In 1957 The Strangers emerged to take the Montreal night club scene by storm. This is a commemorative history of two groups: the first, The Strangers, a trio comprised of two Overlands, Martin and his sister, Arlene, and their pal, Lee. The second, The Raftsmen, led once again by frontman Martin Overland, with Louis Leroux and Marvin Burke.

During the late 50’s and early 60’s the groups brought the rich traditions of Calypso and Canadian and American folk music to audiences in Montreal, Toronto, New York, Chicago, Miami and to smaller Quebec towns.

They enjoyed good record sales and were among the very few Canadian acts that gained any traction in the popular Canadian imagination at that time. They pioneered in bringing folk music into the mainstream in this country – influencing the musical tastes of a generation that came to produce the likes of Joni Mitchell, Ian and Sylvia, Anne Murray, and Leonard Cohen, to mention just a few.