Halifax music community celebrates six years of Noah Tye’s ‘Open Song Circle’ 

On Brunswick Street in Halifax stands an ivy-covered Victorian home with a glass door coated in stickers. The sign hanging above reads Halifax Folklore Centre.  

The establishment is a mainstay of the East Coast music community — a haven for musicians and all their stringed companions. 

Past the door, you’ll find Noah Tye, the charismatically quirky in-house luthier with the ability to make your first meeting feel like catching up with an old pal.  

On top of repairing stringed instruments at the centre, Tye also plays them — a singer-songwriter with blues, folk, country, and rock ‘n roll influences.  

“I started playing uke when I was six, so it’s part of my DNA. It was like the gateway instrument for me,” Tye says from under a knit green beanie and black and pink thick round frames.  

Born in New Glasgow, Tye bounced around Nova Scotia in his adolescence due to his mother’s work as a journalist. Music became a consistent shoulder to lean on and a way to branch out in new schools. 

Tye’s mother got a job with a newspaper in Truro when he was in Grade 8, rendering him the new kid in school. One of his first friends in Truro was a young blues musician, Garrett Mason, who would later go on to win a Juno Award. The pair got their start playing in bands together.  

“I was singing and playing harmonica, and he was playing guitar because he was always annoyingly good at it. Even when we were kids,” Tye says. 

Mason isn’t the only impressive name in Tye’s roster of companions. In his 17 years of employment at the Halifax Folklore Centre, Tye says that he’s met Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Helen Mirren, and Sarah McLachlan. Tye shares that he even gave ukelele lessons to Pierce Brosnan over the summer of 2011. 

“People know it across the country as one of the cool music stores. I get a lot of cool cats,” Tye said as he glances around the shop. 

Aside from Hollywood actors and star-status musicians, Tye also is friends with a large circle of local musicians. This is due, in part, to his involvement in the Halifax open mic night scene.  

Tye hosts two open mic nights in the city. Cruikshank’s Unplugged on Windsor Street is a monthly event that has garnered global media attention due to its unconventional funeral home setting. Open Song Circle is a weekly occasion that was celebrating its sixth anniversary the day The Signal met with Tye. 

“All these people get out, get their outlet,” Tye said about Open Song Circle while simultaneously selling a customer mandolin picks.  

“Get together, hang out, and start the week off maybe a little better.”  

That evening, Noah Tye has swapped beanie for fedora, and one phrase falls out the mouth of every performer that takes the stage: “Thank you Noah.” 

It’s a particularly special event. Not only is it Open Song Circle’s birthday, but it’s also the last time the open mic night will be held at 2 Crows Brewery.  

On Feb. 18, 2 Crows Brewery announced that it will close just weeks after celebrating its ninth anniversary.   

“It’s been an incredible ride, and we’re so grateful to our staff, customers, and the Nova Scotia craft beer community for every pint, laugh, and memory along the way,” a statement from 2 Crows Brewery’s Instagram reads. 

This isn’t the first time Noah Tye’s Open Song Circle has lost a venue. The event began during the COVID-19 pandemic at HopYard Beer Bar on Gottingen Street.  

“I saw that there were some musical song circle sort of events still happening. So I called it Open Song Circle,” said Tye. “I was the only open mic in the country. You had to bring your own microphone and everything.” 

The event maintained its popularity post-pandemic. However, after three and a half years of Open Song Circle, HopYard closed its doors on Sept. 1, 2023.  

Hannah Thundercatt, a Halifax rocker with a vibrant stage presence, has been a Monday night regular since the HopYard days. 

 “HopYard was such a strong community, and it hit hard. I’m just happy that this time we got a couple weeks to mourn and adjust to it and have an actual celebration like this,” says Thundercatt. 

The night consisted of 50 performances and ran till midnight. Tye thanks the crowd and closes out the night with his own performance, and attendees swarm the open space in front of him to dance together.  

The true breadth of Tye’s impact is on full display here, the sneaking suspicion that he must be loved by all is confirmed. One thing is for sure, regardless of where Noah Tye and Open Song Circle go, there will be a throng of guitar-wielding crooners in tow. 

Tye has lined up Bearly’s House of Blues as the new home for Open Song Circle. The relaunch will be on March 30.