The Ontario Artists Who Played the 2020 MusicTogether Livestreams
MusicTogether was a 2020 relief program that paid Ontario musicians to play short concerts from their living rooms during the COVID-19 shutdown. More than 250 acts took part, and the lineup was wildly mixed: R&B singers next to franco-Ontarian folk bands, children’s legends next to indie-pop newcomers. Here’s a guided tour of some of them, grouped by sound, with links so you can go hear the real thing.
Indie and pop
A big chunk of the series leaned indie. These four cover the spread, from synthpop to surf-pop guitars.
Carmen Elle · indie pop / synthpop
A Toronto singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the voice of the synthpop band DIANA, whose debut Perpetual Surrender made the 2014 Polaris long list. She has also played in Army Girls and toured with Austra.
Ralph · retro pop / synth-soul
Raffaela Weyman records as Ralph, a Toronto pop artist with a sound that pulls from ‘80s synth-pop, disco and smooth soul. She emerged in 2015 and has released several projects, including the 2023 album 222.
The Elwins · indie rock / surf pop
A bright, melodic indie band from Keswick, Ontario, north of Toronto. They started in high school back in 2006 and built a following on hooky, upbeat guitar pop and a goofy sense of humour in their videos.
Peirson Ross · folk / indie-pop singer-songwriter
An Ontario singer-songwriter working in folk and indie-pop, the kind of melodic, story-first writing that fits a stripped-back living-room set well.
Hip-hop and Francophone
The roster reached well past English-language pop, including some of franco-Ontario’s sharpest acts.
Le R Premier · franco-Ontarian rap
Christian Djohossou, who performs as Le R Premier, is an Ottawa-based rapper and poet. Born in Cotonou, Benin, he weaves his Beninese roots into French-language hip-hop built around themes of empowerment.
Les Rats d’Swompe · franco-Ontarian trad-rock
An Ottawa-based franco-Ontarian band that mixes traditional folk with rock. Formed around 2016, led by Yan Leduc, they won Group of the Year at the 2019 Trille Or awards and have toured hard across Canada with their rowdy, fiddle-driven sound.
Moël · singer-songwriter
One of the many independent Ontario artists in the series, performing under the name Moël. Like most of the lineup, the set was a solo stream from home.
Folk and Roots
Roots music threaded through the whole series, on piano and on banjo.
Devin Cuddy · country / New Orleans blues piano
Toronto pianist and singer-songwriter who mixes old-time country with New Orleans blues. Read more on his dedicated page.
Kaia Kater · Appalachian-influenced folk, banjo
A Grenadian-Canadian singer and banjo player who studied old-time music on a banjo scholarship in West Virginia. Her songs dig into identity and history, and she has won at the Canadian Folk Music Awards.
Children’s and Family
One act on the bill raised a few generations of Canadian kids.
Sharon Hampson · of Sharon, Lois & Bram
A founding member of Sharon, Lois & Bram, the most-loved children’s music act in Canadian history (“Skinnamarink,” The Elephant Show). There’s much more to her story.
The Wider Lineup
Those are highlights, not the whole list. The 2020 series ran past 250 Ontario acts across nearly every genre. A few more names from the roster:
Julian Taylor, Haviah Mighty, Cris Derksen, The Weather Station, Maestro Fresh Wes, Jasmyn, LOONY, Witch Prophet, DijahSB, Lydia Persaud, Amanda Rheaume, Skye Wallace, Maylee Todd, Tom Wilson, SATE, Ansley Simpson, Kayla Diamond and many more.
FAQ
More than 250 Ontario-based musicians, across R&B, hip-hop, folk, francophone, indie, classical, children’s and more. The program ran in 2020 during the COVID-19 shutdown.
Musicians applied through the MusicTogether site, and a network of curation partners across Ontario helped shape the lineup. That mix of partners is a big reason it spanned so many genres and communities.
On the major streaming services and the artists’ own sites. The MusicTogether livestreams themselves were a one-time 2020 event, so the place to follow these acts today is wherever they release music.
No. MusicTogether was a 2020 relief initiative, not an active program, and it isn’t accepting new applications.
