Ontari Kick Off the Kick & Push Summer Season

Jeff Green | May 28, 2025

The new stage at the Kick and Push Brewery was put through its paces over the long weekend.

It hosted the first outdoor Open Mic of the season, on a steamy Friday Night. The Open Mic has become so popular that it is pretty crowded between 5pm and 8pm on Friday nights through the winter, and it was a welcome change for the musicians and fans to be outside.

The new, three-walled stage holds a lot of heat, however, according to the musicians who performed. There is also a need for more seating, because of the appetite for live music and beer that the Open Mic, which is ably run by Jim Macpherson, has fostered over the last two years.

Kick and Push Owner and head brewer Daniel Lees said he will be looking at expanding seating over the next couple of weeks.

The scene was much different on Sunday afternoon (May 19) when the first ticketed event of the season at the K&P took place. The Carleton Place based Celtic/folk trio Ontari graced the stage on a cold afternoon that only seemed to get colder during the show. A propane heater in front of the stage kept the flying fingers of the young musicians from freezing, barely.

The weather did not slow Ontari down. Sisters Fern and Willow Marwood and Waterloo-based Alex Showdra had to keep the energy up, and they did. Willow, who played the fiddle on most songs, and shared vocals, is the driving musical force along with Alex, on guitar and vocals, and Fern, who rotated between fiddle and banjo, and provided lead vocals on several of the songs.

Although the group is new, Fern and Willow have been playing together since they were pretty young, when they were members of what was then called the Blue Skies (now Bright Strings) Community Fiddle Orchestra. Ontari has strong connections to the PEI based group the East Pointers, and they played a number of their tunes, as well as some original songs and tunes, and many traditional jigs and reels.

They play a lot of Celtic music but have been exploring other traditions. They kept the energy up all afternoon, in spite of the weather.

The Kick and Push is hoping to bring more events to Sharbot Lake over the summer.

The brewery has also expanded both its beer offerings and food menu over the last year or so. There are three IPAs now, a west coast, an English, as well as a seasonal hazy, an Altbier, and even Barley Wine, in addition to Klimax (a lagered ale) and their award winning amber ale “Relax Alice”.

The food menu includes sandwiches, nachos, and they have started offering flatbread pizza as well.

Kick and Push is Open Wednesday to Sunday. For pub hours and take-home beer sales, check their website or Facebook page.