Michael C. Duguay / Joey O’Neil / The Ropes

Local favourite Michael C. Duguay plays the hotel with special guests!

“Every song tells a story, but not every songwriter can tell a story the way Duguay can.”

–Dominionated

Michael Cloud Duguay (he/him/they/them) is a writer, musician, producer, improviser, and community organizer based out of Kingston/Wolfe Island, Ontario. First gaining recognition as a versatile and uniquely charismatic multi-instrumental supporting player in the early 2000’s, Michael has contributed to dozens of critically acclaimed Canadian indie, folk, jazz, and experimental recording and performance projects. A fervent collaborator and community builder, Michael’s genre-fluid and multidisciplinary projects feature a diverse and revolving cast of contributing members from across North America, and he has been a regular collaborator of other Canadian projects including recent Polaris nominees Joyful Joyful, The Burning Hell, Sing Leaf, Weird Lines, Steven Lambke, David Parker, and award-winning Nova Scotian improvisational chamber ensemble New Hermitage.

After surviving nearly  a decade of homelessness and drug addiction, Michael recommenced his artistic practice in 2018, self-producing and releasing his widely praised sophomore album, The Winter of our Discotheque, which chronicled his years of tumult and established him as one of Canadian music’s most distinct, enigmatic, and honest emerging voices. Known for his profound and literary lyrical style, Michael is a poet and pop songsmith at his core, but with projects as far-ranging as traditional folk, avant-garde drone, and improvised and electronic music, Michael is as comfortable on folk festival stages as he is in DIY punk and experimental music spaces. His work has been recognized The Canada Council For The Arts, Ontario Arts Council, the Yukon Sound Commission, The Icelandic Art Centre, and the City of Kingston who awarded Michael their first ever municipal artist residency. His third full-length album, Saint Maybe, recorded in the subarctic Yukon, will be released in Spring, 2023, and his current touring band is comprised of Canadian indie luminaries Liam Cole, Yolande Laroche, Julien Dussault, and Greggory Clark.

JOEY O’NEIL has honed her nostalgic folk sound over a decade of Klondike winters.

Bewitching audiences with emotive anecdotes from her woodland life and long-haul highway schleps, her critically acclaimed sophomore album Ever Ahead was brought forth in 2020. Produced by pedal-steel wizard Aaron Goldstein, it’s an undeniable road-trip record that Exclaim! deems is made up of “postcard-like, twanged-out folk tracks”, Canadian Beats dubs “an audiobook narrated behind bluesy, western melodies”, and CBC Arts declares “is rife with playful poetry and sees O’Neil casually bounce between tongue-in-cheek lyrics and a true sense of heartbreak.” Inspired by countless cross-country journeys with her trusty canine copilot named Oblio, her lyrics present a fresh, queer perspective to some classic country tropes. Thanks to vulnerable vocals, canorous string plucking, weepy steel solos, and a sincere emphasis on storytelling, this ode to the road reminds us to keep on truckin’, as the next adventure is ever ahead.

The Ropes
The Ropes is the eponymously titled album from Hugh Christopher Brown, Jason Mercer, and Pete Bowers, grounded in the trio’s love of folk and soul artists of the early 70’s.