz, rock, reggae, pop, latin, polka, bop, and “what-the ____ -was-that”? They call it GUH.

McKay Stage Saturday, August 17, 2019 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm From opening for The Rolling Stones at Maple Leaf Gardens, sharing the bill at Shea Stadium with The Temptations and Junior Walker & the All Stars, and as vocalist for the L.A. supergroup Rhinoceros, John Finley was just getting started as a formidable songwriter. In 1973, Three Dog Night covered his song “Let Me Serenade You”, bringing John’s songwriting to charts worldwide. Throughout the 70’s, artists as diverse as Johnny Nash, Melissa Manchester and Ben Vereen recorded and released John’s songs as well. Now back in Canada he's performing in blues, jazz and R&B settings across the country.

McKay Stage/Garden Saturday, August 17, 2019 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm @WorstPopBandEver With influences ranging from Wayne Shorter to Levon Helm to J Dilla, The Worst Pop Band Ever is a Toronto-based quintet that combines a love of improvisational jazz and modern popular music. Despite their name, the band features award-winning musicians who have shared stages and/or recorded with such esteemed artists as Ernie Watts, Blue Rodeo, Sultans of Swing, Shuffle Demons, and Laila Biali. Whether it’s blending acoustic bass with turntables, or analog synths with a saxophone, WPBE sets out to twist both originals and covers, straddling genres and butting heads with expectation.