In 2017, our then-beertender Dan (Ben Reines) let us know his hero Bry Webb was looking for small Ontario venues to play, and we jumped at the recommendation. We then experienced one of the most intimate and engaging shows we’ve ever had at the Wedge.

About five years ago Bry Webb stopped playing and releasing music entirely, sold instruments and recording equipment, and convinced himself that he was done.

In early 2023 his personal life exploded. In the process of dealing with that, he started writing music again and started recording at home. His therapist said he needed to figure out how to ask for, and accept, help from other people. He sent early recordings of songs to friends made through twenty-five years of music making – many folks he hadn’t connected with in years – and asked if they’d contribute anything to the songs. People came through in ways that overwhelmed him. He felt incredibly cared for.

Now, Webb has started performing live again, with shows as far flung as Guelph, Calgary, Montreal and Dawson City. He will be performing some old songs, and some new for the first time, in advance of a new album, coming November 2023.

The album, and these performances, are all about death, transition, asking for help and looking for hope.

“…he looks at things from a perspective that sheds a deeper light… It’s more poetry than play-by-play, but at the same time, he’s telling us really evident stories. And it all culminates into something you feel more than think about, which is a feat… His voice has an authority to it and I’ve always believed that he believes in what he’s singing.” – Feist

“Bry Webb asks you what you are connected to and what you have been connected to… Everyone at the bonfire threw in their ringing cell phones, animals chilled the f*#k out, and we all feel lucky to have him so close on this.” – Chad VanGaalen

COTS is the solo project of Montreal composer, singer, and guitarist Steph Yates. Blending elements of bossa nova, folk, jazz, and classical against a modern art backdrop, Yates’s crystalline voice carries the gravitas of songs that evoke lost love and its consequences.

This is a ticketed event. 19+. General Admission. $15 advance purchase (see link), $20 at the door.