Prog rock, reimagined
GUELPH, ON February 25, 2026 — This Juno Award-winning duo brings prog rock to another dimension. With a sound inspired by Rush and a storytelling style sparked by J.R.R. Tolkien, Cody Bowles and Kevin Comeau are celebrated for their electrifying live performances and exceptional multi-instrumental talent. Crown Lands takes River Run Centre’s Main Stage on Friday, March 27 at 8 p.m.
Hailing from humble Oshawa, the gifted pair have made an international name for themselves. They won the 2021 Juno for Breakthrough Artist of the Year and their 2025 album, Ritual II, recently received a Juno nomination for Instrumental Album of the Year. Crown Lands’ self-titled 2021 album and their 2024 album, Fearless, were both nominated for Junos as well, for Rock Album of the Year.
Musically and creatively, their brand-new concept album, Apocalypse, to be released later this year, marks a turning point. After completing Rituals in their home studio, the band gained the confidence to take near-total control of the production process. “Rituals was our first real, concerted effort to do everything ourselves,” explains guitarist/bassist/keyboardist Kevin Comeau. “That record gave us the confidence to realize we could make a Crown Lands album in our own space, without a major label budget or a big, fancy studio.”
Conceptually, Apocalypse is designed as a complete, narrative experience, crafted with the classic album format in mind. Opening Side 1 with “Proclamation I” and closing it with “The Revenants I,” the record unfolds as a story set in the same universe as their album Fearless. “Fearless and Rituals exist in the same story,” says drummer and vocalist Cody Bowles. “Rituals takes place much earlier in the timeline… Apocalypse moves the story forward and sets up the events that lead directly into Fearless.”
At the heart of Apocalypse lies the 19-minute title track, a sprawling epic that anchors the record musically and narratively. “We built Apocalypse from instrumental sections,” Bowles explains. “Some older riffs, a lot of newly inspired ones, and mapped them out… Figuring out how one section could melt into the next.” One of the track’s most striking moments is a sudden drop into a falsetto vocal passage. “We tried it as its own song, then inside Apocalypse,” Bowles says. “Once we heard it in context, it just worked.”
Crown Lands performance at River Run is part of the exciting Sleeman-Spring Mill Music Series, supported by Series Sponsors Sleeman Breweries and Spring Mill Distillery, as well as generous Season Sponsor Richardson Wealth and the Government of Canada.
Tickets to Crown Lands on March 27 are $49 for adults, $47 for patrons over 60 years old, and $29 for those under 30. For more information or to purchase, call 519-763-3000, visit River Run’s Box Office at 35 Woolwich Street in Guelph, or go to riverrun.ca/whats-on/crown-lands.
FOR INFORMATION
Kasia Rusiniak | Program Manager, Development and Marketing
River Run Centre | City of Guelph
519-837-5662 ext. 2589
[email protected]