Songs Beneath the Sky: Katherine Fischer’s Ontario Parks Tour Brings Music and Nature Together

For London, Ontario singer-songwriter Katherine Fischer, the best stage in the world isn’t under a spotlight—it’s under the open sky, framed by trees, waves, and a warm summer breeze. This summer, Fischer is bringing her folk confessionals to nine provincial parks across Ontario, including two local gems: Sleeping Giant and Kakabeka Falls. It’s the second year of her Ontario Parks Tour, a grassroots concert series that blends live music with the magic of the outdoors.

“I truly believe that connecting to music in a natural setting is really special,” Fischer says. “Nature grounds us, and I think there is something really wonderful about singing songs that talk about nature while being immersed in it.”

The idea for the tour was sparked by an unforgettable 2022 performance at Killarney Provincial Park’s long-running summer concert series. “I saw how special it was,” Fischer says. “I love camping at parks and saw the opportunity for concerts to happen there.” With support from the Ontario Arts Council, she launched the 2024 pilot tour, visiting six parks and drawing as many as 180 people to a single show. The response was so strong that this summer she’s expanded to nine parks, some in places that rarely see live music, making the experience even more rewarding.

Fischer’s songs blend heartfelt storytelling with vivid natural imagery, drawing influence from artists like Sara Bareilles, Joni Mitchell, Kacey Musgraves, and Phoebe Bridgers. “I truly think the heart of the songs I write is combining the rawness of the human experience with nature imagery,” she says. “I explore intimate feelings such as love and grief while using references to rivers and forests, and my experiences learning to care for and reconnect with the land.” Her connection to music began early—her father was a songwriter who was always playing the family piano, and her mother loved listening to great writers like Bruce Springsteen. Once she was old enough for school, she was always in choirs and plays. “It feels like music has always been a part of me,” she says.

Touring Ontario’s parks has been as much an adventure as it has been a performance schedule. “Ontario is so vast and has so many ecosystems – it’s an absolute pleasure to get to spend the summer travelling and exploring,” she says. Performing in these spaces is unlike any other entertainment venue. Audiences are often made up of campers, hikers, and families who may have stumbled upon the music by chance. Some moments have been deeply personal, like after singing The Current, a song about grief and loss. “I’ve had a few folks come up to me after shows and share their experiences with deep loss and grief,” Fischer says. “Those moments stand out to me because they are such vulnerable moments of human connection. There is a beauty in the vulnerability of getting on stage sharing these deeply personal experiences I have had, and knowing that that is helping someone feel less alone.”

Fischer has also been documenting the tour through short, joyful videos that capture the parks, the drives, and the music. “I have always loved making videos and sharing them on YouTube of my adventures,” she says. “It’s a really fun, different form of artistic expression. The feedback is always lovely on my videos. I try to share the joy and the vulnerability of being an artist, and I think that translates.” The response from her audience has been warm, and the videos have become a way to both invite people into her world and preserve the memories for herself. 

When asked what she’s most looking forward to about her northwestern Ontario stops, Fischer can’t choose between Sleeping Giant and Kakabeka Falls. “It is so wonderful to come to northern Ontario – I love the landscapes. They are my favourite places in the world,” she says. “But there is something also really warm and welcoming about northern Ontario audiences that is really special. So it’s a tie between both.”

“Nature and human beings are so deeply connected,” she says, “there is something magical about gathering together to enjoy the vulnerability that is artistic expression surrounded by the landscapes of this beautiful country.”

After the tour wraps, Fischer will head into the studio to work on new songs, with plans already forming for Parks Tour #3 next summer. For her, the “why” behind it all comes down to something Martha Graham once wrote about artistic expression—a “blessed unrest” that lives inside and must be shared:

There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening
that is translated through you into action,
and because there is only one of you in all time,
this expression is unique.
If you block it,
it will never exist through any other medium
and be lost.
The world will not have it.
–Martha Graham

“Music is as much a part of me as any other human function—it will and has always been,” she says.

Katherine Fischer’s latest album, Great Loves, is available on all streaming platforms. You can follow her adventures at katherinefmusic.com or @katherinefmusic on social media. She performs at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park on August 15 and Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park on August 16, 2025. Concerts are free with park day-use admission.