CKCU Presents Friday Night Folk is your opportunity to see some of Ottawa’s best songwriters (Graven & Elizabeth Royall) in an intimate setting. When you’re watching a show at Art House Cafe, you can feel the heartbeat of Ottawa’s arts scene firsthand. It’s a venue designed for listening with an eclectic collection of local artwork on display.
CKCU Presents Friday Night Folk
w/ Graven & Elizabeth Royall, hosted by Matt Gower
Friday, July 10 - 8:30pm
Art House Cafe - 555 Somerset St W
Tickets are $15 in advance (available here), $20 at the door
Graven is a veteran of the local music scene, having just released a new album Geographics this past spring. “Geographics was sonically birthed in 6 days in Halifax, NS at Ocean Floor Recording with Matty McKechnie (Graven), Melissa Payne, Charles Austin, Jamie Kronick, Jordan Murphy and Franc Lopes. The album has a real travel theme to it, and spans across many real geographic locations, but it’s also sort of a statement on the world at large today and a bit of a map of Matty’s sometimes chaotic mind. It was an album that congealed quickly but it took a ton of time to form the cinematic shape and colour of these songs in the editing room.
Elizabeth Royall is an Ottawa-based alternative/folk singer-songwriter with a sound rooted in the ‘70s and ‘90s.
Her recent accomplishments include winning SOCAN’s Young Canadian Songwriter Award in 2023 for her single “Numb,” performing at Ottawa Bluesfest in 2025, and being selected for SOCAN’s 2025 TD Incubator for Creative Entrepreneurship. In 2026, she is nominated for Solo Artist of the Year at the Ottawa Capital Music Awards and joined the RBCxMusic First Up program.
Her music blends the timeless sounds of Fleetwood Mac, Mazzy Star, Jeff Buckley, and The Cranberries, creating something that feels both nostalgic and new. Elizabeth released her debut EP, ‘You See An Angel’, on June 19th 2026.
And one last addition to the evening: CKCU’s very own Susan Johnston will be emceeing Friday Night Folk. She hosts the Friday Special Blend and has been super supportive to the concert series and to me personally with my album release show last month.
The OCDSB’s Not Marching
I was disappointed to learn that the OCDSB (Ottawa-Carleton District School Board) has decided not to participate in Ottawa’s Pride Parade in August, citing the pretty weak excuse that Pride events "do not fall within the school year for our students and staff." You’d think that teachers would be able to come up with a better excuse than that…
If this is truly OCDSB’s position, then they should organize a pride event across all schools that falls within the year (June would obviously be a great time to do that). The 2SLGBTQ+ kids need to feel accepted and supported, especially during the summertime when they are feeling a little more alone and isolated.
My family will be marching in the Pride Parade (my kids are super excited) and I hope that the OCDSB will have a change of heart and decide to participate with us as well.