The Sounds of Summer Kick Off is where the SUMMER season begins…

An unforgettable night of live music, energy, and community, this event brings together some of Vancouver Island’s standout talent for one powerful evening at the St. AUC Events Centre. Featuring Cari Burdette & Band, Ryan McMahon, The Bills, and special guests Funkanometry, the night builds from soulful sets to full-on dancefloor energy. With The Travel Bar on site and Old City Quarter food vendors serving throughout the evening, it’s more than a concert—it’s a complete summer experience. Whether you’re coming for the music, the atmosphere, or a great night out with friends and family, this is the event that sets the tone for the entire Sounds of Summer series. If you’re only choosing one night this summer, make it this one.

ARTIST BIOS

Cari Burdett:
Cari Burdett is a vocalist and songwriter whose work bridges singer-songwriter, jazz, world, and art song with an expressive, theatrical presence. Blending classical training with a deeply embodied improvisational practice, her performances are rich with emotional honesty, spontaneity, and connection. A graduate of McGill University and the Royal Academy of Music, she is an experienced orchestral soloist who has performed works by Bach, Beethoven, and Mahler, and has presented her original music with full orchestra. Her debut album Magnolia earned a Western Canadian Music Awards nomination for Best World Album and multiple Vancouver Island Music Awards nominations, where she was awarded Vocalist of the Year. Cari performs with an all-star ensemble of acclaimed musicians and tours throughout British Columbia, with appearances at venues including Butchart Gardens. She is also the creator and producer of the widely respected, sold-out Winter Solstice Concert Series. Her forthcoming album, Where Is Love (2026), is her first full collection of original songs—an intimate and expansive exploration of love as an ever-present force woven through nature, relationship, and the human experience.

Cari's Website

Ryan McMahon:
Long scaling the perimeter walls of Canada's music industry, Ryan McMahon has never fit into any one box. He brandishes folk, roots, Americana & contemporary rock songwriting, all the while delivering a show where one can expect plenty of interaction, laughs & tears. Ryan recently toured with Burton Cummings & Tom Cochrane (Western Canada) and has released 9 full length records, including 2 with his side-project, indie folk stalwarts Lion Bear Fox. He's had his music licensed to film & television (Californication, Chesapeake Shores) & shares the stage with everyone from Odds & Mother Mother to Lisa Loeb & folk legend Dan Navarro. A true music lifer, Ryan spends upwards of 150 days on the road each year, singing his heart out and entertaining audiences of all ages wherever he goes.

Ryan's Website

The Bills
With two previous JUNO nominations and multiple Western Canadian Music Awards under their belts, expect the musical magic you’ve come to love from this extraordinary quintet. Now in their 28th year, The Bills are renowned for their instrumental virtuosity, lush vocal arrangements, evocative songwriting, and a refreshing sound that transcends musical boundaries and defies simple categorization. Strings, bellows, keys, voices, skin and bows – these are the vehicles for The Bills’ unique sonic approach. With individual band members sporting world-class credentials in folk/roots, jazz, classical and world music, The Bills truly are a Canadian acoustic music super-group, and their combined creative studio talent and explosive live shows have made them legendary folk/roots entertainers. Whether spinning on your recorded playlist, entertaining an intimate theatre audience or rocking a festival crowd of 10,000, these five gifted multi-instrumentalists are masters at somehow leaving listeners breathless and revitalized all at once. The Bills’ most recent album, Trail of Tales features 14 original tracks. For the first time in their storied career, the album sees all five members of the band contributing compositional talents in a truly collaborative offering. Trail of Tales winds from infectious, grooving folk/pop vocal numbers to beguiling, hypnotic instrumentals. The album walks a verdant path through lyrics that explore and shimmer with melodies that are sure to become standards in the deep and rich Canadian folk/roots/rock songbook.

The Bill's Website

SPECIAL GUESTS

FUNKANOMETRY
We are FUNKANOMETRY!!
Carlow Rush, Cowichan, B.C. Jacksun Fryer, Nanaimo, B.C.
We’re a hip hop and popping duo from Vancouver Island, Canada and we met up through dance battles, competitions, and classes. We both have similar styles, goofy personalities and we LOVE to entertain so we cooked up Funkanometry. Putting that FUNKI energy out there and getting it back from our audiences is the best feeling ever and we can’t believe that it has led us to opportunities such as World of Dance. Can’t wait to see what happens next. Let’s GOOOO!!!

Funkanometry's Youtube Account