Forty-nine acts will be coming to the Gorge Harbour Marina this year, the same number as last year. The driving force behind the venue’s success is Shannon Marks, who has been promoting the music industry since she was 16. In this morning’s interview she talks about the coming season and her own life promoting music.
(Podcasts opens with Jay Malinowski, lead singer of the Bedouin Soundclash, and closes with the Strong Man by Blackberry Wood)
Shannon Marks: “I really hope people enjoy the music we put on at the Gorge. There are so many good acts coming, and I’ve never been anywhere else where they offer free music five nights a week during the summer. Not only that, but it’s high-quality music.”
Before Cortes
Cortes Currents: “Tell us a little about your background. How long has music been a passion in your life?”
Shannon Marks: “I come from a little town in Ontario called Beeton. From a very young age, music was my escape. Back then, it was all cassettes; as I got into high school, it was CDs. We’d always be trading music. It was such an experience to spend your whole paycheck on four new CDs at HMV, looking through the racks and actually talking about music with your friends. I was passionate about discovering new music. We had local shows where I lived, and they needed help, so I started working the doors, helping bands load in, and cooking for them. It was very local—all bands within a 45-minute radius of our area.”
“Eventually, I moved away, and a local promoter needed help. I thought it was a great opportunity to expand my knowledge, so I assisted him. So instead of 45 minutes, we would drive for an hour and 45 minutes.”
“I moved to Toronto when I was around 21. I still wanted to be involved in music and found a niche that needed to be filled. We created a project called Toronto Prog. We built a community where local progressive metal musicians could have shows geared specifically toward them. Instead of a mixed-genre show where people leave after one set, we built a cohesive community. D’Addario Canada even picked us up and helped by providing musicians for drum clinics. It became quite successful on a local level because people were genuinely happy with it.”
(Shannon lived in Australia prior to relocating to Cortes Island in September 2020.)
Gorge Harbour Marina
(Immediately after this interview Jay Malinowski, lead singer of the Bedouin Clash, was added to this year’s lineup.)
Cortes Currents: “Why Cortes?”
Shannon Marks: “My sister and her husband live here, and I’d been visiting for seven years before I moved. I picked Cortes because when I’m on the road touring, everything is so busy and crowded. In Toronto, even in my apartment, you don’t get a break. I knew I eventually wanted to move here because it’s so peaceful to come home to after the craziness of the road.”
“Then the job at the Gorge opened up. I thought, ‘Well, I work in music anyway, I might as well do something local,’ and it evolved from there. I still tour about four months out of the year globally, usually selling merchandise or tour managing, but I try to do that during the off-season.”
Cortes Currents: “Tell me a little about the history of concerts at the Gorge.”
Shannon Marks: “I don’t know the whole history, but I know that when Bill Dougan and Tammy Allwork were running the Gorge, they saw a need for entertainment. It started with local musicians they knew and evolved into what it is now. We have a budget, we’re bringing in bigger bands, and we’re becoming known as a resort that hosts live music—a hub for locals to have a great time in the summer.”
Cortes Currents: “When did you get involved?”
Shannon Marks: “About five years ago. We were going through manager changes mid-season, and someone needed to step in and coordinate the bands. Because of my background, I stepped in. That role evolved into me becoming the Events Coordinator.”
Cortes Currents: “You’re still touring; tell us about that.”
Touring
Shannon Marks: “I work in the metal industry. One of the main bands I tour with is a Tasmanian technical death metal band called Psycroptic. I also tour with a Vancouver-based band called Archspire. I’ve also toured with Revocation and Entheos. It’s mainly underground metal, so my contacts don’t usually transfer over here—I’m not going to bring a metal band to Gorge Harbour! It’s been a learning experience because this isn’t my usual genre. I’ve been building new connections, like with Longevity John at the Duncan Showroom, who has been amazingly helpful. It’s all about meeting genuine people who want to see others succeed. I really enjoy the local scene because people are so grateful.”
Cortes Currents: “How does being away four months a year impact your life and relationships?”
Shannon Marks: “It’s a side of the industry people don’t often talk about. It is extremely challenging to maintain a relationship when you’re on the road. To be honest, I would prefer to be on the road seven months out of the year, but I have a 14-year-old cat. When I got him, I had a regular nine-to-five job at Rogers. I didn’t think I’d be touring. Now, the hardest part is leaving him, especially after he had a stroke last year. My biggest fear is that he will pass away while I’m not home.”
“At the end of the day, it’s a choice I make. It feels selfish sometimes, but it is my dream career. It’s also tough on relationships because you’re on opposite schedules. You’re going to bed at 2:00 AM, waking up at 10:00 AM, and working from 1:00 PM until the early morning. You miss birthdays and milestones that everyday people take for granted.”
“However, it is so rewarding. To be at a show with a thousand people having an amazing time makes the challenges worth it. As a female, I’m often the only woman on a tour of 30 guys. Sometimes five of us share a hotel room with two beds. It’s not weird—we’re just exhausted—but for some people, that lifestyle isn’t okay. Touring strains every aspect of your life, but I stay focused and try to enjoy the choice I’ve made.”
2026 at The Gorge
Cortes Currents: “Tell me about some of the acts coming this season.“
Shannon Marks: “It’s going to be a little bit of a different lineup this year in terms of the days that we’re going to be holding music. So this year we’re going to be, for the most part, having music Wednesday through Sunday. There’s a bit of a difference with the long weekends, because we’re going to be running Thursday to Monday. So all of those things will be on the gorge Harbour.com. It’ll also be posted on live and local., So you’ll be able to find it.”
“We’re not changing the time of the event. For the whole season from the start, which is Friday, June 26th, up until Monday, August 31st, it’s going to run 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM.”
“Last year, because the sun went down earlier, we didn’t want people to trip or fall. We changed the time. This year the gorge has invested quite a bit of money into getting some lights for us. It’s going to be a little more lit and it’s not going to be as dangerous.”
“This year we have 18 returning musicians, which include our locals, and then the rest are all new. When I posted on a few different sites just saying, ‘Hey, the Gorge is looking for some new acts,’ I got over a hundred new submissions. It took me quite a while to go through them.”
“This year we have a few that I want to highlight. To start off this season, we have the Phigs. They’re jazz, funk, and neo soul. They’re going to be more like a dance party. So that’s Friday, June 26th. We have returning people that we love, everyone loves Blackberry Wood. We have Aspen King, who’s a local famous DJ. She’s a mix of bass house techno. We have Bu Von Blume: they’re always a party and will be on July 1st. We have some touring musicians, which we’re really excited to bring. Probably the biggest act this season is Blue Moon Marquee. They’re described as a gritty vintage band that is a mix of blues with a twist of roots, swing, jazz, rockabilly, and a little bit of folk. Then we have another really big BC touring musician: Jay Plank. He’s a singer songwriter and a master of the steel guitar. He blends roots, blues, and folk.”
“There’s lots and lots and lots of other musicians that I could talk about, but we’d be here for a very long time. So that’s some of the highlights, but everything is on our website. Everything will be on Live and Local.”
All images courtesy Shannon Marks.
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