Brockville indie music initiative presents the Ephemeral Gallery Showcase

Local organizers are looking to build momentum for original music in Brockville with a new series of small-scale concerts.

‘The Ephemeral Gallery Showcase’ is the first concert in a spring series organized by Upperhand Underground (U.U), a community-based initiative dedicated to boosting Brockville’s music scene.

Following their sold-out ‘Legends Never Die’ March Mayhem Rockshow, U.U is inviting three acts to perform at Medium Effort in downtown Brockville on Saturday Apr. 25, 2026.

The show will feature Ottawa-based singer-songwriter Dana Dufour, Brockville duo Years to Burn, and be headlined by Ottawa-based artist Gabriel Comba.

Brockvilleist caught up with U.U founder, Janessa van Koppen, to learn more about the upcoming showcase, including the featured musical genres: “Dana is a little bit soulful, a deeper tone, some jazzy elements to it… Gabriel Comba is a folk musician, but also has some songs that are more experimental and have a lot of atmosphere.”

Van Koppen is one half of duo Years to Burn, with Oji-Cree First Nations electronic music artist Jakean/Keaton Mason.

“Typically, we’re a synth pop electronic hybrid duo, so we perform with synthesizers and keyboards and a lot of different instruments… But for this one, we’re going to be doing a stripped down set,” van Koppen explained.

“We’ll be playing some of our songs with acoustic guitar, and some of them will be played with keyboard… Our genre is kind of mixing electronic indie and different rock elements.”

In addition, Dufour plays in Comba’s band Gabriel Comba & The Barn Cats. She is featured on Comba’s upcoming album Over the Moon which releases on Friday, April 17, 2026.

The event will take place at the art supply store Medium Effort on their speak-easy style stage in the back of the store, which is normally used for life drawing.

“On the back wall, as you head towards where the performance will happen, there’s a rotating gallery wall, so every month the art changes, and this month it’s Calum McInnes, and the art is very beautifully, like, saturated with colors,” van Koppen explained.

“It’s really, really lovely, and it’s cool, because there’s so many people that will be coming into the show that haven’t been into the shop before, and they’ll get to have more eyes on the art too, because it changes every month.”

This concert is the first in a spring series organized by U.U, and will be followed by ‘The New Moon
Gallery Showcase’ on Saturday, May 16, 2026. Also hosted by Medium Effort, the concert will feature folk, blue grass, and soul music from Vicki Brittle, as well as Brockville musicians The Family Name and Jarred Sine.

“I guess what we [U.U] really want to do is bring music that we want to see to Brockville, but also give space for people who aren’t able to perform right now, because maybe their sets are too short, or other bars maybe don’t want just original music, or something like that,” said van Koppen.

“So we’re trying to give more space for original music in Brockville and we have these shows set up, and we’re hoping to continue to grow them and try to get different sponsorships and grants so that we can have larger opportunities as well.”

These intimate concerts at Medium Effort, which has the space for approximately 30 people, are considered smaller shows for U.U. They plan to organize bigger concerts, similar to the ‘Legends Never Die’ March Mayhem Rockshow’ in Fall 2026.

‘The Ephemeral Gallery Showcase’ starts at 7:30 p.m. with doors at 7 p.m. The tickets are $20.

For more information and to buy tickets, visit the Upperhand Underground website here.