This winter, Maggie’s Wake invites listeners to nestle into the season with Close to Home, their new Holiday EP that leans into warmth, light, and connection over glitter and gloss. Blending Celtic tradition with contemporary folk, the band takes listeners through a winter landscape filled with stories, harmonies, and a few musical surprises along the way.
The title track sets the tone with its unbridled anticipation of returning to the people and places that mean the most. The band’s heartfelt take on The First Noel draws on gentle instrumentation and close vocal harmonies that highlight the grace in simplicity. O Holy Night (w/ Jig & Trad Reels) begins with quiet reverence before bursting into a lively session tune—an unexpected shift that nods to both the church pew and the kitchen party.
Maggie’s Wake brings a playful wink to Christmas Is Coming (For You), a folk-pop tune inspired by Nick Lowe’s sharp wit and melodic sparkle. It’s equal parts festive and knowing, reminding us to look past the noise of holiday bustle for the joy tucked in the margins. Their medley God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / Into the Shadows slips between light and dark, merging a familiar carol with a haunting original instrumental that pulses with quiet tension.
The EP also pays beautiful tribute to Gordon Lightfoot’s Song for a Winter’s Night, delivered with tenderness and restraint, underscoring the ache of distance and the warmth of memory. That same spirit of homecoming runs through Ontario, a love letter to snowy highways, small towns, and the beauty of a Canadian winter. And It Ain’t Christmas Without You, brings everything full circle—a song about love, presence, and the people who make the season matter.
Song for a Winter’s Night
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcHoF0y1mz0
Maggie’s Wake is an award winning Canadian “new trad” folk group, who have created an exciting splash in the folk music scene, blending high twang, classic country with contemporary takes on celtic jigs and reels, cajun twin fiddles and global roots flavours.
The band came together only in late 2022 and quickly began touring their home province of Ontario, playing small halls, some festivals and theatres, which went over so well that they actually sold out many dates on their first “Spirit of the Season” holiday tour that December. Since then, they’ve been invited to officially showcase at Folk Alliance International (2024), NERFA (2024), Folk Music Ontario (2025) and FARM (2025), won both the Folk and World music award at London’s FCLMAs (plus their CFMA). They also have an Official Showcase coming up at Ireland’s “Your Roots are Showing Folk Conference in January.
Their work is penned by Tara Dunphy and Lindsay Schindler, and the debut album’s first single, Bridget O’Brien, won the NERFA Songwriting Award.
After their NERFA showcase, they were told that if Maggie’s Wake was a soup, it would be a hearty bowl of everyone’s favourite folk styles finished with a dash of Loretta Lynn and a pinch of Nick Lowe.
Doesn’t that sound delicious?!
United in their passion for fiery tunes, soaring vocals with rich harmonies, meaningful stories and beautiful melodies, Maggie’s Wake features award winning songwriter and multi instrumentalist, Tara Dunphy (The Rizdales, Luther Wright and the Wrongs), and award winning violinist/fiddler, songwriter & composer, Lindsay Schindler (Rant Maggie Rant, Trent Severn), backed by powerhouse backing band Andrew Kosty on bass, Kenneth Palmer on guitar and percussionist Myke Phillips.
Listen on Spotify here: : https://open.spotify.com/album/5ncuULQcGepeBCjtIL6U0r
Dale Watson, the Texas honky tonk legend, says “You can’t grow if you rip your roots out of the ground” and Maggie’s Wake have taken that to heart. They are honouring tradition while forging their own path in roots music.
HIGHLIGHTS:
• 2026 Your Roots Are Showing Official Showcase Artists – Belfast Ireland – January, 2026
• 2025 “Close to Home” Holiday EP Release
• 2025 Canadian Folk Music Award – New Artist of the Year
• 2025 Forest City London Music Award – World Music Group of the Year
• 2025 Folk Music Ontario Official Showcase Artists (Ottawa ON)
• 2025 Folk Alliance Region Midwest – Official Showcase Artists (Lisle IL)
• 2024 Official Showcase Artists – Folk Alliance International conference (Kansas City MO)
• 2024 Official Showcase Artists – North Eastern Regional Folk Alliance conference (Portland ME)
• 2024 North Eastern Regional Folk Alliance Songwriting Award
• 2023 Forest City London Music Award – Folk/Roots Group of the Year
WEBSITE:
www.maggieswake.com
SOCIALS:
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/maggieswake
Instagram:
www.instagram.com/maggieswake
Spotify:
https://tinyurl.com/MaggiesWake-Spotify
VIDEOS:
Bridget O’Brien (and more from their Official Showcase at NERFA)
https://www.youtube.com/live/5mt-cXp7-zw?si=p4rKmMnGx9jvsVqZ&t=14251
O Canada – Live Backstage – 1 min:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-B0-TshdGI