What to know
- Honey Jam returns to Toronto’s TD Music Hall on Aug. 20 with a new lineup of emerging female and non-binary Canadian artists.
- The 31-year-old showcase has helped launch artists including Nelly Furtado and counts Jully Black, Melanie Fiona, LU KALA and Haviah Mighty among its alumni.
- This year’s performers span genres including R&B, hip hop, jazz, Punjabi music and dance, with Honey Jam founder Ebonnie Rowe calling it one of the program’s most musically eclectic groups.
- Honey Jam extends beyond the concert, offering artists mentorship, industry networking, education, songwriting opportunities and other career-development programming.
- Tickets are $25 all-in, with proceeds supporting the non-profit artist-development program.
Honey Jam, the multi-genre, annual Canadian showcase for young female and non-binary artists, where Nelly Furtado was discovered in 1997, is taking place this Thursday (Aug. 20) at Toronto’s TD Music Hall, and it’s much more than a one-off concert for these 20 artists.
Tickets are just $25, all in, and proceeds from help to support the non-profit artist development program which provides mentoring, educational, performance and networking opportunities.
Founder Ebonnie Rowe, who was appointed last year to the Order of Canada, tells Now that the Honey Jam artists were just invited to attend the world premiere of Always Lalisa, a documentary about K-pop star Lisa, at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.
“Some of the cool things we’ve done so far this year are The Muse Master Class Mental Wellness for Creatives, Publishing 101 with Vivian Barclay, Production 101 at the Dean Cameron Studio, and a fireside chat with former TikTok exec Erin Ashley,” Rowe rattles off, adding that she has also presented three panels: career advice, perfecting your pitch, and artist identity and branding.
“Upcoming, we’ll be going to Sony Music, attending a mentor cafe where the artists can get a lot of their questions asked one on one with over 20 industry reps, a songwriting camp and in October they’ll get to meet and learn from HYBE America CEO Ethiopia
Habtemariam, former head of Motown Records who while there signed one of our alums Maranda Thomas ,who went on to write for Tyla, Teyana Taylor and many others,” Rowe says.
The 2026 Honey Jam performers, who were selected from online submissions and in-person auditions (full disclosure: this music journalist was one of the judges) are: Rianna Jones, Mars Aspen, Sonaali, Oh Alice, Nicole Glazunov, Maya Gamzu, Silver Fae, Aiyana, Tea Valentina, Dayana, Perswasian, Eve Marsten, Posic, AHSIA, Saraphina Knights, Freya Milliken, Jessica Spurrell, and Miranda Carlin. There are also guest performances by Honey Jam alum Feura and Getchnah. Read their bios here.
“This year we’ve got one of the more musically eclectic groups that we’ve ever had doing fusions of genres like jazz with hip hop, Punjabi with dance, that we’ve not featured before,” says Rowe.
The house band is comprised of musical director/bassist Juwayon Clarke, keyboardist Rachel Smith, drummer Chris Blar, and guitarist Dyheim Stewart.
DJs Killa Kels and Mrii will be spinning between sets. Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe, host of CBC radio’s The Block, will host the evening.
Rowe is the self-described “mama bear” for the hundreds of Honey Jam alumni who have been selected to perform over the past 31 years — including Furtado, Jully Black, Melanie Fiona, Lu Kala, Haviah Mighty — and all the auxiliary programs are part of the artist development program that offers a safe platform for female singers and rappers.
In addition to the prestigious Order of Canada, Rowe has received the YWCA’s Women of Distinction for arts & entertainment, Women in Music Canada’s 2025 Entrepreneur of the Year, and The Hollywood Reporter Women in Entertainment Canada’s Women To Watch spotlight.
