Junestone – Free Outdoor Concert (Eclectic Local)

Brought to you by Lead Sponsor Incite Foundation for the Arts.

Saturday August 3: Junestone

All shows: Saturdays from 5:00 – 6:00pm

Gates Open at 4:00pm, Rain or Shine.

No admission fee. All ages event.

Beer garden

Outdoor Stage at The HMC Centre for Performance and Education (The Gasworks, 141 Park St N, Hamilton)

Chairs Provided

The series is co-curated by members of the HMC and the HPO with the goal to bring vibrant, accessible musical performances to the downtown community.

Made possible with the support of Ontario Creates.

About Junestone:

Fresh, brilliant, and funky as hell are just some of the ways startled audience members describe Junestone. It doesn’t take long for waves of iridescent guitar chords, lush keyboard improvisations, and the band’s wild and groovy vibe to sweep a room. As sincere as they are beguiling, Junestone’s music is ear-catching, memorable, and at times delightfully outrageous. The band features Borys Franiczek on guitars, Ian Aisling on keyboards, Olivia Brown on bass and vocals, and Justin McHugh on drums.

Junestone’s music is psychedelic and often alludes to themes of self-realization, assertiveness, and vision. Smitten with jazz and rock as they are, the band’s playing is routinely inspired by America’s Classical Music and 90’s alternative hits alike. Junestone is consistently influenced by music from everywhere, but their song- writing ingenuity owes it all to American music legends like Charles Mingus, James Brown, and Erykah Badu.

The band began in the summer of 2018 when Olivia devised a band practice with three of her dear friends: Ian, Justin, and Borys. She had written three new songs and was ready to put them together. One of these songs, “Who Cares”, would be the band’s first single less than a year later. Since then, the band has released seven singles. As time has passed, writing has become a more collective endeavour. The band’s repertoire has now expanded to include dozens of originals.

Each band member has studied jazz performance in the GTA. Borys is a graduate of York University’s Music program while Justin studied at Humber College. Both Ian and Olivia are graduates of Mohawk College’s music program. Ian currently works as a composer and has written music for two CBC documentaries, The Last Guide and Road to Roxham. Justin is a regular performer on the Toronto music scene and has played with Brownman Ali and Juno award-winning musician Donné Roberts among others. Borys has attended California Brazil Camp and like Olivia, works as a private music teacher in the Hamilton area. Olivia has attended the Banff Centre as a musician in residence (Winter 2018) and was nominated as an emerging artist for three consecutive years at the Hamilton Arts Awards (2017-2019). 

Junestone’s performance experience includes T.U. Jazz Fest 2020 and Ontario Place Summer Live Music Festival 2021 and 2022. They have also played various events at Royal Botanical Gardens including SummerTide 2023 and both WinterTide 2022 and 2023. Upcoming performances for Junestone include Markham Village Music Festival 2023, Hamilton’s Music on the Waterfront 2023, and Markham’s DTM Music Fest in September.