What's New

B-Side Live-Stream! 

We're going to be live-streaming the B-side of our new album tonight at 8 PM from The Cotton Factory in Hamilton. You can tune in HERE and you should be able to watch the stream (or the replay of the A-side) even if you're not a Facebook member! 

Hope you're able to join us, and if you haven't ordered your copy of 'Mainline' yet, it's available for sale on our website homepage until midnight tonight.

Album Sale + Live-stream 

It feels so strange to have summer in full swing without any gigs or festivals to keep us connected to you all, so we’re going to do something about it. This weekend, our brand new album, “Mainline,” will be available for purchase at www.thebarrelboys.com, and we will be live-streaming a performance of the A-side to celebrate! The stream will take place Sunday night at 8:00 PM EST. You can find a link to the stream in the “Shows” section of the website. 

We’re very excited for everything about the new album - from the songs, to the production, to the artwork. Everyone involved knocked it out of the park on this one! The album was recorded, mixed, and produced by Andrew Collins, mastered by David Travers-Smith, and it features artwork by Jaymie Karn and photography by Jen Squires. We’re also honoured to acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts. 

Until midnight on Sunday July 12, you are able to purchase the album off the homepage of this site. For $10, you can download the album digitally. For $20, you get a digital download, and we will mail you a CD. For $30, you get a digital download, as well as a pre-order of the record on a beautiful translucent red 12” VINYL LP!!! (have we mentioned that we’re pressing vinyl?) Vinyl won’t be available until September, when the album is released on all the major streaming platforms, but the download will get you the music to keep your ears happy until then! 

Be sure to place your orders before midnight on Sunday, as this sale is only running for a limited time. We’ll have another in mid-August, but why wait until then?

2020 Vision 

Hard to believe that the year (and decade) are behind us, but we're so grateful for all the incredible opportunities and experiences we've had over the past few years. Many thanks to everyone who made it all possible (and if you're reading this, that likely means you too!) 

We have lots of fun things in store for 2020, including trips to Alberta and BC, a whole slew of awesome festivals, and most of all, a brand spankin new record! We spent most of November recording a whole album's worth of new original material with the incredible Andrew Collins, and we're so excited to share it with you. The album is set to be released in May of 2020, and we'll be sure to give you exact details on the release shows as they're available. 

If you're looking to hear us play some time in early 2020, you can find us at the Hole in the Wall during our regular "third Saturday" slot, or you can come see us at the first annual SpeakMusic Be Kind Festival, which is happening at the TRANZAC club January 17-19. You can find ticket info HERE.

New record, Christmas show, and first festival of 2020! 

Thanks to everyone for a very fun October! We had great turnouts in Innisfil, Lindsay, Belfountain, as well as all of our Cameron House dates. The new material is feeling better than a well-worn pair of blundstones, which is great since we're recording it this weekend! Keep an eye out on our Instagram and Facebook pages for in-studio updates with our master producer, Andrew Collins.

We're excited to announce that we'll be hosting our annual Christmas Special at Burdock Music Hall on Monday, Dec. 16. We'll be doing two shows (6:30/9:00) and we'll be sharing the evening with some very special friends who are coming out of "retirement" just for the night!

Finally, as 2019 wraps up, we're getting a clearer vision of 2020! As it currently stands, our first festival of the new year will be the incomparable BanjoFest in Guelph. Get your tickets as soon as you can, cause this one's going to be really special. Ian Molesworth and his team have assembled an incredible lineup that we are very honoured to be a part of. Hope to see you there! (click on the poster to visit the BanjoFest homepage)

Happy Thanksgiving! 

A very happy (and slightly belated) Canadian Thanksgiving to you all. Thanks especially to those of you who decided to spend Sunday evening down with us at The Cameron House. It was a great night of music! If you missed this past week, fear not - we'll be there the next two Sundays as well, and we will be playing all sorts of new material as we prepare to record a whole new album in early November! 

For those of you who are just outside of Toronto, we may be in your neck of the woods this week - we have concerts in Belfountain, Lindsay, and Innisfil on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights respectively. You can find timing and ticket information in the "shows" tab on our website. Hope to see you there!

Old School Bluegrass Camp 

Warmer days are ahead, and we're so excited to share that the Barrel Boys will be among an incredible lineup instructors at this year's Old School Bluegrass Camp, in Prince Edward County. The camp runs Sunday June 30 through Friday July 5, and is an amazing opportunity to play a ton of great music with good people in a beautiful setting -- who could ask for more? Other instructors at the camp include Kristine Schmitt, Joey Wright, and Sam Allison. You can find out more about the camp HERE!

Christmas Shows! 

If you're looking for some solid weather management strategies, we recommend checking out your local Canadian Tire - they had us well equipped for our chilly morning performance at this year's Santa Claus Parade! 

!!!SHOWS!!! 

As you may or may not have heard, our 5th annual Christmas special is coming up on Wed. Dec. 5 at the Tranzac Club. We'll be in the main hall, and the show will feature an opening set by the incredibly talented Danielle Knibbe, along with her band. We hope to see you there! 

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL SHOW AND TICKET INFO HERE 

On Friday Dec. 21, you can find us at The Ganny in Port Hope for "A Very Bluegrass Christmas." 

PORT HOPE SHOW AND TICKET INFO HERE 

TONIGHT!!! Nathan, our crazy-talented (and very friendly) fiddler is putting on a show of his own music with a bunch of other great musicians. Many of us Barrel Boys will be there to watch, and we encourage you to come out if you're able - it will be an excellent night of music. 

NATHAN SMITH AND FRIENDS SHOW INFO HERE 

Saddle Up! 

You can catch us tonight (Feb. 23) at Saddle Up, a classic country dance party being held at the Owl's club on Dovercourt Ave. in Toronto. You can find more event information HERE! 

Check out our gig calendar for lots of other exciting dates on the horizon, including a co-bill with The Boxcar Boys next Friday, Banjo-fest the following weekend, The Hole in the Wall on St. Patrick's Day, and a short trip around Montreal and Wakefield near the end of the month. We're excited for all the great opportunities to play, and hope to see some friendly faces while we're at it!

Christmas Special LiveStream 

Good news for all you out-of-towners! Our Christmas show this Tuesday is being generously sponsored by LiveCanada, who will be live-streaming the performance! Tune in at 7:30 on Tuesday night to catch Dirty Dishes, and then The Barrel Boys at 8:30! Click HERE for a link to LiveCanada's homepage.

Christmas Special - Tuesday Dec. 19!!! 

Our Christmas special is only a week away. We're going to be blowing the roof off the ole' Tranzac club, and we'll be sharing the night with our good friends, Dirty Dishes, who are fresh off the release of their brand new seasonal single - Paris For Christmas. You can get tickets HERE

We hope you're able to join us, as we don't get too many opportunities to play all the hit tunes from our debut recording, Carols from the Barrel. If you can't make it to the Christmas special though, a few of us will be at The Hole in the Wall on Saturday night, doing our regular 10-1 set. Come hang out!