A true preserver of the spirit of folk music, 2022 JUNO Award winner Maria Dunn is often compared to Woody Guthrie for her keen social awareness and unvarnished, melodic songs about ordinary people. Based in Edmonton, Maria tours internationally and has earned wide acclaim for her songwriting. Her work has appeared in Sing Out! and Penguin Eggs magazines and the Rise Again songbook (2015). Her songs have been recorded by artists including Niamh Parsons and Bob Bossin, and performed by Archie Fisher, Andy Irvine, and Nathan Rogers. Her eighth album “Hardscrabble Hope” (2025), celebrates resilience, grace, gratitude, solidarity, joy, and the love that fires our actions to make the world a better place. Musicians joining Maria for her Ironwood concert include “Hardscrabble Hope” producer Shannon Johnson (violin, harmonies), Jeremiah McDade (saxophone, whistles, guitar, harmonies), and Solon McDade (upright bass) — all members of the JUNO Award–winning band The McDades. Together, the ensemble brings Maria’s thought-provoking songs to life in rich, varied arrangements, marked by compelling vocals and superb musicianship. The musical style reflects her earlier recordings, blending old-time (fiddle, steel guitar), Celtic (fiddle, whistle, accordion), jazz inflections (trumpet, saxophone), and an a cappella narrative ballad rooted in the folk tradition.