Pharis and Jason Romero (BC)
Singing vibrant duets, writing deadly songs, playing their handmade banjos, and loving old acoustic guitars, Pharis and Jason Romero have a classic story. When some scratchy old records and a custom banjo led to their meeting in 2007, they quickly knew they were in for the long-haul. They’ve since released six records and toured across North America and the UK. They’ve won a Juno Award and multiple Canadian Folk Music Awards, have been featured on NPR Music, CBC, BBC, and Folk Alley, and have performed on A Prairie Home Companion and CBC’s The Vinyl Cafe. They are passionate teachers and believers in many things folk, and their heartbreakingly harmonic live show is an ever-evolving and never-ending quest for good songs and beautiful sounds.
Their latest album, Sweet Old Religion, won Traditional Roots Album of the Year at this year’s Junos. The album also won them the Canadian Folk Music Award for Traditional Singer of the Year (Pharis) and Vocal Group of the Year. Sweet Old Religion was chosen as folk magazine Penguin Eggs‘ Album of the Year.
“There’s something ancient and aching about the Romeros, a sound that feels like a reverberation from the past, even as the songs are a perfect antidote to this sped-up, modern world. Sweet Old Religion is particularly good medicine.” – No Depression