Champagne Weather & Amanda Braam

Event Details

Event type: All Ages

Canadian Folk Music Award-winners and JUNO nominees James Hill and Anne Janelle. Both have one foot in folk traditions and the other in improvised music. With a blend of songwriting and sound sculpture, Champagne Weather artfully bridges these worlds with a sound that evokes Philip Glass and Steve Reich even as it harks back to Appalachian fiddle and Maritime folksong.

In each Champagne Weather composition, two motifs repeat, entwine and slowly change, creating serendipitous harmony that no-one can predict—not even the musicians. Cello, ukulele and violin sparkle like a field of stars, grounded only by the rumble of low-fi synth. It's ever-changing music that neither sleeps nor wakes, floating instead in a dreamy blue twilight of sound.

Amanda Braam & The Paper Cranes are an indie-folk-pop band from Waterloo, Ontario featuring Fiona Sinclair on lead guitar / keys, Eve Elford on bass, Simon Dawes on drums, and Amanda on rhythm guitar / lead vocals. The band met while studying at Wilfrid Laurier University and came together to bring Amanda's songs to life with their rich harmonies, crunchy chords, and catchy melodies.

Since their festival debut on the main stage of Riverfest Elora in 2024, the band has played throughout Ontario at festivals such as It's Your Festival (Hamilton), Summerfolk (Owen Sound), Brantford Beats & Eats, and Youngfolk Festival (Guelph).  In 2025, the band won the Summerfolk Youth Discoveries Competition. They’ve shared the stage with acts such as The Strumbellas, Violent Femmes, and Fleet Foxes.