There’s something defiant about recording an album while living in a van during a Quebec snowstorm. Mia Kelly did exactly that last winter at The Treehouse studio in Sainte-Adèle, working with producer Connor Seidel (Charlotte Cardin, Half Moon Run, Bobby Bazini) on what she calls her “happiest album to date.” The Gatineau singer-songwriter is now sharing Coin in the Cake, the latest single from Big Time Roller Coaster Feeling, arriving May 22.
The track takes its name from Kelly’s grandmother’s birthday tradition of wrapping coins in parchment and hiding them in cake. Whoever finds one is lucky. It’s a small, specific detail that anchors what could have been a vague gratitude song into something genuine. “It’s a love song dedicated to my friends, my family, and everyone who is dear to me and makes me feel special,” Kelly explains. The reference point she offers is telling: “It’s kind of my version of ‘My Favorite Things’ from The Sound of Music.”
Getting there wasn’t simple. Kelly and Seidel cycled through multiple sonic directions and takes before landing on the version that made her “feel like I’m running through a field, arms wide open, catching the magic.” The song had already proven itself live. At a Montreal show last spring, Kelly recorded the audience singing the chorus back to her on her iPhone, then convinced Seidel to layer it into the final track. That moment of connection, captured on a phone and mixed into a studio recording, is precisely the kind of thing that separates competent folk-pop from something worth remembering.
Big Time Roller Coaster Feeling also includes Blind Horse, Kelly’s meditation on privilege and systems rigged to look fair, and Sea to the Moon, a duet with Blair Dunlop. The tonal range suggests an artist comfortable moving between intimacy and observation, personal joy and broader critique.
Kelly’s touring hard this year. She’s already played Australia’s festival circuit (Nannup, Port Fairy, Blue Mountains) and opens for Kim Churchill across Canada starting March 21, including a March 27 stop at Théâtre Outremont. Between the two Capital Music Awards she picked up in 2025 and her Canadian Folk Music Awards nominations for English Songwriter of the Year and Contemporary Artist of the Year, she’s building momentum the old-fashioned way: one show, one album, one coin in the cake at a time.
MIA KELLY LIVE
Australia 2026
February 27-March 1 – Nannup, AUS – Nannup Music Festival
March 2 – Melbourne, AUS – Brunswick Ballroom (with Blair Dunlop)
March 6-9 – Port Fairy, AUS – Port Fairy Folk Festival
March 11 – Sydney, AUS – The Vanguard (with Blair Dunlop)
March 13-14 – Katoomba, AUS – Blue Mountains Music Festival
Kim Churchill The Lovely Tour
March 21 – Saint-Hyacinthe (QC) – Cabaret André-H. Gagnon
March 26 – Bromont (QC) – Espace culturel St. John
March 27 – Montreal (QC) – Théâtre Outremont
March 28 – Repentigny (QC) – Théâtre Alphonse-Desjardins
April 2 – Ottawa (ON) – NAC Fourth Stage
April 3 – Toronto (ON) – Longboat Hall
April 4 – Guelph (ON) – CAO Centennial Arboretum Centre
April 8 – London (ON) – The Aeolian
April 10 – Sudbury (ON) – Knox Hall
April 11 – Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario) – The Loft
April 14 – Winnipeg (Manitoba) – The Park Theatre
April 15 – Regina (Saskatchewan) – The Artesian on 13th
April 16 – Saskatoon (Saskatchewan) – Capitol Music Club
April 17 – Calgary (Alberta) – Festival Hall
April 18 – Edmonton (Alberta) – The Starlite Room
April 21 – Canmore (Alberta) – Communitea Café
April 22 – Lethbridge (Alberta) – Owl Acoustic Lounge
April 23 – Fernie (British Columbia) – Knox on 2nd
April 24 – Lake Country (British Columbia) – Creekside Theatre
April 25 – Nelson (British Columbia) – The Royal
April 26 – Salmon Arm (British Columbia) – Song Sparrow Hall
April 30 – Vancouver (British Columbia) – St. James Hall
May 1 – Bowen Island (British Columbia) – Bowen Island Pub
May 2 – Victoria (British Columbia) – Capital Ballroom
May 3 – Cumberland (British Columbia) – The Waverley
Mia Kelly Solo
May 21 – Victoriaville – Espace Culturel Carré 150
May 22 – Lévis – Old Post Office
Photos – Matt Horseman and Curtis Perry
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