Damien Jurado

Damien Jurado brings his understated storytelling and shape-shifting folk to Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto on September 12, 2026. A Seattle mainstay since the mid-90s, he first surfaced with lo-fi tapes before Sub Pop released Waters Ave S. and Rehearsals for Departure, sketching out a world of spare narratives, acoustic lines and a quiet tension. He has drifted between hushed folk and a rougher electric edge (I Break Chairs, Caught in the Trees), then widened the frame on Secretly Canadian with Saint Bartlett and a run of albums crafted with Richard Swift — from Maraqopa to Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son and Visions of Us on the Land — where his songwriting leaned into more dreamlike, psychedelic colors.

In recent years, Jurado has kept a steady pace on his own Maraqopa Records with The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania, Reggae Film Star and Sometimes You Hurt the Ones You Hate. On stage, he tends to pare it back to voice and guitar, letting the stories lead, before opening the sound when the set calls for it. Expect a tour through different chapters of his catalog, new pieces sitting alongside older songs, all carried by that calm, unforced presence that has defined his path.