Sunday, July 3 at 7pm

Nova Scotia-based songwriter, Carmel Mikol, spent the last year touring extensively across Canada and the US. Her debut album “In My Bones” was  nominated for three 2011 East Coast Music Awards (Female Solo Recording, Pop Recording, Rising Star Recording) and the title track took first place in the Folk Category of the 2010 Great American Song Contest.

A fan favourite at festivals in Atlantic Canada and the US (Folk Harbour, Deep Roots, Carmel has shared stages with Connie Kaldor, David Francey, David Myles, Meghan Smith, Jimmy Rankin, and Matt Anderson. She performed in CBC Studio H for Concerts on Demand and developed and produced “Roots to the Future”, a new creation project for Cape Breton’s Celtic Colours International Festival.

She is described as “full of life and personality, while her voice is clear, expressive and direct without overselling the emotion in her soul-bearing songs”  by Stephen Cooke of the Halifax Chronicle Herald.

Mr. Caplan is a big guy with a big beard and a voice that’s bigger than life. He plays guitar, banjo, melodica, and keyboards, and the music that he makes with his band, The Casual Smokers, has its origins in folk, roots, roma, klezmer, and jazz. He’s been compared to world class performers from Tom Waits to Freddy Mercury and everything in between.

The music of Ben Caplan & The Casual Smokers is diverse, ranging from frenetic gypsy anthems to folky and poetic ballads, but even when the band delivers the roughest of bar room stomps, there is a surprising depth and musicianship to the songs. Expressive percussion, upright bass, violin, sax, clarinet, flute, and terrific use of call and response sing-along choruses all help Caplan & The Casual Smokers stand out from the masses influenced by the same sounds.

Advance tickets for all shows will be available at the Winery at Petite Riviere Vineyards 1300 Italy Cross Road, as well as the Petite General Store and Cobbler Corner.

For complete event listing, click here. http://www.petiterivierevineyards.ca/?page_id=20