Overview
Alysha Brilla blends a unique folk sound using guitar, piano and djembe, while Rose Cousins brings contemporary roots to our Concert Stage.
About Alysha Brilla
Alysha Brilla is a three-time JUNO Award nominee who weaves global roots sounds into healing music medicine, transporting audiences to her signature space nestled between the earth and the stars. Brilla’s music is a colourful tapestry of global roots and folk fusion, the love child of an Indo-Tanzanian musician and Canadian storyteller. Themes of re-connection to ourselves, each other and the earth weave into joyous uplifting rhythms and soulful melodies.
Influenced by her father’s Indian and East African music and her mother’s Canadian folk heroes, Brilla’s childhood was alive with the vibrations of Bob Marley, Amy Winehouse, Joni Mitchell and Ravi Shankar. In 2013, Brilla became one of the first self-produced female artists to receive a JUNO Award nomination for her self-written debut album. She continues to celebrate underrepresented genders in the studio and on stage. Brilla’s music unites audiences. Her distinct and powerful voice has taken her to Australia, South America, Canada, Europe and Asia. Whether sharing intimate storytelling sets or headlining festival stages of thousands with her all-star musicians, by the end of the show, Brilla always has the audience singing along and moving forward with a positive feeling in their hearts.
During the pandemic, Alysha partnered with Independent Canadian Singer-Songwriter Desirée Dawson to offer virtual sound healing and movement sessions. These were attended by many hearts hungry for connection and community. Brilla continues to provide music as a healer workshop alongside her live performances. She has worked with youth for the past ten years, mentoring in self-expression and building confidence through the arts and music production.
As a 2022 Official Keychange Artist, she represents Canada in an accelerator program for standout female creators in the global music industry, and her newest album, Circle, comes out in summer 2022. It is an album ripe with messages of personal and global healing and music to uplift the soul, with a much-anticipated international tour to celebrate its release.
About Rose Cousins
Rose Cousins’ BRAVADO is a record for those who struggle with loneliness and those wishing they had more time alone. It’s for those attempting to make their hearts go in more than one direction and those trying to make it go in just one. It’s for those who present a version of themselves to the world that doesn’t quite match how they feel inside. It’s for those who feel misunderstood or unseen. It’s for those who have difficulty saying what they think, who hide or can’t let themselves off the hook. It’s for those asking, “Is this it?” and questioning if the character they play in the movie of their lives is authentic or just a role they’ve accepted. It’s for those who have a hard time asking for help and those desperate for and terrified of change.
BRAVADO won the 2021 JUNO Award for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year and two East Coast Music Awards for Contemporary Roots Recording and Solo Recording.
Her 2018 album Natural Conclusion also received notable acclaim, including a nomination for a Grammy Award, a JUNO nomination for Songwriter of the Year and three wins at the East Coast Music Awards.
Cousin’s songs have appeared on Grey’s Anatomy, Supergirl, Reign and Nashville. She has shared stages with such heroic songwriters as Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin, Lori McKenna, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Jann Arden and Ron Sexsmith.
Dates & Times
July 22
8pm – Alysha Brilla
9:45pm – Rose Cousins