Woodfordia Inc
presents
Festival of Small Halls Spring Tour 2022: Outback Queensland to Dorrigo Folk and Bluegrass Festival
featuring Catherine MacLellan (CAN) and Karl S. Williams (AUS)

Catherine MacLellan is one of folk music’s true gems.
Catherine’s latest album, COYOTE, is reflective and hopeful; a travelogue through heartbreak, loss and the joy of life. All songs were written, recorded and self-produced at her Prince Edward Island studio. Critical accolades for COYOTE continue, including: MOJO Magazine, Penguin Eggs (cover), featured airplay on BBC and on European, Canadian, Australian radio, with the album reaching #6 on the folk charts in the United States. The album received a 2020 Juno nomination for Contemporary Folk Album of the Year.
Catherine is respected by her peers for her talent and dedication to the craft of songwriting – a craft she had a front row seat to at an early age, watching her father, the legendary Gene MacLellan. Gene is recognized as one of Canada’s most celebrated songwriters with worldwide hits including, Snowbird made famous by Anne Murray, and Put Your Hand in the Hand by Ocean. Catherine released an album, in tribute to her father, as well as produced a stage show and an award-winning documentary that has shone a light on his life, success and struggles with mental health.
As with many songwriters, Catherine feels most at home on the stage, representing Canada at home and across the globe.
If you’ve ever been moved by the work of any of the exceptional female singer-songwriters from Joni Mitchell to Michelle Lewis, then take a listen to album closer ‘Too Many Hearts’ and be prepared to have your heart broken.
– Penny Black Music, UK
Coyote features 14 exceptionally revelatory and deftly authentic songs that demonstrate to all who listen just how adept at evoking a dynamic range of emotions and connecting on a profound level the PEI resident is as a composer of original music.
– Music Life Magazine
So many folks turn to therapy when a long relationship falls apart. They could save themselves a fortune and buy a copy of this album instead; there’s compassion, understanding and wisdom here.
– Folk Radio UK, Coyote Review

Karl S. Williams – A genre defying, multi-instrumentalist and award-winning artist, with a voice and conviction so powerful it takes your breath away. Karl’s music is timeless and deeply rooted in tradition yet ever conversant with the present. This is blues, roots, folk, and a unique Australian distillation of Americana, steeped in the swamp water and cane country of northern NSW (the landscape of his childhood). His songs distil life, love and the human condition; his music calls with urgency; his solution and vocation are to love more and sing without apology. A Karl S. Williams performance is frequently referred to as a visceral ‘spiritual experience’, leaving an audience slightly altered in the best way possible.
With a career spanning ten plus years, Karl has performed – both solo and with his band – at festivals and venues throughout the country including Bluesfest, the Woodford Folk Festival, Festival of Small Halls, Dark MOFO, Panama, Queenscliff Music Festival and the Tamworth Country Music Festival, among many others. In 2015, he toured to the USA, with a featured performance in New York City for CMJ Music Marathon and he shared the stage with artists such as Donavon Frankenreiter, Mia Dyson, Tex Perkins and Busby Marou.
Departing from previous industry relationships, Karl went back to the studio as an independent artist to begin recording Lifeblood in 2018. Released in February 2020, this second full-band album was accompanied by a national tour, cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. As the long-awaited follow up to Karl’s debut, Heartwood (released 2013 / re-released by Warner Music, 2014), Lifeblood was the move towards longevity as an artist and a songwriter, but most importantly, it cleansed the slate and redefined Karl’s terms of engagement with the music industry. Lifeblood was awarded ‘Release of the Year’ at the 2021 GCMAs (Gold Coast Music Awards). He took out the 2021 QMA (Queensland Music Awards) for ‘Best Blues and Roots’ and was a finalist in both the ‘Best Country’ and ‘Best Singer-Songwriter’ categories featuring tracks from the album. ‘Lifeblood’ now sits alongside the critically acclaimed ‘Heartwood’, which was once described as being ‘so good it might even save your life’ (Noel Mengel, 2013).
Karl’s transition back to independent artist has allowed him to return to ‘home’, to re-engage with the folk, blues and Americana music communities and offer his unique and important voice to Australian independent music. Whilst 2022 saw a slow emergence back into the world of touring and performance, Karl continued to work on writing and recording his first solo anthology – a collection of new songs, lost songs and unreleased material. He looks forward sharing his song-writing and performance and connecting with audiences throughout the country.
He’s a wrecking ball, a loaded gun. He’s an unmerciful magistrate. He’s ‘a daisy-cutting, motherfucking judgement day’.
– Martin Farrer, The Guardian
I love discovering artists who have that special IT – the Zeitgeist – watch out for Karl!
– Peter Noble, Festival Director – Byron Bay Bluesfest
So good it may even save your life.
– Noel Mengel, The Courier Mail (review of 2013 release Heartwood)
MEDIA RESOURCES

Woodfordia Inc presents Festival of Small Halls Spring Tour 2022: Outback Queensland to Dorrigo Folk and Bluegrass Festival featuring Catherine MacLellan (CAN) and Karl S. Williams (AUS)
Festival of Small Halls has announced that Canadian folk gem Catherine MacLellan and genre-defying songwriter Karl S. Williams will feature on their upcoming Spring Tour 2022: Outback Queensland to Dorrigo Folk and Bluegrass Festival.
CATHERINE MACLELLAN (CAN)
Catherine MacLellan is one of folk music’s true gems. Catherine’s latest album, COYOTE, is reflective and hopeful; a travelogue through heartbreak, loss and the joy of life. Catherine is respected by her peers for her talent and dedication to the craft of songwriting – a craft she had a front row seat to at an early age, watching her father, the legendary Gene MacLellan.
As with many songwriters, Catherine feels most at home on the stage, representing Canada at home and across the globe.
To download a high quality image, please click here
KARL S. WILLIAMS (AUS)
Karl S. Williams – A genre defying, multi-instrumentalist and award-winning artist, with a voice and conviction so powerful it takes your breath away. Karl’s music is timeless and deeply rooted in tradition yet ever conversant with the present. This is blues, roots, folk, and a unique Australian distillation of Americana, steeped in the swamp water and cane country of northern NSW (the landscape of his childhood). His songs distil life, love and the human condition; his music calls with urgency; his solution and vocation are to love more and sing without apology. A Karl S. Williams performance is frequently referred to as a visceral ‘spiritual experience’, leaving an audience slightly altered in the best way possible.
To download a high quality image, please click here
Festival of Small Halls events take place in venues operating under current government Covid Safe regulations, and has stringent Workplace Health and Safety requirements for all travelling artists and crew. Under the terms and conditions of all events, you must not attend if you have any symptoms of Covid-19.
Please do your bit to protect others and keep your community safe.
The Festival of Small Halls Winter Tour is supported by the Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund – an Australian Government initiative
