The Fretless

Four ferocious players, masterful composition, and a genre-bending sound – Juno award-winning The Fretless is a Canadian quartet that has firmly taken its place on the map to a progressive form of “trad”. A supergroup of celebrated solo artists, The Fretless has been creating a singular and signature sound that dares to expand the idea of what a string music quartet can be – transforming fiddle tunes and folk melodies into intricate, beautiful, high-energy arrangements that have quickly gained a dedicated following and accolades from around the world. Within what appears to be a simple construct – two fiddles, a viola, and a cello – The Fretless has created a sound that is distinctly rich, multi-layered, and uniquely percussive. Since the band’s inception in 2011, The Fretless have released 5 award winning albums which includes a 2016 Juno Award for Instrumental Album of The Year, 2 Juno nominations, 5 Canadian Folk Music Awards, and numerous other nominations and accolades. They have been touring extensively at home in Canada, as well as globally throughout Australia, South and North America, and Europe. The Fretless is Trent Freeman (Fiddle/Viola), Karrnnel Sawitsky (Fiddle/Viola), Ben Plotnick (Fiddle/Viola), and Eric Wright (Cello) and will be featuring several songs from their Juno nominated guest singer collaboration album, Open House, with internationally acclaimed guest vocalist Madeleine Roger. A Fretless show is infectious, dynamic, and impressively relentless. They not only deliver expert musicianship and an electrifying performance but always invite the audience to feel the passion they hold for their music.