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Summer sun and
sounds
Canadians are notorious
summer lovers. Despite having a warm season that seems to wrap up faster
than the final two rounds of hockey playoffs, we’ll use any excuse possible
to spend a long weekend
outside.
At campus/community
radio stations, summer means music festivals - though calling many of
these
events ‘folk festivals’ is something of a misnomer, unless your definition
of folk includes hip hop, jazz,
indie rock, and ska. Still, they remain one of your best musical entertainment
bets.
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Austin guitar legend Alejandro Escovedo will perform
at the upcoming Hillside Festival in Guelph, Ontario -- just one
of many summer music festivals taking place across the country
this year. Photo from http://www.alejandroescovedo.com.
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Ness
Creek Music Festival
Ness Creek, SK, July 18-21
Located approximately
150 kilometres north of Prince Albert in Saskatchewan’s boreal
forest, the Ness Creek Music Festival celebrates its 11th year
in July. This year’s event showcases an interesting range of artists
from Toronto’s Ember Swift, rockabilly and Sun recording
legend Sleepy LaBeef, and Indo-Canadian vocalist and improvisor
Kiran Ahluwalia. (www.brsk.net/nessfest)
Hillside
Festival
Guelph, ON July 26-28
Conspicuously
absent from this festival’s moniker is the ‘folk’. Probably for
the best, since past performers have included such decidedly non-folkie
acts as The Constantines, avant-troubadour Hawksley Workman, and
Roots’ DJ Rahzel. This year sees highly-hyped Australian duo The
Waifs, Austin music legend Alejandro Escovedo (pictured here,
at left), and Toronto’s Royal City among many others.
(www.hillside.on.ca)
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Dawson
City Music Festival
Dawson City, YK July 19-21
Possibly the most
northerly music festival in the world, the D.C.M.F. regularly
attracts performers from across North America and points further flung.
Highlights
for 2002 include New York City bluesman Guy Davis, Greek ensemble Rembetika
Hip-sters,
The Weakerthans, and Edmonton’s ska septet Mad Bomber Society. (www.dcmf.com)
Calgary
Folk Music Festival
Calgary, AB July 25-28
The Calgary Folk
Music Festival often comes across as a bratty sibling to its more traditional-oriented
sister festival in Edmonton. 2002’s lineup is no exception, featuring
hip hop innovators Michael Franti and Spearhead, garage/country combo
The Sadies, and musical surrealist Robyn Hitchcock performing alongside
more straight-ahead folkies like Peter Case, British pioneers Fairport
Convention,
and Canadian icon Buffy Sainte-Marie. (www.calgaryfolkfest.com)
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Newfoundland
& Labrador Folk Festival
St. John’s, NF August 2-4
Certainly
one of the more traditional
festivals in Canada, the Newfoundland
and Labrador Folk Festival celebrates 26 years of showcasing the
finest in East Coast roots music. This year’s lineup reads like
a who’s who in Newfoundland music, including Crooked Stovepipe,
Atlantic Union, and guitarist/dulcimerist Paddy Tutty. Fiddles
abound! (www.sjfac.nf.net/fest2002/index.html)
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Toronto's Ember Swift will
be the Ness Creek Music Festival in
Saskatchewan later this month. Photo from http://www.emberswift.com. |
Summerfolk
Festival
Owen Sound, ON August 16-18
Located on the edge
of Georgian Bay, Summerfolk keeps to a predominantly acoustic motif.
Vietnamese duo the Khac Chi Ensemble perform on traditional instruments
such as the dan bau and k’longput pipes. Also appearing this year are
Cape Breton’s Bruce Guthro, The Paperboys, and Gypsy-flamenco duo Willie
and Lobo. (www.summerfolk.org)
— by Russell
Gragg
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