Shortly after 2024’s Sommo Festival, Michael Marcagi performed his first Canadian show at the Marquee Ballroom in Halifax. On that night, the venue was jam-packed, and the crowd was singing their hearts out to many of the gems included on American Romance (Marcagi’s EP, which dropped in early 2024). A little more than a year later, Marcagi found himself on an Eastern Canadian stage again, this time on the mainstage in PEI as part of the 2025 edition of the Sommo Festival.

Marcagi’s folky-indie rock vibes are reminiscent of Noah Kahan, The Lumineers and Mt. Joy, and on this late summer afternoon, he again had the crowd singing their hearts out alongside him. The Ohio-based singer-songwriter was definitely surprised and overjoyed that his music was known here in PEI. It was thanks in large part to TikTok latching onto his song “Scared to Start” and propelling it to viral status, rocketing his career into the stratosphere. Here’s hoping to seeing Marcagi making another trek north once his full-length debut is released at some point in 2026.

Michael Marcagi