You’ve heard the music, seen the show, and now you can see The Wilkinsons in person. The wholesome country family from Belleville, ON is coming to take the Stockey stage by storm. With five albums under their belt, these musical pros are sure to put on a good show.

The trio is made up of two siblings, Amanda and Tyler Wilkinson, as well as their father, Steve. The latest CD, Home, is about getting back to their roots. It is the first ablum they’ve recorded since moving back to their hometown from Nashville. Their debut album, Nothing But Love, was released in 1998. The hit single “26 cents” propeled the group to fame. Throughout their nine years in the limelight, The Wilkinsons have been nominated for the CMA’s Horizon Award, Vocal Group of the Year and Single of the Year. This is not to mention the two Grammy and four Juno nominations along with a Juno win. They have also had number one hits in both Canada and the United States.

In 2006, The Wilkinsons started a reality show on CMT. This chronicled their move back to Belleville and the adjustments they had to make. It also featured the rest of the talented family: the mother, Chris, and a younger sibling, Kiaya. The show has continued to be well-loved and is currently on its second season.

The Toronto Finnish Male Singers presents a Musical Extravaganza!

Featuring Adam's Rib an ironic and entertaining cabaret of men's songs . . . from a woman's perspective. Original script and performances by Gail Hakala and Tania Parrish accompanied by Christobper Mounteer

Special guest artist from Finland, mezzo-soprano Sirkka-Liisa Ollikainen-Heinonen.

A Cocktail Hour (cash bar) will follow with live entertainment and a Gala Dinner and Dance.

Late Nights on Air, winner of the 2007 Giller Prize, Canada’s premier literary award for fiction, takes place in the Canadian north in the mid 1970’s. A cast of eccentric, utterly beguiling characters, all transplants from elsewhere, form an unlikely group at the local CBC radio station. One summer four of them embark on a canoe trip far into the Arctic Barrens. Their loves and longings, their rivalries and entanglements, the stories of their pasts and what brought each of them to the North, form the centre of this novel.

Elizabeth Hay’s previous novels are A Student of Weather, which was a Giller Prize finalist, and Garbo Laughs, which won the Ottawa Book Award and was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award. In 2002, she received the prestigious Marian Engel Award. Elizabeth Hay has worked for CBC Radio in Yellowknife, Winnipeg, and Toronto.

Don't miss the outstanding musical variety show Lunch At Allen’s. The group is comprised of Murray McLauchlan, Cindy Church, Marc Jordan and Ian Thomas. The show itself is intimate and humorous – a perfect fit for the Stockey stage.

This is their fourth national tour and second CD release, Catch the Moon. The four artists are each critically acclaimed musicians who continue to fly under the radar of the Canadian public.

Murray McLauchlan is no stranger to Parry Sound. He performed at the Stockey Centre in January of 2008. With 18 albums, 11 JUNO awards and a SOCAN Classics Award under his belt, this singer/songwriter is truly talented.

Cindy Church is an undeniable presence in the Canadian music scene. Her ability to sing all styles of songs has gained her many awards, such as JUNO award nominations and Female Artist of the Year at the Alberta Country Music Awards.

Marc Jordan is another outstanding performer with many talents. He has written songs for some of today’s greats, including Cher, Rod Stewart, Diana Ross, Susan Aglukark and Amanda Marshall. His poignant and poetic lyrics are another reason not to miss Lunch At Allen’s.

Finally, last but not least is Ian Thomas. With a repertoire of solo hits, such as “Painted Ladies”, “Long, Long Way” and “Mother Earth”, Ian proved he was not to be underestimated. His work with the Ian Thomas Band, The Boomers and Lunch At Allen’s has only opened more doors for this constantly evolving artist.

Don’t miss the wonderfully talented cast of Lunch At Allen’s.

Jane Urquhart is the author of five internationally acclaimed novels. A Map of Glass, a finalist for a regional Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book, is a stunning novel that weaves two parallel stories, one set in contemporary Toronto and Prince Edward County, Ontario, the other in the nineteenth century on the northern shores of Lake Ontario.

Jane Urquhart’s books include: The Whirlpool, which received Best Foreign Book Award in France; Changing Heaven; Away, winner of the Trillium Award and a finalist for the prestigious International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award; The Underpainter, winner of the Governor General’s Award and a finalist for the Rogers Communications Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize; The Stone Carvers, which was a finalist for The Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Award, and long listed for the Booker Prize. Her work has been translated into numerous foreign languages.

Urquhart has received the Marian Engel Award, and is a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France and an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Daniel Lanois is addicted to the ever slippery creative process in the recording studio – a world traveler more interested in tomorrow’s promise than yesterday’s accomplishments. Lanois’ latest creations are an album and film both entitled, Here Is What Is (released Spring 2008).

In the film, Lanois takes us on a year-long musical exploration to witness the making of his latest record at Red Floor Studios, a recording session in Morocco with U2 and Brian Eno, a visit with Sinead O’Connor in Dublin and a stop at the Zion Baptist Church in the deep south with Brady Blade Sr. The film allows your eyes to see what your ears hear on the album. The wild fantasia of the film is interspersed with philosophies, expressions and beliefs from one of the most musically gifted casts ever featuring Brian Eno, Brian Blade, Billy Bob Thornton, U2, Aaron Neville, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Sinead O’Connor and Garth Hudson. Lanois’ live show will be an evening of rock ‘n’ roll fueled by current sonic inspirations as well as some of his Quebec-inspired ballads.

Joining Lanois on stage for the Here Is What Is tour will be Marcus Blake(bass) and Jim Wilson(guitar) from Mother Superior and Steven Nistor(drums).

Sailor Girl is both a coming-of-age tale and love poem to the natural world. Set on the cargo boats of Canada’s Great Lakes in the summer of 1981, it follows the literal and figurative journey of Kate McLeod, a rebellious photography student looking to earn money for school. Using tight, salty dialogue and gripping description, the book renders a sharp-edged portrait of life literally lived on the edges of society. It is also a love story, in which a middle-class girl finds a deep connection with the unruly young men and tough-minded women of the lakes. Life on the water is both brutally physical and socially restrictive, and Kate kicks against the rules, both written and unwritten. A female riff on such classics as Two Years Before the Mast and Malcolm Lowery’s Ultramarine, Sailor Girl is also a uniquely Canadian story, one that distills a vanishing part of our heritage.

Sheree-Lee Olson was born in Picton on the shores of Lake Ontario and grew up across Canada and in Europe. After earning degrees in visual art, philosophy and journalism, she joined the Globe & Mail as an editor in 1985. She has published fiction and poetry in numerous literary magazines, as well as contributing personal essays to the Globe & Mail. Sailor Girl is her first novel.