NEW VIDEOS : Live from the 2010 Vancouver Folk Music Festival!

Bahamas performs "Sobering Love," which is as of yet unreleased.



Bahamas, Calexico and Alex Cuba cover Prince's "Purple Rain." It was glorious.



Matt Epp melts a few hearts with his lovely ballad "This Old House."



The Deep Dark Woods perform their hit from CBC Radio 2's SongQuest, "Charlie's (Is Coming Down)."



For more live recordings like these, check out my Youtube channel.

INTERVIEW : Timber Timbre talks festivals and his mysterious side

Montreal-based Timber Timbre is the brainchild of Taylor Kirk, and he recently joined us at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival to discuss his experiences in festivals across Canada, as well as his perchance for dark, moody shows.

Accompanying Kirk on tour are musicians Simon Trottier (Ferris Wheel) on lapsteel and autoharp, and Mika Posen (Forest City Lovers) on violin. He described how playing folk festivals, of which Vancouver’s was his first, is “a whole other world.” Timber Timbre, other than his own showcase, collaborated with other artists such as The Deep Dark Woods and Nathan in workshops, as well as played a short “tweener” set prior to Arizona’s Calexico’s main stage headlining set. Contrast this with his experience at the Ottawa Blues Fest the week prior, which included acts such as Rush and Supertramp, where they “played after a pretty dirty blues rock band.” As Kirk laughingly recalls, “it was pretty nuts.”

Don’t be fooled in thinking that the mellow atmosphere at sunny Jericho Beach meant Kirk had a chance to let down his guard. At Victoria’s Rifflandia Festival, where I caught him last September, Timber Timbre’s set was in an unlit church with 5 sole red spotlights fixed on the performers (see right). You couldn’t even see their faces, and only discerning fans could be sure how many people were actually on stage. When probed about his desire for a mysterious aura, Kirk commented, “we’re not used to playing in the daylight, in open air.” For him, being in an indoor venue allows greater artistic control over his setting. “Starting from nothing and having total control – starting from zero light and zero decibels, with a totally quiet audience,” and building up not only the sound but also the mood and ambiance is an important part of the Timber Timbre live show.

Timber Timbre enjoyed wildly positive critical reception of his Arts & Crafts released self-titled album, which resulted in a 2009 Polaris longlist nomination. Kirk revealed that he’s looking forward to the end of summer jaunt through Canada in order to head back into the studios to record material for a new album. So make sure to keep your eyes and ears peeled for more of his brand of atmospheric night-time freak folk.

(interviewed by Alex Cameron and Brenda Lee, photos by Brenda Lee)

NEW PHOTOS : Vancouver Folk Music Festival 2010

The 33rd annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival, held at beautiful picturesque Jericho Beach, wrapped up last night with lanterns, song and dancing. The weather fully cooperated and there were many sunkissed and sunburnt happy faces in hats and bikinis. My best estimate in terms of attendance is ~4000. There were many in attendance who have traveled from other parts of BC, including Vancouver Island, to celebrate folk and folk-like music under the blue skies.

There were several personal highlights for me at the Folk Fest this year, the biggest being the Malahat Revue's homecoming show. The chemistry and interactions between the four artists/bands - Hannah Georgas, Aidan Knight, Said the Whale and Jeremy Fisher - brought smiles to the faces of the audience, and songs like Knight's "The Sun" were palpably lush with an intensity that's impossible to create with himself alone.

Other highlights include:

Shane Koyczan's moving poetry set to the competent backing of his band the Short Story Long.

The workshop Saturday morning with Tucson, Arizona's Calexico, Alex Cuba from Smithers, BC, and Bahamas (Toronto's Afie Jurvanen) where Cuba out-solo'ed Jurvanen on his own song, and the obligatory set closer "Purple Rain" was accompanied by Calexico's lap steel.

Daniel Champagne, a young guitarist hailing from Australia, blew everyone away with his amazing guitar prowess. He tapped and beat at his faithful acoustic and made amazingly rhythmic arpeggios of sound come out of the violence he was doing to that guitar. Definitely an artist I'm looking to check out more.

The Gertrudes and the United Steelworkers of Montreal accompanying Timber Timbre and magnifying TT's forest of eerie folk with their horns and strings. and that it was incredibly captivating to be enveloped in these moody, nighttime tunes under the beating sun.

For the full photo sets from Friday, Saturday and Sunday, check out my Flickr. And stay tuned for interviews with Timber Timbre and the Malahat Revue!

Vancouver Folk Music Festival 2010 - July 16-18

The 33rd Annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival is taking place at picturesque Jericho Beach in the heart of Vancouver next weekend. This festival, the largest one that takes place in the city, incorporates 3 days worth of folk (and folk-related) artists from all over the world with a laid-back west coast mentality, with stages overlooking tree overhangs and ocean. There will be concerts throughout the day, as well as collaborations and workshops provided by the artists. You'll find musical lovers of all ages and ilk, dressed in everything from costumes to minimally under the sun. So grab your sunscreen and your blanket and get ready for a wonderful weekend of music!

I will be covering the 2010 Vancouver Folk Music Festival for North by East West throughout the weekend. Follow me on Twitter for live updates, check out my Flickr for photos and keep your eyes peeled here for interviews and highlights of the weekend!

Weekend passes and nightly passes are available at different rates for seniors, youth and students. Gates are open at 4pm on Friday evening and 9am Saturday and Sunday. If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, you can purchase them online here or at Highlife Records, Neptoon Records, Zulu Records, Little Sisters Bookstore or Banyen Books. They're also available at the gates for a higher price.

I'm glad to see that although provincial arts funding had been slashed dramatically, affecting the bottom lines of cultural groups including the Folk Fest, we can still expect Canadian talent across the country to grace their presence on the VFMF stages. Some of these performers include Bahamas, Jim Byrnes, Alex Cuba, The Deep Dark Woods, Sarah Harmer, Jon & Roy, Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long, Catherine MacLellan, The Malahat Revue (consisting of Hannah Georgas, Said The Whale, Jeremy Fisher and Aidan Knight), Timber Timbre, and the United Steel Workers of Montreal.

You'll also find international talents such as The Avett Brothers, Calexico and Bettye LaVette. Click here for the full line-up of the 2010 VFMF.

For a sense of the joyous musical weekend about to take place July 16-18, you can check out my coverage of the Vancouver Folk Fest from last year. I had an incredible time, and the little touches-- including considerations for sustainability and public transit-- indicate excellent planning on the part of the VFMF committee last year. I'm looking forward to seeing how they have improved in a year's time.

(Photo from Great Lake Swimmers' performance at last year's VFMF. Brenda Lee.)

The Malahat Revue featuring Jeremy Fisher, Said the Whale, Hannah Georgas and Aidan Knight

BC-based Jeremy Fisher, Said the Whale, Hannah Georgas and Aidan Knight have come together to form The Malahat Revue, an eight-piece musical collective that will begin touring their beloved province by bicycle on Thursday July 8, 2010 in Salt Spring Island. The tour will take them through smaller towns on Vancouver Island, eventually taking them to the Vancouver Folk Music Festival on July 18.

Conceived by Jeremy Fisher who has toured across North America by bike three times and at 33, doesn’t own a car. Fisher endeavours to do as much as possible by bike. It’s with that ethic in mind that The Malahat Revue will hit the road on their bicycles, playing six shows from July 8-18. With only a single support vehicle to carry drums and larger gear, the musicians will carry more portable gear with them, and rack up over 500 kilometers as they pedal from gig to gig in a little more than a week.

With eight musicians together on stage, playing a selection of favourites from one another's back catalogues, it will be an unpredictable atmosphere of spontaneity and experimentation. And if The Malahat Revue is anything like the Bonfire Ball Revue, it will be more than worth biking to!

THE MALAHAT REVUE ‘BIKE-TO-WORK’ TOUR – JULY TOUR DATES:

Thursday July 8 – Artspring Theatre – Salt Spring Island, BC
Friday July 9 – Pender Island Community Hall, Pender Island, BC
Saturday July 10 – Sugar – Victoria, BC (*ON SALE MAY 15)
Sunday July 11 – Duncan Garage Showroom – Duncan, BC
Friday July 16 – Nanaimo Entertainment Centre – Nanaimo, BC (*ON SALE MAY 15)
Sunday July 18 – Vancouver Folk Fest – Vancouver, BC (*CURRENTLY ON SALE)


The Malahat Revue Teaser from Jonathan Taggart on Vimeo.

BC Arts & Culture Cuts Visualized

I have a strong love-hate relationship with political discussions, but some matters are too important for me to sit quietly on the sidelines. One of those issues is the recent BC budget with dramatic cuts to Arts and Culture, which will affect the operating budgets of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, to name just one example.

My personal love and opinion aside (which admittedly, is impossible), the arts in BC has a positive return on investment. Those employed in the arts sector also receive lower wages when measured against comparable positions in other sectors. Thus, Arts and Culture has more bang for the buck. This has been shown in even provincial governmental studies.

Why the current government would disregard its own research is beyond me, but their counter-intuitive, short-sighted monetary decisions will leave long-lasting damages on the BC arts scene, as well as on the budgets to come. Some of the results include cancellation of programs, lay-offs (as our economy is just beginning to recover from a recession), and the relocation and brain drain of artistic talent elsewhere as living in BC becomes unsustainable for their craft. The effects will spill over into our tourism and hospitality sector, once the boost from the Olympics subsides.

Now onto why I created this post: I wanted to share the excellent visualizations that Jeremy Thorp has created, which demonstrate the drastic cuts made to Arts and Culture. What really struck me was how steep the cuts are comparative to other sectors, knowing its benefit to the BC economy. He has also written a thoughtful piece to go along with his statistical gems; I highly recommend you take a read through it.

(Click on image to enlarge)

When the 114 expenditures are arranged to display gain (in blue) or loss (in red), the picture becomes even more clear (here, bars represent percentage loss or gain). With a loss of more than 80%, Arts & Culture suffers the second worst cuts – with the worst being another Arts & Culture-related line item!

Compared to other business areas with similar budgets, this decline is particularly drastic. For example, Asia Pacific Trade & Investment falls only 26% (from 16.179M to 11.593M) and Small Business, Research & Competitiveness falls only 21% (from 21.966M to 17.263M). ...

Once again, Thorp has more accessible and understandable graphs on his entry "BC Budget Visualizations – DIY Transparency & Local Government." Take a look, and realize just how disproportionately high the cuts are to Arts and Culture, a business sector that is thriving, profitable and contributes greatly to the general welfare of BC citizens.

If you feel as strongly about these cuts as I do (heck, even if you don't), please do read up more on the provincial budget and other pieces related to the Arts and Culture cuts. I didn't cite all my sources, but there are many. And make sure you're heard:

Gordon Campbell
premier@gov.bc.ca
(250) 387-1715

Kevin Kreuger
TCA.Minister@gov.bc.ca
(250) 953-4246

Tune of the Day: Great Lake Swimmers - Still

The Great Lake Swimmers have just released their music video yesterday for the ethereal Still off their latest, Polaris-short-listed album Lost Channels, easily one of my favourite songs seen live this past summer.

I'm still turning myself on to the great key, I'm still, I'm still
I'm still mining for light in dark wells, I'm still, I'm still
I'm still a frequency swaying, a leaf in the wind, I'm still, I'm still
I'm still searching for whispers in between yells, I'm still, I'm still

I'm still swimming in harmony, I'm still dreaming of flight
I'm still lost in the waves, night after night

I'm still an arrow unshot, fixed in a bow, I'm still, I'm still
I'm still a fire unlit, ready to go, I'm still, I'm still

I'm still loaded and waiting, with anticipation to fly
I'm still studying the patterns in the night sky

I'm still a note that's unplayed, ink on a page, I'm still, I'm still
I'm still a cry in the night, lonesome and high, I'm still, I'm still

I'm still tuned to an instrument of greater and unknown design
I'm still looking for direction, some kind of sign

I'm still tuning myself to the great key, I'm still, I'm still

And here's my live recording of Still from the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, featuring members of The Breakmen and Rock Plaza Central providing back-up.
(Please pardon the slight garbles; my point-and-shoot is not great with picking up bass.)

Great Lake Swimmers live at VanFolkFest

Note: also posted at NxEW.ca.

The following recordings are 3/5 of the Great Lake Swimmers performing their songs Still and Chorus In The Underground live at Jericho Beach for the Vancouver Folk Music Festival. They are backed instrumentally by members of The Breakmen and Rock Plaza Central.

Don't mind the hand-wobbliness and occasional crackling... my camera is pretty good at picking up treble and mids, but not the bass drum.

Another video for Basia Bulat's performance is forthcoming.

Enjoy!

VFMF Weekend Review (plus photos)

Writer's note:
Posted at NxEW.ca.
As Alex (AlexOfAnders) has been so thorough with his Vancouver Folk Music Festival daily recaps, I'll try my best not to overlap.

This past weekend was probably the hottest and brightest on record so far this year in Vancouver. Being located on Jericho Beach, Vancouver Folk Fest had the advantage of drawing in not only music lovers, but curious sunbathers as well. That, along with its tradition of having hippie-ish arts bazaars by its premises, meant that there was an eclectic mix of attendees, from mothers changing babies on beach blankets, to the most hardcore of indie fans.

The festival was run very well this year. There were an abundance of Christmas light-lit porta-potties, which were clean (!). The water refilling stations with local filtered tap water was a nice touch. I didn't eat much, but there was a whole section for food with over 2 dozen vendors. Cute kitschy vendors selling everything from hammocks to hats lined the walkways. I took public transit to get to the festival site, which took about an hour total in commute time from a local municipality (Richmond). So in conclusion, you would not be roughing it in the wild.

Onto the music; there were 8 stages in total, with the main evening stage complemented by 7 numbered, smaller stages.

Friday night (July 17)

I arrived the main evening stage to overhear Joe Pug, a singer-songwriter from the States. I was not super impressed with him; seemed like typical guy-with-guitar fare. However, he had a surprisingly old-soul voice for a 23-year old.

After a short meeting with fellow NxEW-ers at the beer garden (good view of evening stage), I went off to snap some photos of the Weakerthans' set at the main stage. They opened with Night Windows (my favorite song from them) and put on a strong, hits-filled set, especially near the end when they blazed through Civil Twilight, Aside, and Sun in an Empty Room.

John Samson was more than willing to banter back and forth with the audience. Before launching into One Great City!, he threw his support behind those who oppose the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in 2010. This was no surprise, looking at the topic matter addressed in the song. After agreeing to disagree with a few audience members, he mentioned that he'll be at the beer garden after the show, to continue the debate then. Sadly, I cannot confirm whether or not that happened. Read Alex's interview with John Samson here.

After the Weakerthans, Iron & Wine took to the main stage. I'm not very familiar with his music, but he played a hits-filled show as well, according to fellow blogger Lauren from Backstage Vancouver.

Arrested Development, the headliners of the night, were definitely a highlight for me. They've been performing "uplifting hip hop" for over 17 years, and the infectious and joyous noises they make roused the 1000+ crowd to their feet to dance. Everyone from grandpas to hipsters were flinging their hair and swinging their hips. It was a sight to behold and truly a pleasure to witness. The festival's Lantern Committee wandered through the crowds and complemented the music by their light show, and sporadic fireworks went off in English Bay across the waters. It was a magical night. I unfortunately do not have any (good) photos, as I was (fortunately) dancing.

Saturday afternoon (July 18)
My first session of the weekend ("Folkestra") was hosted by Rock Plaza Central, and included members of The Breakmen and Great Lake Swimmers. There really is nothing quite like the experience of lying in the hot sun and listening to some of the most talented musicians serenade an appreciative crowd.
The bands alternated between songs and occasionally contributed to each others' instrumentation. At times, a song sounded like it had the help of a 12 piece backing band, which was what happened for Great Lake Swimmers' Still, which is a beautiful song off their Polaris-shortlisted Lost Channels. Expect my Youtube video of it up on this blog soon...
(On a side note, while they were playing, a pair of dragonflies were courting right up front and centre of the stage. They had the best view.)


Rock Plaza Central played a handful of songs off each of their albums, especially from their latest ...At The Moment of Our Most Needing and the thematic Are We Not Horses from 2006. After the frontman Chris Eaton borrowed Tony Dekker (of Great Lake Swimmers)'s guitar, they rounded up their set with the catchy song My Children, Be Joyful (mp3) which had the entire tent, as well as the audience, singing along.

The Breakmen
, a Vancouver-based folk/roots band, played songs such as That's Where I Lay Down ("written on a day much like this one"), as well as an unnamed one which had the whole stage singing "oohs" for back-up. I don't know their music well but am looking forward to checking them out more.

After the session, we made it over to a nice shaded stage for Basia Bulat's set. I was very excited to see her live for the first time, after falling in love with her voice two years ago. Due to a mix-up with scheduling, or the artist before her overstaying his time, her set began half an hour later than scheduled. That didn't frazzle Bulat, who launched into a high energy foot-stomping set, including hits like In The Night. Erik from the Great Lake Swimmers played guitar and banjo in her backing band.
She wrapped up her 12-song set with Snakes and Ladders and an a capella song, which had her crooning to the audience complete with foot stomping and clapping for percussion. You can read an interview between Alex and Basia here.
After Bulat's set, I raced over to Joel Plaskett Emergency's free set in Surrey, BC for the Surrey Fusion Festival. That adventure will be outlined in a later post.


Sunday evening (July 19)

After bolting between Surrey and Jericho beach (again) after a friend's bridal shower, I made it back in time to catch Rock Plaza Central and Great Lake Swimmers again at a side stage. GLS were headlining that particular stage.

They each performed several songs that they played during the sessions, ramped up, as well as several other songs.

Chris Eaton, lead vocals and guitar for Rock Plaza Central, was clearly appreciative of the large attentive audience. He connected with the audience well, which definitely complemented his band's amazing songwriting and his captivating "scream-folk" voice (as dubbed by me). Once again, they wrapped up their set with the two extremely catchy songs (Don't You Believe The Words of) Handsome Men and Be Joyful. Handsome Men has been stuck in my head ever since their set.

Great Lake Swimmers, whose performance I'd been waiting for the whole weekend, surpassed my expectations with their set. By the time they got on stage, a sizeable crowd had stretched far back, waiting to hear this ethereal band led by Tony Dekker's singular voice. They were not disappointed. The Swimmers played a 12-song long set, strumming through hit after hit. Let's Trade Skins, Chorus in the Underground, Palmistry and Pulling On A Line started the set, while the captivating Various Stages had the entire crowd sighing to the words,

I've seen you in various stages of undress
I've seen you through various states of madness

Basia Bulat joined the Great Lake Swimmers for the ending part of the set, adding a jolt of energy to Your Rocky Spine (which, by the way, totally blows John Mayer's Your Body Is A Wonderland out of the water). The entire set was wrapped up with the beautiful and hopeful Still. I'm sure I speak for the appreciate audience when I say that no one wanted the dream-like set to end. As the sun was setting and music from Mavis Staples floated over from the main stage, Great Lake Swimmers got a standing ovation for being a sparkling highlight of the entire weekend.
Sunburnt and sleep-deprived, I could not have wished for a more soulful, musically-filling weekend.

See a set of photos from Vancouver Folk Fest on my Flickr here.
Here's another very thorough VFMF review by my good friends Mel and Lauren of Backstage Vancouver.

Condensed, sleep-deprived weekend review

Yays:
- Got to catch the following artists at VFMF: Weakerthans, Iron & Wine, Arrested Development, The Breakmen, Basia Bulat, Dan Mangan, Rock Central Plaza, and Great Lake Swimmers among others
- Caught Joel Plaskett Emergency (+ Peter Elkas) for free
- Chatted with Basia, offered pie to Dan, and Tony Dekker drew me a guitar
- Grabbed set lists from JPE and GLS shows
- Had my interview questions for Basia used although I couldn't make it personally due to a close friend's bridal shower
- Dancing and praising God in a flowy skirt during Arrested Development's twilight (and night time) performance. (Now how to distill that magnetic, spiritual energy into Sunday mornings?)
- The Lantern Committee's light show at night time during AD's set, and then lining the pathways to lead the crowd out of the park
- "Banjo Wars 2009" between Rock Central Plaza, The Breakmen and Great Lake Swimmers during their session. Lying down right up front feeling like I could float, I could fly, like branches and boats and birds in the sky. (Joel Plaskett)
- Basia Bulat's stomping heels, rich voice and warm attitude
- Hanging out with Alex(OfAnders), Justin, Mel and Lauren. Singing along with Dan Mangan to Robots with Alex and a thousand other people at the main stage.
- Great Lake Swimmers were plucked from the ear of God themselves. Tony Dekker has a voice that not only makes memories, yet takes previous ones and puts a sepia tone to them. Dreamy yet grounded, and singularly spectacular. Read these words:

I'm still a note that's unplayed, ink on a page, I'm still, I'm still
I'm still a cry in the night, lonesome and high, I'm still, I'm still

I'm still tuned to an instrument of greater and unknown design
I'm still looking for direction, some kind of sign

I'm still tuning myself to the great key, I'm still, I'm still
(Great Lake Swimmers, "Still")

After that, it's hard to go over the ughs. I'm extremely sleep deprived and have skipped most normal meals for the past three days, but that's not because of the set up of the festival but how entranced I was with the music. And how long it took to upload pictures and videos onto my computer.
I'll upload some pictures onto Flickr and write a proper write-up on NxEW when I get home. There are a lot of photos, and a couple of videos... depending how the bass turned out in them, I might upload them onto Youtube as well. Don't forget to check back :)

Vancouver Folk Fest Preview

Below is my official first full concert review to kick off the Vancouver Folk Music Festival weekend coverage. The original unchopped column, including some free mp3 downloads, can be found here...

This weekend, I will be tweeting, putting up photos on my Flickr, blogging on behalf of NxEW as well as here.

At the Railway Club on June 3, three artists took to the stage to fundraise for the Vancouver Folk Music Festival as part of the VFMF Revue -- Veda Hille, Dan Mangan and Geoff Berner. Each put on a phenomenal set, and if this is any indication of things to come, this year's festival will be a treat for those living in/near Metro Vancouver.


First to play a set is the quirky Veda Hille. She opened with Lucklucky, which was accompanied by the clacking noises of the toy train overhead at the Railway, to good effect. The song, which included a short ode to the Hockey Night in Canada theme, demonstrated Hille's playful theatrical voice well. She played a couple of covers, which included Neil Young's Transformer Man.


Second on the stage is Dan Mangan. Mangan played an eight song set, which included several songs from his upcoming album such as Tina's Glorious Comeback, The Indie Queens Are Coming (which brought Veda Hille back on stage), You Silly Git (a song inspired by his girlfriend), as well as Basket, which is written for his grandfather. Of course, Mangan wrapped up his set with the catchier-than-herpes Robots, which ended with him holding his guitar aloft while walking through the audience, encouraging a sing-a-long.


The final performer of the night was Geoff Berner. The best way to describe Berner and his set that night would be "perpetually intoxicated, irreverent drinking songs," demonstrated by such songs as The Way That Girl Drinks Beer. However, in more than a few occasions, his meandering voice sharpened their focus towards specific points that he wanted to make. The best example is his song The Dead Children Were Worth It, which criticizes the upcoming Vancouver Olympics in 2010. So while his voice (and mind) may wander and drawl, it does once in a while come back and sucker punch you into paying attention.

See you at the show!

---

Editor's note: Belated photos from VFMF Revue up on my Flickr HERE.

Festivals Coverage in Vancouver This Weekend

This upcoming weekend is an exciting one in terms of music in Vancouver. Not only is there the annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival, the line-up of which features the lovely Basia Bulat, Great Lake Swimmers, The Weakerthans, Dan Mangan as well as international acts such as Iron & Wine, but Surrey has also shocked with their Fusion Festival line-up, which includes the Joel Plaskett Emergency, Said The Whale, Alex Cuba, among others. Did I mention it's free?

I'll be covering the both of them, to the best of my abilities (and cell phone bill limits) via Twitter, Flickr (for photos), on this blog, as well as on NxEW. Yes, this does mean racing from Jericho Beach, which is in downtown Vancouver, to the suburbs. Below is a tentative schedule of the acts and sessions I'm hoping to catch this upcoming weekend. Of course, if I get sidetracked or blown away by something I happen to pass by, I'll note those as well.

Friday July 17
VMFM
7 pm - The Weakerthans
8 pm - Iron and Wine
9 pm - Arrested Development

Saturday July 18
VMFM
10 am - Fresh Folkus (hosted by Basia Bulat; ft. Joe Pug, Kate Reid, Dan Mangan and Great Lake Swimmers)
1:30 pm - Folkestra (hosted by Rock Plaza Central; ft. Great Lake Swimmers and The Breakman)
3:10 pm - Basia Bulat
SFF
7 pm - Said The Whale
8 pm - Barney Bentall & The Grand Cariboo Opry
9 pm - Joel Plaskett & The Emergency

Sunday July 19
VFMF
5:30 - 9:30 pm - Rock Plaza Central Great Lake Swimmers

For the full schedule of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, click here. (PDF)
For the full schedule of the Surrey Fusion Festival, click here.

To get you hyped up for the weekend, read my preview review of the Vancouver Folk Fest Revue (now say that ten times really quickly).

Musical updates!

Firstly, "Everything sounds better autotuned"



Indeed we are on very thin ice, since it's...

Summer! Bright lights, warm breezes, long days. That means a couple of things...

Festival season -- In Vancouver, we have the Vancouver Folk Music Festival. It's happening July 17-19 at Jericho Beach. After a long string of years of being really boring and mundane with the performers' lineup, this year we're seeing a change after a change in I believe the musical director. A short sample of artists I'm excited about:
Basia Bulat, The Weakerthans, Dan Mangan, Great Lake Swimmers, Rock Plaza Central, Steven Page (of ex-BNL fame), Iron & Wine, The Proclaimers...
Early bird tickets are available until June 12th.

In Edmonton, their folk fest has an incredibly enviably awesome lineup. If anyone reading this from the Metro Vancouver region is interested in going, holler at your girl!
Short list: Jill Barber, Neko Case, Joel Plaskett, Kathleen Edwards, Danny Michel..., also many of the artists from the VanFolkFest. Complete list here. Tickets go on sale June 1st.

And in Calgary, it's just nuts. Sled Island Festival is selling out before the schedule is even announced. Now that's good reputation.

In other news,

the wonderful Arkells got banned FOR LIFE (4 lyfe?!) from a club from their hometown Hamilton for trying to get in through the back door. Related news, club in Hamilton has bad business sense.

also, they would like you to know that "Unlike Billy Bob, we were very polite when we went on CBC radio program Q with Jian Ghomeshi."



"I've yet to witness much forgiveness in this business" -- indeed.

Joel Plaskett and Peter Elkas make beautiful music together. Sigh. Dreamy. The single is called "Poor Young Things." To be fair, I haven't heard it yet and cannot yet vouch for its degree of dreaminess.

Speaking of Joel Plaskett, three reviews of his Three tour on NxEW. Mine, Amanda Putz's, and Rockstar Aimz's. Overwhelmingly positive.

Hey Ocean! wants you to design a T-shirt for them!

Shad, Brasstronaut and Twin Castles play benefit show for funding community arts programs in East Vancouver. $1 parking lot BBQ!