Dig the new breed
Steve Baylin
13th annual CKCU Ottawa Folk Festival boasts plenty of fresh voices
At first blush, the lineup for this year's CKCU Ottawa Folk Festival appears to be front- loaded with more than its healthy share of solid, seasoned veterans - familiar names like hardcore troubadour Steve Earle, Iris DeMent, Dar Williams, Ferron, Greg Brown, Bill Bourne, Ron Sexsmith, Lynn Miles and Ian Tamblyn (to name but a few). And why not? Truly, what better way to fully cleanse the folk palate of the bitter aftertaste left by one curly haired preening poser named Porter than to drink in savoury sounds from a host of roots music's most celebrated ringers? Still, that's not to say the next wave is left out in the cold. Far from it. The four-day fest (naturally) boasts plenty of fresh voices looking to shine - no, not idols of the false, fleeting variety (perish the thought), but rather, young bona fide stars on the move.
Musicologist Alan Lomax, waxing philosophic about Robert Johnson, once said: "In folk, as well as fine art, there are essentially gifted individuals who make advances that preoccupy the less talented for generations afterward." Banjo maverick Bela Fleck is one of them; kora master Toumani Diabate - the "Hendrix of West Africa" - and ukulele marvel James Hill is another (Friday, August 18 at the CUPE Main stage, 7:35 p.m.).
Born in Vancouver and now based (at least for the time being) in Capital City, the fleet-fingered 25-year-old Hill - dubbed "the Paganini of the Ukulele" - is indeed that rare breed
of virtuoso: the kind whose uncommon talent, vision and tasteful touch have enabled him to transcend the boundaries - not to mention the staunch perceptions - of the ukulele as an expressive instrument."In a way, I'm thankful the ukulele is somewhat misperceived and misunderstood," admits Hill in a recent interview with XPress.
"That gives me something to work and play with. The instrument is not totally foreign to people, and I'm able to take that myth perception and twist it. I enjoy doing that. Of course, the ukulele does have limitations, and they are well-defined - small range, small body, not very loud, typically used for accompaniment. But I've come to see that as an advantage, because I can reach out and feel the edge of those limits, and try to fit a symphony in a phone booth."
On the pop front, Mike Evin (Saturday, August 19, Bowie Electrical Stage, 11 a.m.) is turning heads with his smart, sardonic tunes that poke, prod and playfully skewer the absurd details of daily life with a stubborn sense of exasperation and joy - whether it's mulling over Danish bullies, hoarding vitamins with roomies, or sentimental ragtime ruminations about brushing "my teeth with you."
Montreal born and bred, but now based out of Toronto, the 26-year-old Evin is a natural heir to the caustic piano pop throne, the next in a long line that extends all the way from Van Dyke Parks and Randy Newman through to Warren Zevon and Ben Folds.
"I don't listen to a lot of modern music," says Evin, who - together with his main musical companion, the precious "Beatrice," a small 64-key upright piano - is busy at work alongside Don Kerr on the EP Let's Slow It Down, the follow-up to his lavish 2005 effort I'll Bring the Stereo.
"The kind of pop music I always really liked listening to was the lush work from the '70s, back in the day, whether it was an old Elton John or Billy Joel record. There was something really pure, something really honest about pop music back then. I strive for that kind of purity."
Singer/songwriter and slide sensation Rachelle van Zanten (Saturday, August 19, at 1:30 p.m., CUPE Main stage) is also on the verge of a breakthrough. A native of British Columbia, the roving van Zanten first made waves in the late '90s as a founding member of Edmonton's now defunct and much lamented rock and blues brawlers Painting Daisies.
Determined to "take it the next step further," this year van Zanten branched out and struck a resplendent roots chord of her own with Back to Francois - an alternately sweet and savage solo effort wherein she finds a more expressive balance between spitfire brawn and stark beauty.
"With this record, it was kind of nice to get back to my roots to some degree, playing piano ballads, and finger-picking some acoustic guitar," says van Zanten, who grew up in the foothills of Northern B.C., listening to and playing bluegrass and "old-time country."
"I wanted to capture a more organic sound, where you can hear the room, you can hear the breaths of the musicians, the fret noises. And to get Kevin Fox to lace it with all sorts of string sections - his cello parts are kind of the honey throughout. I just felt if I was true to myself, the music would just find its own way."
Be sure to dig the new breed at this year's festival. More on tickets, times etc. visit www.ottawafolk.org.
For $56 for two adults and two children, I thought the Friday night Folk fest was excellent value -- a headline performance by Steve Earle (an unknown folk artist?), plus four or five other artists whose music was new to me.
I think it is hard to compare all of Ottawa's festivals and judge value. Simple Plan is not a draw for me. BluesFest offers good value, if you consider a day pass in cheaper than what most of the headine acts would charge for their own show (considering say Blue Rodeo is about $50 per ticket, whereas a BluesFest day pass is about $30). But I am not a fan of the venue, plus every show this year I seemed to be surrounded by "fans" talking on their freaking cell phones or yelling to each other over the music.
I do appreciate that the Folk Fest got back to its roots after experimenting last year. Generally the people willing to pay the $$ for "unknown acts" are also willing to actually listen to the music, rather than talk on their cell phones, yell over the music to the friends, etc. (the yahoos yelling out request at Steve Earle being an exception). Where one of the other commenters mention location as a problem, that's part of the Folk Fest appeal for me. We could bring our children and a blanket, sit somewhere where we could actually see the stage and enjoy the music.
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Ed Goffin
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{10 votes}
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| The Quantification of Art |
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Going to see someone because they are 'More Famous' is one heck of an interesting value judgement to place on artistic expression. I'm not arguing that Folk Festival couldn't use a few organizational changes (location being one of them) but to make the statement that $28.00 is alot of money for a full day's worth of music says more about your value system than anything else.
Not only do the musicians for the folk fest have to come in from across the globe (as opposed to within Quebec) raising the travel costs higher, but the Folk Fest simply books many more artists and provides an entire day's worth of music.
Finally, and I can't say this with authority since I don't know the facts outright, but traditionally Quebec festivals have been more heavily subsidized by both the Federal (ahem English Canada's money) and Provincial governments, and this also leads to lower ticket costs.
So if you feel that you are getting 'good value for money' by paying less to see Simple Plan, than your personal choice of festivals should be just that. A very simple plan.
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Nathan Hunter
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{6 votes}
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| What is it with English festivals? |
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When I saw on the news a few days ago that the Folk festival of Ottaw was on this weekend, I thought it would be nice to go and spend a day there! So I checked out their website to find out where it was and how much it costs... 28$ for one day!!! What???
When you think that you can spend 4 days at the Hot Air Balloon festival in Gatineau for 25$ and see internationnally renowned artists such as Garou and Simple Plan... I think that charging 28$ to see a bunch of unknown folk artists (I am not saying they are not worth it, I am sure they are great... but none of them is nearly as famous as Simple Plan.), I think it is ridiculous. In my case, it basically just made us not go. Good chance we would have gone for 10$, and spend money on food, alcool, parking, etc... By the way, the Ottawa Bluesfest also charges a quite high price, with over 30$ per night (even if there is a bracelet). On the other side of the river, Outaouais en fete (a winner with 16$ for four days) or Buckingham en fete both offer 4 days of festivities for a fraction of the price.
Are francophones just cheaper? Or are the organizers smarter and realize that it is better to have more people and charge less than the opposite?
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Caroline Vigneault
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{2 votes}
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