| The Cameron House | |
|---|---|
| Address | 408 Queen Street W Toronto ON M5V 2A7 |
| Location | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Type | Bar |
| Genre(s) | Alternative |
| Built | 1920s |
| Renovated | October 1981 |
| Website | www.thecameron.com |
The Cameron Public House is a small bar, hotel, and informal cultural centre located on Queen Street West, just west of Spadina Avenue, in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Cameron has a front lounge and a back room, both with the capacity for audiences of no more than sixty people. It has been described as a unique Toronto crossover of CBGB's and the Chelsea Hotel in New York.
First opened as a working hotel in the early 1920s, since October 1981[1] the Cameron has provided a stage, backdrop, canvas and incubator for the production of experimental and leading-edge music, performance, and visual art. Blue Rodeo, Jane Siberry, Ron Sexsmith, Molly Johnson, Gordie Johnson, Holly Cole, Barenaked Ladies, The Meligrove Band, Lorraine Segato, Willie P. Bennett, The Government, Fifth Column, Mary Margaret O'Hara, The Golden Dogs and many other well-known Canadian musicians all performed here early in their careers.
House acts at the Cameron in 2005 included The Cameron Family Singers, The DoneFors, The Countrypolitans, Run With the Kittens, The Backstabbers, and Kevin Quain and the Mad Bastards. As of 6 July 2011[update], the house acts were Betty Stew and Toronto Alt-bluegrass band The Strumbellas on Monday; Luke Nicholson on Tuesday; Joshua Cockerill on Wednesday; Corin Raymond on Thursday; and the Jack Marks Band and Kevin Quain and the Mad Bastards on Sunday.[2]
