These Blog Entries range in Topic from casual musings about Life, to what I hope are informative perspectives on Music and Web Design. The purpose of this Blog is somewhat self-indulgent as it provides a means for me to develop and flex my writing skills, while also allowing me to wax philosophic about things that interest me with the misguided belief that someone may actually be reading. NOTE: Some of these entries were posted previously on other websites of mine such as the BurnsyBlog.com, but have now been integrated with this website.

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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 . . .

The Web Learning Series got it’s start on YouTube as an ongoing series of video tutorials related to, and inspired by, a sideline project of mine called WideWorldOfWebDesign.com.  As the Tutorials have grown in popularity the project has taken on a Life of it’s own, and due to the steady feedback of people who found the tutorials helpful I decided to branch out and host them on their own website, TheWebLearningSeries.com,  not only improving the viewing environment but also extending the service to include more indepth topics and the option to download accompanying Lesson Files.

These Tutorials take a practical approach to building web pages using the tools available in Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, and an assortment of other 3rd party Components and Programs. You can view an example of one below as originally presented on YouTube.

If you have little or no background in web design and development, than consider this series the “Web Design 101 Video Handbook” which should jumpstart the learning process faster than the long, drawn out task of interpreting pages of text and print screens when it comes to written tutorials. Not only that, but there should be something here for everyone, after all a lot of it is based on my own practical, real-world experiences dealing with what’s required, what’s available, and what works best in a variety of situations.

One thing I’ve always known for sure is that I was born to live in or around the mountains, because that is where I feel the most satisfied, liberated, and at peace with the world. Living in Calgary has afforded me the opportunity (one I never take for granted) to explore the nearby Rockies and it’s pristine wilderness on a regular basis, and I have taken full advantage on my many forays into Banff and Kananaskis over the years (my favorite being Kananaskis which I chronicle in great detail on the website Powderface – the lakes and trails of kananaskis. Here one truly feels like they are living in the heart of the mountains, nestled within the bosom of Three Sisters and Grotto mountain.

Until recently my familiarity with the town of Canmore never really extended beyond it’s relevance as a stopover between trips into the backcountry, so I profess to not knowing all that much about the history of the town and surrounding area. The general knowledge is that it was a sleepy coal mining town until the 1980′s at which time mining operations had ceased and the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics were a reality, eventually putting the Canmore Nordic Center on the world map.
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Every once in a while a Band comes along that really catches your attention, and I had the good fortune of being in the audience as Mass Undergoe took the stage at the Rusty Cage Sept 4th, 2008.

Already enjoying great popularity on Vancouver’s underground scene, this rising rock n’ roll entity are a band poised for world domination, and here are a couple of reasons why . . .

They have the musical chops: These guys can play, and I’m not just talking about technical chops, they also know how to write interesting songs that demonstrate a versatility in rythmns punctuated by tight, sonic blasts that can suddenley segue into a soothing melodic vocal or soft guitar texturing. They’ll come charging at you like a Musical Force to be reckoned with, and the intensity of their live show leaves you feeling a little like you’ve been assaulted, but in a good way.

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There was a great scene in the movie “The Commitments” where the young members of a soul band in Dublin discussed the untimely deaths of famous rock stars, at one point debating on who had actually died by choking on their own vomit.

Unfortunately there has been a great number of tragic figures in the music industry, not only because of how they died but because they were great talents snuffed out at such an early age.

There is of course the “27” club, or rather curse, so named on account of the coincidence that some of the most famous rock stars perished at exactly that age … Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Curt Cobain … apparently by drug overdose/suicide.

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