Canmore Folk Festival - Stan Rogers Stage

This year’s Canmore Folk Festival featured some captivating performers, in particular Carolyn Wonderland and Delhi2Dublin.

Whenever I tell friends I’m going to attend a Folk Festival, the response ranges anywhere from a deeply perplexed expression to that of barely suppressed sarcasm, as I can see them processing their mind’s images of the stereotype that typically associates this diverse cultural music experience with the simple notion of a hippie playing an acoustic guitar while other hippies sit in the grass singing along to a rousing chorus of Kumbayah ! This is a gross misconception borne of ignorance, although it is true there are acoustic guitars and hippies, even some hula hoops, and perhaps Buffy St. Marie isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, but in reality there’s something for just about every kind of music lover at a modern day Folk Festival . . . well, almost.

This year’s Canmore Folk Festival offered up a stellar and diverse lineup that included Canadian Indie Faves Joel Plaskett, Elliot Brood, and Luke Doucet, Industry icons Ian Thomas and Murray McLauchlan, World Music Troubadours Ti Coca & Wanga-Nègès (Haiti) and Etran Finatawa (Niger), American fan favorites Steel Wheels (bluegrass) and Carolyn Wonderland (Blues-rock), and relative newcomers Michael Bernard Fitzgerald (Calgary) and Delhi2Dublin (Vancouver), who clearly drew the younger fans but also endeared themselves to the appreciative crowd of all ages, who at times had to endure some persistent rainfall.

I attended the Sunday Night line-up that began with Ti Coca & Wanga-Nègès who already had several people up dancing in a designated area off to the side of the stage, followed by Steel Wheels and their infectious Blueridge mountain bluegrass and country roots stomp-along songs that got the audience involved, and which at times almost felt like an Alabama concert.

After that it was the laid back balladry of Lunch At Allen’s which features legenadary canadian artists Murray Mclauchlan, Ian Thomas, Cindy Church, and Marc Jordan running through some of their personal hits, largely from a bygone era, and although it was fun to hear Ian Thomas do an acoustic version of “Painted Ladies” which he introduced as a song most of us probably had on a K-Tel record at one time or another (guilty-as-charged), I have to admit that for me this was the segment that started to enter into Folk Festival Stereotype territory. It was time to browse the row of food kiosks which turned out to be just as wonderfully diverse as the music, from Gelato to Thai food, and ultimately my choice, Beef Donair on a Grilled Naan. Mmmmmmm.

What happened next was in my opinion the highlight of the Festival, because that’s when Carolyn Wonderland took the stage. I profess to knowing very little about her before sunday night, but judging from the Tour Dates on her website I gather she has a pretty solid following in the southern U.S. and Europe. A Blues-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist from Austin Texas, she is impressive to watch, or should I say, a spectacle to behold as she appears to embody the fused reincarnation of Janis Joplin and Stevie Ray Vaughn as can be evidenced in her vocal style, guitar chops, and renegade rock n’ roll swagger. Even her between song banter and personality reminded me a little of Janis, and her soulful wails certainly do that comparison justice. The addition of her virtuoso guitar playing certainly makes her someone to admire, and it was only fitting to hear the familiar riff of Johnny Winter’s “Still Alive and Well” near the end of the set, a natural fit indeed.

After a rather subdued set, albeit one laced with the lap steel guitar wizardry, musings, and insightful humour of legendary multi-instrumentalist David Lindley, it was time for the much anticipated arrival to the stage of Vancouver based Delhi2Dublin who’ve been together 5 years, have recorded 3 albums, are busy touring internationally, and appear to be gaining a lot of buzz, including here in the Bow Valley after some recent shows in Banff and Canmore.

Described as “an energetic mash-up of Bhangra, Celtic, Dub, Reggae and Electronica with global rhythms and club beats“, it wasn’t a big surprise when within the first few minutes the people who’d been gathering along the sides of the audience soon spilled into the crowd, which evetually meant everyone was then either standing or dancing, but it didn’t appear to fade most of the savvy Folk Fest faithful. At one point the band even made an apology between songs to those who’d been comfortably seated all night, but by then it was obvious the energy this band creates is not for a seated audience, and it may be one of the few times a Folk Festival has actually been transformed into a Rave !

Good Times, Good Times . . . can’t wait for the next one !

SPECIAL NOTE: Michael Bernard Fitzgerald’s performance at Friday Night’s street party and on saturday afternoon were especially good, in particular his songs “Maxime” and “Amazed”. He even did a cover of the Springsteen song “Dancing In The Dark”, which wasn’t what I expected, but hey, it worked ! This is definitely another young artist to follow . . .