The most poignant moment of the 2013 Calgary Folk Music
Festival came during Saturday evening’s headline slot when Steve Earle
dedicated the song ‘This City’ to all
those who had worked tirelessly to ensure that this four day event on Prince’s
Island, just a stone throw from downtown Calgary, didn’t become another victim
of the great Southern Alberta flood of 2013. So with a lot of hard work and a
little tinkering around the edges, artists from around the world descended on
this Canadian self proclaimed city ‘Home of the New West’ to celebrate a
diverse brand of music that stretched from country to dance and calling at most
points in between.
With a daily sold out attendance of around 13000, the
festival got underway around tea time on Thursday and I immediately headed to a
stage hosting two artists who have become firm favourites of mine. Having made
the long journey from the Canadian north east maritime provinces, Amelia Curran
may have been expecting slightly warmer Alberta weather but with an excellent
back catalogue joined recently by the Juno nominated album SPECTATORS, her set
on the island site’s second stage got the festival off to a splendid start.
Assisted by Catherine Allan on accordion/piano and Darren Brown on Mandolin,
Amelia showcased her heart warming ability to deliver stunning folk songs with
a feel good injection of laughter. ‘Years’,
‘Bye Bye Montreal’, ‘Blackbird on Fire’ and ‘The Mistress’ were all great songs performed but for me the
captivating ‘San Andreas Fault’ set
the standard for all the other artists to follow.
Hayes Carll is long overdue another visit to Britain and I
can gladly report that the Texan Troubadour with an innate ability to turn a
quirky tale into an outstanding song is in fine form and would jump at the
chance if an opportunity arose. Amongst the wealth of classic literary masterpieces
adorning the set list was a song added to his great pal Corb Lund’s latest
album ‘Bible on the Dash’, the
delightful tale of frustrated love ‘Beaumont’
and the equally wonderfully titled ‘Drunken
Poets Dream’ and ‘Bad Liver and a
Drunken Heart’. The charm and engaging talent of Hayes Carll has endeared many
fans across North America and while he has created a respected niche with audiences
in Canada, especially Calgary, the potential to continue to grow in the UK is
still there. Promoters please note!
Having caught their spellbinding set at Glastonbury via TV,
expectation was high that Alabama Shakes live could be an earth shattering experience.
It may have been a slightly cool and wet evening but the main stage arena
rocked, shook and lapped up everything Brittany Howard and her boys had to
offer. With their BOYS AND GIRLS album formally fixed in Americana folklore,
some new material previewed took a slower and deeper blues path which allowed
Brittany total freedom to stretch every sinew of her vocal ability. When she
removes her glasses mid song, you know this girl is on top form and whether you
consider them blues, rock, folk, southern, soul or a bit of everything, the experience
of catching them live transcends genres. You now start to get the picture that
Alabama Shakes fully justified headlining the opening night of the Calgary Folk
Music festival.
A major feature of this festival is the themed workshop
sessions that spring up on stages throughout the site where artists collaborate,
often without rehearsal, on each other’s songs as well as traditional
standards. Much of Friday was spent exploring these sessions where Amelia
Curran popped up again and they also gave a first opportunity to catch some
songs by John Fulbright and The Dunwells ahead of their main sets. Many of the
themes were based around genres such as folk, country, world, blues etc and
overall they were a great way of experiencing the different sides of artists as
well as providing an excellent opportunity to sample new acts and musical
styles.
The Friday evening main concerts did not contain any must
see artists but it was a pleasant way to saunter around the stages and see what
takes your fancy surely the true ethos of any festival. Probably the standout
act from the festival’s second day was the main stage show by Austin based alt
country rock outfit Heartless Bastards. The set of this band led by singer
guitarist Erika Wennerstrom evolved from straight down the middle indie rock to
a more varied sound which allowed space for other more roots influences. They
are due to visit the UK later this year and are definitely a band to look out
for and are proof that festivals are excellent places to widen your music
engagement.
John Fullbright gained loads of new followers when touring
the UK earlier this year with his Grammy nominated debut album FROM THE GROUND
UP. His Saturday lunchtime outer stage slot was always going to be a must see
and the Oklahoma raised singer-songwriter didn’t disappoint. Plans are already
advanced for the sophomore album and John previewed a new song titled ‘For the First Time’. On the morning of
the announcement of the passing of guitar legend J.J.Cale, tributes were in
abundance across the festival and John duly offered his own. However the
standout moment of John’s set and one of the whole festival’s as well was the stunning
rendition of ‘Jericho’. John returns
to the UK later this year and he is set to be an integral member of the
Americana movement for many years to come.
On the back of the Mumford and Sons America phenomena, UK
folk/rock/pop band The Dunwells have been making inroads stateside with their
own style of infectious roots influenced songs. This five piece Leeds based
band led by the Dunwell brothers David and Joseph managed to achieve the near
impossible and get a lunchtime TD Stage 6 sedentary crowd to their feet with a
lively version of their anthem ‘So
Beautiful’. Other songs presented from the debut album BLIND SIGHTED FAITH
included the title track, ‘I Could Be a
King’ and ‘Hand that Feeds’.
Hopefully the autumn will see the boys re-concentrate their efforts on raising
their profile in the UK as they have the talent to go far. Those present for
their Calgary Folk Festival slot were converts by the end albeit from the
confines of their lawn chair.
Following a trawl through an afternoon of more sessions,
attention once again turned to the main stage evening line up and first up was the
talented Scottish traditional folk singer Rachel Sermanni. Still in her early
twenties, Rachel possess an amazing voice and although a little bit fazed by
the enormity of the vast main stage when partaking in between song banter,
there was no such intimidation when launching into fine songs such as ‘Ever Since the Chocolate’, ‘Sleep’ and ‘Song to a Fox’. There was no doubt that
Rachel won many Canadian plaudits during her tour of the country especially
with the strong Highland links that span the land. It will be interesting to
monitor her progress in the folk world back home.
Prior to catching Steve Earle’s headline set on the main
stage there was a slight disappointment when seeing the performance of Brooklyn
indie songstress Sharon Van Etten. Perhaps the location didn’t suit her dark moody
introspective manner but the hype surrounding her seemed misplaced when
witnessing a disjointed uninspiring set. However there was no to time dwell at
this festival as the missed opportunity to see Steve Earle on his recent UK
tour was rectified. The legendary folk, Americana, country and, anything else
you want him to be, performer embraced the spirit of Calgary by donning a white Stetson
for the early part of his set which focussed on the latest LOW HIGHWAY album. Steve
was on top form with his banter when dismissing a heckler demanding an
immediate version of ‘Copperhead Road’, although this classic was never
going to be left out of the segment containing ‘Galway Girl’, ‘Guitar Town’ and the set highlight ‘I Ain’t Ever Satisfied’. Although the
Duchess AKA Mrs Allison Moorer-Earle didn’t make the trip north as band member
at least, Steve continues to enthuse about the acquisition of The Mastersons by
referring to this being his best ever Dukes line up. There may be a lot of miles
on the clock but there’s plenty left in the creative tank of Steve Earle.
With credit to World Party, Kurt Vile and Credence
Clearwater Revisited (basically Revival’s rhythm section with a tribute vocalist
singing Fogarty’s songs) who all delivered fine sets, the final day of the 2013
Calgary Folk Festival for me was all about two acts, one familiar and the other
not. An excellent alt-country band
called the Coal Creek Boys from just over the Alberta border in British
Columbia first came to my attention during one of the workshops and subsequently
confirmed their ability to craft real life high quality songs in the Sunday
morning full band set in the tented sedentary TD Stage 6. With a rich heritage
sourced from the coalfields of B.C., the band led by John Paul Smith use rock
and roll as their outlet to recount tales of their proud tradition and deal
with the real issues of their surroundings. They have a fine new double release
out titled ROSETOWN: WHISKEY AND WINE with ‘Carrie
Nation’, ‘Rose Town’ and ‘GI Highway’
being superb tracks added to their Calgary set. The band is starting to get
good press in the States and have a ready-made audience in the UK if the two
can connect.
While waiting to see the main set from the festival’s stand
out performers Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison, a highly impressive performance
from Canadian folk duo DALA was stumbled upon. These two Toronto based artists
had an eye catching talent and a sound that ranks highly alongside the
abundance of compatriots that are very popular in the UK. Having noted their
acclaimed home status, surely some international recognition is not far away
and they are certainly an act pencilled in for future scrutiny.
It wasn’t quite a case of saving the best till last because
Texas husband and wife duo Kelly Willis and Bruce Robsion had a 5 o’clock slot
on an outside stage but their performance met all pre-determined expectations
and proved unequivocally the highlight of the entire festival. Following a
slightly uniformed introduction from the MC, the much respected duo, who have
both been stalwart servants to country and wider Americana music in Nashville
and Austin for a number of years, gave a superb performance littered with
evidence of their eminence. Bruce, the writer of country hits for George Strait
‘Wrapped’, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw ‘Angry All The Time’ and Dixie Chicks ‘Travellin’ Soldier’, enthralled the
audience with each of these songs. Kelly, a much respected vocalist, took lead
on ‘9999999 Tears’, ‘Dreaming’ and the Tom T Hall tribute
track ‘That’s How I Got to Memphis’.
Their first album as a duo released earlier this year CHEATER’S GAME is a gem
of a record and a handful of excellent tracks from it lit up their woefully short
45 minute set. At present their album has a limited availability in the UK
which needs to be widened as well as encouragement for Kelly and Bruce to tour.
I suppose it was inevitable that a country and Americana act would rise to the top of the extremely eclectic Calgary Folk Festival but the real winners were the people of the city who rescued their beloved festival at the eleventh hour to enable us outside visitors to enjoy a fabulous four days of music. The setting is idyllic, the organisation is first class and the quality of the artistic presentation is hard to beat. The magic and inspiration of the Calgary Folk Festival will remain within me for a very long time.
www.calgaryfolkfest.com
