Practical folk career wisdom, patiently told.
Refolkus pairs patient, useful conversations with artists and music workers across the folk ecosystem. The show turns career stories into grounded advice on touring, publicity, rights, festivals, community building, and staying well while doing the work.
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Refolkus is a folk-music industry interview show with a practical, generous center. It listens for the career lesson inside the story. The conversations are not built around celebrity polish or quick promotional hits; they are shaped around process, relationships, setbacks, and the choices that help artists and music workers keep going. The show’s strongest episodes make the business of folk feel legible. Lisa LaRocca talks about independent labels, festivals, venues, and the danger of overselling a draw in a new market. That advice is simple, but it cuts deep: be honest about where the audience is, start at the right room size, work well with local artists, and grow from there. Beth Kavanaugh brings a similar realism to publicity, especially around premieres, media relationships, sync placements, radio attention, and the limits of chasing metrics. Andrew Karras gives the show a more technical edge through recorded music rights and royalties, making space for the money and administration that performers can miss when the system feels opaque. Other episodes lean into the human cost and meaning of the work. Daniel Liu describes hearing loss, tinnitus, gratitude, and a changed relationship to sound. Logan Statz speaks about no drinking or partying on tour, mental clarity, exercise, food, family, and the difference it makes to bring loved ones into road life. Jennifer Rowe’s Folk Alliance International conversations place folk careers inside conference culture, arts advocacy, cross-border uncertainty, and community care. Troy Greencorn’s appearance brings culture, climate, community development, and festival leadership into the frame. Across those subjects, Refolkus keeps returning to sustainability, not as a slogan but as a practical question. What makes a career workable? What makes a scene healthier? What should someone know before they book, pitch, tour, showcase, release, or organize? The show suits listeners who want calm mentorship from inside the folk ecosystem, especially emerging artists and industry workers trying to understand the next professional step without losing the personal reason they started.
Made for: Refolkus is for folk artists, managers, publicists, presenters, festival workers, and emerging music professionals who want usable career context. It especially suits listeners looking for mentorship without hype.
What sets it apart: The show connects artist stories with the behind-the-scenes mechanics of folk careers, from royalties and publicity to booking honesty and conference culture. Its strength is the calm movement from lived experience into practical advice.
Refolkus is an original podcast by Folk Canada. Each episode features informative and real conversations with guests from all corners of the music industry, with a focus on folk.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Refolkus makes the working life of folk music legible through candid artist conversations and detailed guidance from the people shaping careers around them.
Refolkus keeps asking what a sustainable folk career looks like once the conversation moves past the songs. Rosalind Dennett interviews artists alongside people working in publicity, festivals, labels, and arts organizations, keeping her questions close to consequential choices:…
Like backstage advice without the laminate, Refolkus gives your folk-career questions somewhere useful to land.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A steady, practical look at how live-music relationships and trust are built in Hamilton.
The episode tracks Lisa LaRocca through practical discussion of Sonic Onion Records, festival logistics, advisory work, and the patience needed to earn trust in a new market.
Hearing loss, gratitude, and a songwriter learning to trust his own creative vision.
Daniel Liu's Refocus conversation follows a pivot that changed the way he hears music. Thirteen years after waking from a nightmare to find hearing lost in one ear, he describes how that loss sharpened gratitude, made sound feel precious, and pushed him toward songs rooted in…
A practical look at Folk Alliance International, Canadian turnout, and a conference shaped around safety and connection.
Jennifer Rowe anchors a clear look at Folk Alliance International, with Kansas City as its home base and the January 2026 conference in New Orleans giving the organization a concrete center of gravity.
A practical, artist-first look at publicity that favors story, timing, and fit over empty reach.
The episode treats publicity as a practical craft, not a mystery: finding the right angle, choosing the right outlet, and shaping a release so it can gain traction over time.
A grounded folk interview about touring habits, family, and the realities of staying steady on the road.
Logan Statz's conversation with Rosalind Dennett stays rooted in practical life rather than career legend. It moves from his Brantford beginnings and the path through The Launch to the habits that make touring sustainable: no drinking or partying, regular exercise, healthy…
Indie music marketing from the scene floor.
Rosalind Ennett welcomes Lisa LaRocca to Refocus.
Daniel Liu talks about the nightmare that left him with hearing loss in one ear.
Rosalind Dennett welcomes Jennifer Rowe back to Refocus.
This episode features an interview with Andrew Karis, who explains the complexities of recorded music rights and royalties for artists in Canada and internationally.
This episode features an interview with Troy Greencorn, discussing the intersection of culture and climate through his work in folk music festivals and community development.
Rosalind Dennett talks with Beth Kavanaugh, a seasoned music publicist and founder of What's the Story, about how publicity works in the folk world.
Rosalind Dennett speaks with Logan Statz about the career moments that shaped his path.
This episode features an interview with Jennifer Rowe, executive director of Folk Alliance International, discussing her role in leading the nonprofit organization and advocating for folk music culture.
This episode features an interview with Juno-nominated Indigenous artist Aysanabee, discussing his music career, awards, and creative work in the folk genre.
This episode features an interview with singer-songwriter Just Prince, discussing his genre-blending music that combines Western and Eastern influences, his award-winning songwriting, and insights into building a sustainable career in folk music.
This episode features a live conversation with Canadian folk music icon Sylvia Tyson at a listening party for her new album, discussing her influential career and insights on building sustainable creative work.
This episode features an interview with Melanie Brulé about practical tips and strategies for attending conferences to build a successful career in the music industry.