The Edmonton Folk Fost

The Edmonton Folk Fest! Now I`ve been to quite a number of festivals, and let me tell you, this one beats most of them. First of all because it has a line-up, which besides some big names on the main stage, is completely unfamiliar too me. Next to this, it is a sit-down festival. At some times I found this to be a very frustration position to be in. For some music you just have to get up and dance. Two times I managed to get to the dancing area (both on the last day) to get myself in a more familiar, standing, position. Now I`m not much of a dancer; I`m dutch; a bit of a "houten klaas" (translated, a wooden plank). I try to keep that last thought out of my mind though while standing in the dancing area; It's all about having fun hey?

It all started of with Cat Power. Wow. She was really out there, somewhere. Her setlist mostly consisted out of slow, heartwrenching songs, and she put a lot of feeling in every word that came out of her mouth. I would call it Soul, with a capital S. I wouldn`t buy a cd from her, but that performance was 100% real, no act. Aimee mann was next. I don`t remember much from this performance, and this was not due to too many beers in the beer garden. I do remember being impressed by her voice, and the beautiful slow songs. It was not fireworks, more like watching a candle burn, at a very beautiful night.

Which brings me to the location of this festival. Edmonton has got it all, and thus also a small ski-hill in the middle of the city, close to downtown. Now in the winter I figure that people will ski from it, but in the summer it makes up for the most ideal festival location ever. Great views and sound from all over the field, and a great view on downtown Edmonton also. The weather was also flawless during the 4 days of the festival, which makes it the place were I got most of my tan this summer.

On friday the sessions at the side-stages started, and these sidestages were the places where the action really happenned. We started the day with a session called "Finger Pickin' Good". Three bands were on stage at the same time: Amos Garrett and the the festival House band, Jonny Lang and Don Ross & andy McKee. Now the goal of these sessions is to get the musicians working together, resulting in some awesome and mindblowing jam-sessions. During this first performance I already experienced on of these. Especially the songs lead by Jonny Lang were quite exciting. I think he played some blues-standards, and the good thing about these is that they allow all the other musicians to join in pretty easily. Don Ross & Andy McKee are both specialist guitar players (one has got 15 million views on youtube), and this made up for some great solo's. These two also played some individual songs, but it was when they played together with the band that things really started to become very interesting. Four guitars on one stage creates so much dept in the music (or makes it a mess, whatever's your take on it), that you don`t know to which guitar you have to listen to first.

After that it was time for the "Shades of Africa" workshop. Here I met 4 of my favorite new discoveries of the festival. Bill Bourne and Madagascar Slim. Two old veterans from the festival, and both very capable musicians. They seemed to have jammed with almost everybody these four days, always doing it with a smile. Then there was Daby Toure. A young french musician, who I happen to know from a Peter Gabriel concert, where he was the opening act. He impressed me a lot more here than back then. Especially is drumming on the guitar was great to hear, he had a good sence of rhythm. The Mighty Popo is an artist from Rwanda, who emigrated to Canada a few years ago. He had a great band around him, and made some original and smooth African music.

At the end of the festival I bought his cd and got it signed! So if the Mighty Popo becomes the Incredibly Mighty Popo one day, I can say I`ve seen him from 2 meters distance. Jayme Stone and Mansa Sissoko are an odd but great couple. One is a great Canadian banyo player, while the other has his roots in Mali (I believe). Sissoko plays a strange african instrument with a sound like a harp. Pretty complicated to play I guess, but he mastered it perfectly. Together these four bands really recreated the feeling of being in Africa, in Edmonton.

Serena Ryder. First of all, I listened to some of her recordings now, and she sounds a lot better Live than on cd. Her solo performance on stage 6 was together with only one gitarist and this helped to create a much less pollished , and I guess unique, sound. Especially that voice of her's was just subliminal. At one song she just went all out with it, and I got a lump in my throat. This does not happen very often anymore (except when I see old favorite legends like Genesis and Neil Young), which should indicate that this was a very..very special concert. Her looks are also not working against her, so I was pretty much sold after the concert. Her music could best be described has a mix between country/folk and a bit of soft rock. And then she started to play "This Wheel's on fire", an old Band song. Damn you evil woman! You're doing everything right tonight for me to loose my heart. Which I did, for a split-second.

After that I saw two of friend's favorites. Jonny Lang and Hawksley Workman. Now Jonny Lang used to be a gitarist-wonderkid, and I`ve already seen quite of those come and go. They are indeed great guitar players, but this does make you a great songwriter. My impression of this concert was that he was trying too hard, especially with his voice. I prefer subtle music, but his style of Blues (the 80s rockin' kind, a la Gary Moore but then with less memorable songs) just didn`t appeal to me. Hawksley Workman was something completely different. I came here to have fun, and the music sounded just like that. Modern Rock, with a bit of a dramatic twist to it (it reminded me a bit of Queen at some points, and not just because he played "Under Pressure"). He played quite a bit of covers (3 or 4), a bit of shame since I would like to have heard a bit more of his own stuff. The songs he played were solid, and it was a great show indeed. I only believe that this guy has a bit more up his sleeve that he had shown us that night. I`ll keep an eye on him.