Bobby Dove and Bob Blair with special guest Braden Gates

Bobby Dove is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is quickly becoming a magnetic presence in the world of Country and Americana music. With a voice as powerful as their storytelling, Dove pays tribute to the golden age of Country, while crafting original, emotionally charged songs that are fresh off the heart worn highway. Bobby’s internationally acclaimed sophomore album, Hopeless Romantic (2021) includes some of the finest musicians on the Canadian roots music scene, including Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy, Bazil Donovan and Jimmy Bowskill.

Dove’s journey into the lore of early Country music started at The Wheel Club, a long-standing institution in their hometown of Montreal, Quebec. It was there that the budding troubadour was fortunate enough to be mentored by steel-player Bob Hill, and where Bobby picked up a variety of stringed instruments, sending them down a rabbit hole of pre-1965 honky tonk and bluegrass.
Bob Blair says “I’m a Canadian musician best known for playing pedal steel guitar for a number of Western Canadian Artists. I’m a singer as well, and I also play guitar, dobro and weissenborn.” You may have seen Bob playing along side Jody Shenkarek, Kimberley MacGregor, or even his brother!

Braden Gates is at once the quintessential folk singer and a highly exceptional one. His songs are both workmanlike and full of emotional nuance, and they are delivered by a performer who is both a masterfully unassuming storyteller and a blazing-hot instrumentalist – one UK publication called him a “born raconteur.” Based in Edmonton, Alberta, Braden sets his songs wherever he is – this is music rooted unquestionably in the real world, as interpreted by a deeply compassionate writer who nonetheless sees the humour and absurdity of it all.

Braden Gates is also a three-time Canadian Folk Music Award nominee, with his most recent Borealis Records release Kitchen Days winning the award for Traditional Album of the Year in 2022. Since his debut album Break it to Me Gently came out in 2013, he has recorded and released eight full-length albums, exhibiting a drive to create and a dedication to craft that is remarkable by any standard. As a performer, Braden is as captivating as he is prolific at writing, and has played many of Canada’s major folk festivals, as well as representing Alberta as far afield as Iceland. Currently in pre-production for yet another studio album, Braden continues his life’s work to lovingly coax the fleeting beauty out of life’s mundanities.

Doors at 7//Show at 8
$20 in advance, $25 at the door
For advance tix e-transfer thegroovernor@gmail.com, put Bobby Dove in the note please.