Archive for April 2012
Announced earlier today. Artists featured include Fervor Coulee favourites Sam Baker, BARK, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Charles Bradley, Chatham County Line, Carrie Elkin, Joy Kills Sorrow, Leeroy Stagger, Danny Schmidt, Jimmy Lavave, and the very intriguing Cold Specks.
Release posted below:
At the 33rd annual Calgary Folk Music Festival, July 26-29 on Prince’s Island Park revel in the sights and sounds of musical exploration and community as 68 artists from 12 countries perform on 7 stages. It’s the city’s annual journey into the roots and evolution of the music we like to call folk, with an edge.
2012 marquee artists include: Chris Isaak and Beirut (Thursday), Jeff Mangum, Serena Ryder and Dan Mangan (Friday), Mary Chapin Carpenter (Saturday) and Iron & Wine and Randy Newman (Sunday). Expect dozens of musical discoveries, including:
Artists with long roots and independent music histories John Doe and Jon Langford share stages with relative newcomers Little Scream, Rural Alberta Advantage and local artists Reuben and the Dark.
A wide range of Latin sounds brought by Marc Ribot and Los Postizos Cubanos, Mercedes Peon, Alejandra Robles and Locarno.
Get your funk on with Blitz the Ambassador, Melvin Gibbs’ Elevated Identity, and Shad.
Celebrate the roots of the blues with Betty LaVette, Charles Bradley, Cold Specks and Shakura S’Aida.
Explore traditions with Lisa Knapp, Pokey Lafarge, Abigail Washburn and Shooglenifty.
Visit our talk tent to hear comedians, artist interviews and take in the multi-media Woody Guthrie tribute, Walking Woody’s Road.
Mainstage concerts take place each evening and on the twilight stage Friday and Saturday nights. On Saturday and Sunday 10:30 am – 5:30 pm and Friday 3:00 – 6:00 pm musicians collaborate in exquisite songwriter-in-the-round mash-ups on 6 stages.
The 7th annual Folk Boot Camp at the National Music Centre (July 24-26) offers an unparalleled opportunity to hone their craft alongside festival artists including songwriting (Sam Baker, Mark Berube and Jon Langford), guitar (Luke Doucet and Donna Gantis) and vocals (Shakura S’Aida). On July 25, catch the film Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus with its narrator, Jim White in attendance.
A limited number early bird passes, plus single-day tickets go on sale April 26. Call 403-233-0904 or visit calgaryfolkfest.com/tickets. See the full line-up of 68 artists at calgaryfolkfest.com/artists.
Did a bit of Googling today and decided to provide the links in one easy-t0-locate place: not complete, by any means-
The Edmonton Folk Music Festival: the granddaddy of them all- not the oldest, but certainly the biggest- August 9-12 featuring http://www.edmontonfolkfest.org/performers-2; more to be announced.
The Calgary Folk Music Festival: maybe my favourite music festival- July 26-29 featuring http://www.calgaryfolkfest.com/artists/
The Canmore Folk Music Festival: if you don’t count the cost of accommodations, the best deal of the bunch- August 4-6 featuring http://www.canmorefolkfestival.com/Festival-Lineup.html
Carstairs’ Mountain View Music Fest is going in a different direction, spreading their events over the course of the year: info at http://mvmf.ca/about-2/
Blueberry Bluegrass & Country Music Festival at Stony Plain- August 3-5: once upon a time, I considered Blueberry to be a fixture of my year. I’ve only attended a couple or three times in the past decade- for lots of reasons, some to due with my disinterest in much of mainstream bluegrass as well as just being dang busy- but the show is usually pretty good. This year’s lineup doesn’t have a ‘homerun’ artist perhaps- Rhonda’s music and act has gotten a bit stale, but some of the acts including Blue Highway and the Gibson Brothers are among the best in the business. Michael Martin Murphey- if he doesn’t try to pretend to be bluegrass- may be worth catching. http://www.blueberrybluegrass.com/
Central Music Festival in Red Deer, August 17-19. The little festival that just won’t quit, bless ‘em. With a focus on Alberta and regional acts, the fest doesn’t draw the big names but is trying to slowly grow. http://www.centralmusicfest.com/ They also have a fundraising concert with Steve Earle June 15.
South Country Fair, July 20-22. No info yet: http://www.scfair.ab.ca/
North Country Fair, June 22-24 http://www.lslncca.ca/current/Lineup.php
Interstellar Roadeo, July 27-29 in Edmonton http://interstellarrodeo.com/
Received this note in my inbox today:
Live in Toronto : Free 24 Song Download Available Now! On Saturday, March 10, Steve played two sets at Hugh’s Room in Toronto , ON. Over the next eight days we will be making 24 recordings from this performance available as free downloads exclusively from
SteveForbert.com.
If you’ve been around a while you know the drill: Three new tracks will be added each day and only be available on SteveForbert.com for 24 hours before being removed to make room for the next recordings in the series. You can visit SteveForbert.com today to grab the first three recordings from the first set: “Thinkin’”, “Come With Me”, and “Hang On Again Till the Sun Shines (nyc)”. We’ll add tracks 4, 5, and 6 to the site on Sunday, April 22.
So grab the files while you can and enjoy the “show”!
There you go- free music on Record Store Day, a day which I can’t get excited about- living 150 km from the nearest record store will do that to you, I suppose.
Remember 1997? Jane Hawley was one of the brightest lights on the Alberta roots scene. She sang with Beautiful Joe for a few years- the little band that almost did- and on her own, of course, and released a pair of beautiful little albums of original material.
My favourite memory is from the Calgary Folk Music Festival where Jane was sharing a stage with Tom Russell, and Jane launched into “Barometer’s Rising” with the line of, “Mr. Russell asked how’s the weather in Winnipeg…” Seeing Tom’s jaw drop was impressive.
Jane’s been out of the spotlight for awhile. She resurfaced about six years ago with her third album and I caught her with Myrol at the Ironwood one night in Calgary. Recently she released Jane Hawley & Aunt Betty’s Band and is making the rounds again with Myrol. Saturday finds them at The Hideout, just outside Red Deer at Gasoline Alley. No cover. Should be fabulous.
Cowboy Junkies The Wilderness: The Nomad Series Volume 4 Latent
Having celebrated 25 years as one of the country’s most dynamic recording groups, Cowboy Junkies embarked on an ambitious campaign 18 months ago: release four distinct albums within a year and a half. Starting with the exquisite Renmin Park in late 2010, the seminal Canadian outfit have since released a tribute to Vince Chesnutt (Demons) to rave reviews and a set of dark, heavy sounds (Sing in My Meadow) that was remarkably diverse.
The Wilderness may be the strongest album of the four. Certainly it is closest to the ‘classic’ Cowboy Junkies sound: languid vocals from Margo Timmins and delicately complex, occasionally trippy backing tracks that are immediately recognizable as coming from the Ontario-based collective.
The liner notes tell us- if the album title wasn’t enough of a clue- that these songs are about those elements that bind us within their isolation: loneliness, loss, chance, desperation, fragile hopes and elusive beauty. The basic stuff of singer-songwriter efforts since the days of traveling troubadours, then.
One tranquil song effortlessly slips into the next with little but the contribution of visiting guests such as Jeff Bird (mandolins), Joby Baker and Jesse O’Brien (keyboards), and Miranda Mulholland (violin) distinguishing one from another. This consistency in sound is what makes The Wilderness so appealing: nothing jars the listener out of the inviting and profound sound-space the band has created.
By my count, The Wilderness is Cowboy Junkies 15th album of new material. It easily ranks with their greatest recordings such as Lay It Down, Black Eyed Man, and Open.
Originally published in the Red Deer Advocate March 16, 2012
Donald Teplyske
