Saturday’s upcoming Troubadour Summer Concert series show is set to be headlined by Barrie-raised artist. Afie Jurvanen, known professionally as Bahamas, tells CTV News he looks forward to being on a home stage on the weekend. “I’m looking forward to playing music and more than that, I’m looking forward to cracking jokes about Rob Hamilton and the spirit catcher and Janice Laking and having people actually laugh at them,” Jurvanen said. “You know, those jokes don’t translate when I’m playing in Peterborough and Hamilton,” he added. Born in Toronto and raised in Barrie, Jurvanen has earned five JUNO Awards throughout his career, including songwriter of the year. His music has surpassed one billion global streams. “Musically, I’m always trying to live in the moment, as they say,” Jurvanen said, “I’m not worried about recreating the album note for note.” Jurvanen explained his experience with working with several different artists over the years as allowed him to create what he calls a “musical shorthand.” “It’s fun, it allows us to tailor the show to the night, so if the crowd feels like they really want to go in a certain direction, in some ways we can lead them there and follow them there,” Jurvanen said. In 2025, Jurvanen released My Second Last Album, he tells CTV News that the album may very well be signalling the end of his career coming close. “There’s maybe a little bit of a mid-life crisis moment in there for me,” he said, “I’ve been doing this now for 25 years or so professionally.” “I will always play music, I’ll always write songs, the question for me is just how public is that and through what vehicle,” said Jurvanen. “I have a young family and other parts of my life now that frankly are just as interesting and in many cases much more important than the music,” he said. “I’m lucky, I get to have this music career I care about, but I’m just as happy to carry my daughter’s soccer cleats, you know?” Jurvanen said. The Troubadour Festival Sow Bahamas will take to the stage Saturday, but festivities for this weekend’s show in downtown Barrie begin on the Friday. RELATED: Troubadour Summer Concert Series Aug. 15 show At 7 p.m., Canadian singer-songwriter Jon Bryant will take to the stage at Meridian Place to do a live tribute to artist Jack Johnson. At 9 p.m., Bryant’s performance will be followed by the presentation of Surfilmusic, a documentary shot by Johnson which is described as “connecting Johnson’s surfing roots with the music, friendships and experiences that have shaped his creative life.” Saturday’s Festivities begin at 10 a.m. and feature a number of different activities to choose from, including a community barbecue cook-off presented by Billy Dicks, a demonstration and competition hosted by the Barrie Skateboarding Association, a number of different vendors and markets and a live street art showcase. At noon, artist Tia Nova returns to Troubadour, taking the West End Street Stage. RELATED: Local openers for Bahamas at Troubadour in Barrie 5 p.m. marks the start of the Local Opener Showcase, which will be followed by Toronto band Zues, who will take the stage at 7:30 p.m., to open up for Bahamas who will headline at 8:30 p.m.
