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Regina’s Andy Shauf has a song called “Singer Of Love Songs.” In it he sings, “I am a singer of love songs, waiting for my cue to start the presentation of falling in love with you.” It’s only mostly sarcastic, simultaneously admitting to a characteristic that is plainly obvious in his work while also playing up the disingenuous and affected nature of so many musicians who use “love songs” as an emotionless, contrived stand-by.

Vancouver’s Dave Hadgkiss is not a phony singer of love songs. This spring he released his first solo album under the moniker of Folk Thief, the independently-released Love, Heartache, and Oblivion. It’s a collection of songs that reveal Hadgkiss as not only an intriguing new voice on the Canadian music scene but also a songwriter who laces his love songs with some decidedly bleak underpinnings.

From a musical standpoint the album is pointedly bare-boned — the instrumentation here is entirely left in Hadgkiss’ hands, his acoustic guitar the only musical element put to tape, aside from vocals. His playing usually comes down to a strum that lands somewhere between forceful and restrained, his chord progressions occasionally quick and sprightly, sometimes dour and muted. Regardless, his playing stays out of the way and lets his words and voice be the focal point.

The album’s stand-out track is clearly the duet “Broken Record,” on which Hadgkiss is backed by fellow Vancouverite Kelly Haigh in a circular tale of a ping-pong kind of love; it’s a song for those who can’t seem to do better and get mired in a mediocre coupling. The couple portrayed in the lyric are constantly going back and forth: they sing about their future withering and dying, with Hadgkiss (presumably) left to his own devices after his lover leaves him. But he can’t stop obsessing over her, even seven months later, and eventually she phones to say she wants to come home. The song’s chorus is a revelation on their part: “How long do we drag this out?” they both ponder in a majestically melodic chorus. “If this is love I’ll go without,” they continue, but not without a note of forgiveness and regret. The song ends with Hadgkiss all but sighing, “I’ve been down this road so many times I think I’ll have it paved.” That’s such a good fucking line, you guys.

His lyrics get even darker on the majority of the 10-song album. “A Light For Liberty” is propelled by a nice, upbeat guitar strum but thematically he spends most of the time discussing impending death. People die in their sleep, there are beasts that need to be slain, and Hadgkiss’ chorus ends with him describing a scenario in which his body is used to fuel a bonfire. Scary! “The Devil Behind Me” is a harrowing tale of a drug-addled man facing his doom, made even more harrowing by Hadgkiss’ gravelly scream, a jarring vocal explosion that is thankfully used sparingly here. It stands way out on the last minute of the final track and it’s a startlingly memorable note to end the album on.

It’s clear a lot of time and attention went into these carefully-written songs, although Hadgkiss’ voice almost sounds like it’s a somewhat reluctant enterprise. Aside from the record’s final minutes his voice isn’t forceful, powerful, or assertive as much as tempered, almost understated. But it works in the context of these songs, dour little pieces of poetry that call for a certain measure of caution and gentleness.

It’s a memorable entry into a genre that is frequently flooded and Love, Heartache & Oblivion just might steal some ears if people take some time to listen.

Hadgkiss is in Regina tonight at the delightful Creative City Centre. For directions and information check out this link. To grab up a copy of the album GO TO THE SHOW!!!!! Or, conversely, buy the record here in both CD and digital forms.

Pat entries acoustic, Canadian content, Creative City Centre, Folk Thief, independent, live music

~ photo courtesy of Colleen Fraser
During the 42nd annual Regina Folk Festival CJTR, Regina’s community radio station, hosted a four hour live program from the heart of Victoria Park. The session included numerous interviews with various performers at the RFF, conducted by myself, Beth Currie (on Twitter @bedheadradio), and Rhonda Nye (who blogs at Indie Insider). We present that audio to you here for posterity and your perusal. Keep checking back, this is just one of many similar features.

Music is in the spirit, regardless of whose spirit it is.

That was part of the message delivered by The Sojourners, a group of gospel singers based in Vancouver. Originally from the United States, all three became Canadian citizens three years ago after adopting the country as their new home. The veteran vocalists were brought together to sing back-ups on an album by blues stalwart Jim Byrnes in 2007, corralled by and including Byrnes’ friend Marcus Moseley. The serendipitous collaboration proved to be heaven-sent and the three became The Sojourners from that day forth.

Moseley, Will Sanders, and Ron Small spent their childhoods singing in church, refining their vocal abilities like countless people possessed of the faith before them. After arriving in the country for those Byrnes sessions, the group has since recorded two albums for Steve Dawson’s Black Hen Records. The recordings encompass a variety of sounds, mostly antiquated. The group is frequently backed up with jazzy double bass, brushed drums, and acoustic, electric, and slide guitar. The tracks are injected with a high degree of soul, frequently recalling the fervor of gospel groups from the 60’s like the Soul Stirrers and The Five Blind Boys Of Alabama. Coming up singing in churches from their youngest years, the group possess incredible strength as individual vocalists and that power grows exponentially when they sing in tandem. They have the kind of chemistry most musicians spend their lives looking for.

During their workshop with Etran Finatawa on Saturday afternoon of the festival you could see people’s heads turning when they began their songs, passers-by drawn to the workshop tent to see who was making such a holy racket (granted, the fiery lead guitar provided by Etran Finatawa’s members probably caught some ears as well). I mentioned their version of The Mississippi Sheiks’ “He Calls That Religion (But I Know He’s Going to Hell When He Dies)” in an earlier post and it was definitely an attention-grabber; it’s lyrical chastising of a philandering preacher and other sordid characters struck me as almost explicit for the day-time audience, regardless of how pious it’s message may have been, especially when factoring in the conviction the group sang it with. To call it jarring is an understatement.

In the interview below, you’ll hear how humble and thankful the three singers really are. It was a genuine treat to get to talk to them, even if I am going to hell when I die.

Purchase The Sojourners records in physical form through Black Hen Music or digitally via iTunes.

Pat entries #RFF11, American content, Canadian content, CJTR, Gospel, live music, Regina Folk Festival, soul, The Sojourners

~ photo courtesy of Colleen Fraser
During the 42nd annual Regina Folk Festival CJTR, Regina’s community radio station, hosted a four hour live program from the heart of Victoria Park. The session included numerous interviews with various performers at the RFF, conducted by myself, Beth Currie (on Twitter @bedheadradio), and Rhonda Nye (who blogs at Indie Insider). We present that audio to you here for posterity and your perusal. Keep checking back, this is just one of many similar features.

The beauty of The Regina Folk Festival is the organizer’s ability to look not only far afield for remarkable and surprisingly under-the-radar talent, but also to do the same much closer to home. While Saskatchewan is eminently proud of our local performers (you’ll hear more about them in the coming days) we also got a taste of what’s on offer in our neighboring provinces. Chief among them is Michael Bernard Fitzgerald.

MBF is an unabashedly earnest human, in addition to being an unabashedly earnest singer and songwriter. His full-length debut, The Love LP, followed the release of two independent EPs and creates a slinky, somewhat funky vein of acoustic guitar-led pop that is equal parts folk festival- and radio-friendly (easy comparisons to the likes of Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz abound and are not inaccurate). His enthusiastic and playful persona is apparent in each track, with songs like “Care For You” written as art imitating life, borne of Fitzgerald’s own experiences in the dating world transcribed into song. Needless to say he’s as endlessly optimistic in those songs as he is in real life, always holding out hope (if not simply expecting) that love will win out in the end.

Despite his young age Fitzgerald has become a dynamic and confident performer, traits clearly on display during his teaser set on the Festival’s main stage. During the course of his songs Fitzgerald broke from the script and wandered into left field, morphing his own compositions into partial covers of Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” and Sisqou’s early 00’s pop relic “The Thong Song.” needless to say he got a lot of people’s attention in the process.

in the interview below you can hear Fitzgerald discuss his motivation for doing so and how he made his way to this year’s festival.

Buy MBF’s latest album, The Love LP, digitally from iTunes and physically from Amazon, I guess.

Pat entries #RFF11, Calgary, Canadian content, live music, Michael Bernard Fitzgerald, Regina Folk Festival

~ photo courtesy of Colleen Fraser
During the 42nd annual Regina Folk Festival CJTR, Regina’s community radio station, hosted a four hour live program from the heart of Victoria Park. The session included numerous interviews with various performers at the RFF, conducted by myself, Beth Currie (on Twitter @bedheadradio), and Rhonda Nye (who blogs at Indie Insider). We present that audio to you here for posterity and your perusal. Stay tuned, this is just the first of many similar features.

Starting fresh is the name of the game for Swift Current’s The Hard Ramblers. The roots music trio provided local colour to the festival roster as well as one of the “folkiest” sounds in this year’s line-up. The group has a decidedly bluegrass feel to it, the kind of bluegrass you’d find on a compilation record featuring the likes of Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt, and Earl Scruggs, genuine outlaw bluegrass with rockabilly bass lines and furiously picked guitar and banjo. Call them cousins of a group like The United Steel Workers Of Montreal, with perhaps a little bit less fire in the belly.

When Eliza Doyle (songwriter, singer, banjo-ist) approached us at the CJTR tent during our Saturday broadcast she was a little bit nervous, asking about what kind of questions we wanted to ask her. Our tack was pretty simple; Doyle and her bandmates are starting over after years and years in other groups. Doyle herself had actually appeared at the festival before years ago, as you’ll hear in the interview, with her band The Cracker Cats. But this was her new trio’s first kick at the can and they were eager to show the crowd what they’re made of.

The band’s appearance had a lot to do with the release of their first album, a collection of 14 tracks of fairly aggressive twang. The collection is a mixture of originals, traditional numbers, and antiquated covers that suit the band very well. Doyle, stand-up bassist Paula McGuigan, and guitarist Jody Weger’s voices all come together in delightful harmony, trading off lead and backing vocals as easily as can be. The content is exactly what you expect it to be, tales of romantic longing and prairie scenescapes rendered simultaneously familiar, energetic, and timeless.

Listen to the interview below to hear Doyle’s perspective on introducing a new group to a familiar audience and building from the ground up.

Reginans can get another taste of The Hard Ramblers’ medicine this Thursday, August 18th when they return to town for a headlining show at the delightful downtown venue The Creative City Centre. You can find it on the third floor of the old Leader building at 1843 Hamilton Street. Tickets are just $8 in advance, $10 at the door.

Pat entries #RFF11, Canadian content, country, folk, live music, Regina Folk Festival, roots, The Hard Ramblers

Parting can be such sweet sorrow but I have to say the end of the 2011 Regina Folk Festival was more the former than the latter.

The closing Sunday of the show had a distinct air of youth, vitality, newness in a very simple way. That’s not to say that the two previous days were hopelessly mired in the past, far from it; there was just a whole lot of enthusiasm at play.

Audiences (and the twitterverse alike) were abuzz with excitement over the daytime workshop sets, which began with a meeting of the minds Regina indie fans were clamoring for: Mike Dawson and Carl Johnson from Library Voices, along with local pianist Jeffery Straker and Marta Jaciubek-McKeever from weekend favourites ESL, teamed up with Fred Penner for a songwriting seminar. It apparently caused more than a little excitement, not just for the fact that Penner gave Johnson a bit of a clinic on how to properly tune a guitar. Later in the day the most adorable and enthusiastic acts possible teamed up for a workshop about love songs, including members of Hey Ocean!, Straker, and the boundless enthusiasm of Calgary’s Michael Bernard Fitzgerald. Crowds were also impossibly deep during the last set of workshops, including a grouping of locals Rah Rah, Library Voices, and Indigo Joseph. Hawksley Workman also hosted one of his own at the same time, surrounded by a cadre of ladies including Ashleigh from Hey Ocean!, Cris Derksen of ESL, and Cœur de pirate’s Béatrice Martin. That is some kind of inspired combination of artists and they did not fail to give the audience a unique experience to take home with them.

~ photo by Colleen Fraser

In the interest of full disclosure I have to admit I missed out on much of the day’s events. In addition to writing about my Saturday experience I was also dog-tired; I’d been out sick from work literally all week and two nights of festival-ing took a toll. So, sadly, I missed the main stage performance by Vancouver’s delightful gospel-inflected vocal group The Sojourners. It was one of the sets I’d been the most excited about, truthfully, especially after hearing all of (and seeing some of) their Saturday workshop session with Etran Finatawa and Shakura S’Aida’s backing band. During our interview the group detailed the decades they spent singing gospel in their American hometowns before getting together a few years ago, becoming Canadian citizens, and recording for the marvelous Black Hen label run by Steve Dawson. The constantly-smiling troupe were gracious and conciliatory, belying the belly-fire their powerful singing produces. Their music has undeniably blissful results, whether you’ve got the faith or not. My favourite example is their take on The Mississippi Sheiks’ song “He Calls That Religion (But I Know He’s Going to Hell When He Dies),” which brought a certain amount of fire and brimstone to the Saturday proceedings. I’m sure it must have gone over well on the main stage too.

~ photo by Colleen Fraser

Swift Current’s The Hard Ramblers provided some semi-local flavour in a teaser set after The Sojourner’s main stage kick-off to the evening. Banjo player and singer Eliza Doyle stopped by the CJTR tent earlier Saturday to outline the group’s deep-roots sound. Still a young group, the band put out its first CD Way On Down The Road this year, a collection of originals and a couple covers that Doyle promises is only the beginning of the group’s recorded output.

Regina’s own Library Voices appeared next, stoking the home-town crowd ahead of the release of their sophomore album Summer of Lust, out in less than three weeks time. My prairie dog pal Stephen Whitworth described the set thusly:

One of the liveliest shows I’ve ever seen at the Folk Fest. “Proof of what a lot of sugar in your diet can do,” as emcee Fred Penner said.

Now if you’ve seen the band you know that’s saying an awful lot. It isn’t too hard to picture, considering the band is firing on all cylinders right now: they’ve booked shows for this summer and fall as far away as California and their new record is a barn-burner. They put a limited number of copies up for sale over the course of the weekend, one of which I happened to have the good fortune to pick up. It’s a lithe set of songs that have a live-from-the-floor feeling, with much less of a glossed-up and studio-y temperance to it. After a few introductory listens I’m inclined to say the songs might have more impact and staying power than their debut (which, despite having some unadulterated pop gems for songs has not found as permanent a space on my iPod as I would’ve expected).

~ photo by Colleen Fraser

I finally managed to drag myself out to the park just as Cœur de pirate was beginning their set. Béatrice Martin and her three-piece backing band were a surprisingly big draw. During our Saturday interview she seemed genuinely flummoxed about her success the last few years in English-speaking areas (the project got a big boost in 2009 when a viral video containing one of her songs was played on Good Morning America south of the border). She admits the brunt of her efforts have been made in Quebec and France, but I have to say nearly every woman in her 20’s I spoke to ahead of the festival insisted Cœur de pirate was one of the acts they were most excited for and only one of them speaks any French.

~ photo by Colleen Fraser

The appeal, I have to say, isn’t entirely unsurprising. Whether or not you speak en francais the songs have a very immediate quality that is undeniable. On record Béatrice’s voice is sprightly and coy, a cooing soprano that comes across as delicate, playful, and fragile in all the places that it needs to be. Those same qualities are just as readily apparent in a live setting but the songs don’t seem to have the same power without a bit of compression and studio polish to make them pop. Martin avails herself best when her piano is in play, but when she stepped away from the keys and let her band’s acoustic guitars carry the brunt of the musical burden the songs came across as flimsier, thinner. Perhaps it had more to do with where we were standing but the “country” song in the midst of a stretch of brand new material towards the end of the set had guitar that was practically inaudible. Everything seemed to go swimmingly for Martin, however; she was free and easy with her smiles and ended many songs with a flourish of her arms, as if to say, “That’s it. What do you think?” She even giggled openly during one or two songs, apparently a sign that she was happy with the response she was getting. From the looks and reaction from the crowd she has every reason to be.

In perhaps the most unnecessary move of the entire festival, Sunday night MC Fred Penner played a teaser set between Cœur de pirate and Hawksley Workman. Not messing around, the bearded icon reprised Friday’s biggest numbers, “Sandwiches” and “The Cat Came Back,” even slipping a bit of K-Os’ hit “Crabbuckit” into the latter. The somewhat inebriated audience issued several jubilant meows back at him as well, applauding giddily at any given opportunity. Whatever the reason for his sudden resurgence it’s well-deserved and no one can deny it. After imploring us to never lose our youthful exuberance someone in the audience handed Penner a long-stem rose, which he dutifully tucked behind one ear before introducing the night (and the festival’s) final headliner.

I kind of wish Hawksley Workman’s music could always be like it was last night. The flamboyant performer was in fine, albeit vaguely schizophrenic, form. Performing in a pinstriped suit and accompanying hat alongside piano player “Mr. Lonely,” Workman took his time launching into each song, almost as if he was doing a Storytellers episode or something. A series of apparently stream-of-conscious stories and admissions began nearly every song with Workman speaking at length about each one’s origin and cracking a joke a minute. At times it almost seemed like the music was getting in the way of Workman’s stand-up material, as he interrupted himself by talking about his extensive knowledge of The Bob Newhart Show or wondering why someone left half the lights on in the “lightning bolt” (re: SaskPower) building across from the park. At one point he extended the bridge of one song by five or six minutes to explain a sudden vision that he had of inviting the whole audience into his basement to watch him play the drums, closing his eyes and swinging at an imaginary kit for a few minutes. “And maybe I’ve locked the door behind you,” he deadpanned as the entire audience erupted in laughter.

That train of thought was interrupted when “Mr. Lonely” pulled off an intriguing piano run that caught his imagination. Workman strode purposefully over to the electric piano and Lonely slid down the bench, allowing Workman to take over the bass notes while he worked the high end. The two improvised for a few minutes, no words being uttered. Just as impressive was his sudden breaks into heavy metal-esque guitar solos during an otherwise-sparse version of “Jealous Of Your Cigarette” and “Tarantula.”

Of course, his style of performance could only be pulled off by a supremely confident musician and that is Workman to a T. Having played with his sideman on piano for more than a dozen years the two clearly have a close kinship that allows them to follow each other’s musical whims in an almost intuitive way. Workman has a knack for crafting fanciful songs of unyielding beauty, his voice alone driving them into a higher atmosphere. His wild falsetto, while not always necessarily in the right key, is a wonton display of passion, undeniable evidence that he’s simultaneously both lost and present in the moment and the song, whichever one he happens to be in.

With no shortage of passion he brought thousands of festival audience members along with him. It was a scene, man.

~ photo by Colleen Fraser

After Workman’s electric set Fred Penner emerged from the wings and called out more performers: Shakura S’Aida, The Sojourners, Workman and more came out for a two-song finale that included “This Little Light of Mine” as a closer. Inviting and applauding the volunteers, Penner called for as many of them as possible to take the stage and sing and dance along, which they were more than happy to do. It was a very “folk festival” move, but you wouldn’t have found a person in the crowd that wasn’t lit up with a smile when it happened.

Here’s to next year, Regina!

Pat entries Canadian content, Coeur de Pirate, Fred Penner, Hawksley Workman, Library Voices, live music, Regina Folk Festival, Shakura S'Aida, The Hard Ramblers, The Sojourners

This right here is the big finish at the 42nd annual Regina Folk Festival. And what a finish it was.

Let’s talk more about this tomorrow, Regina. Right now my dogs are barking hard and you owe me some sleep.

Thanks to Sandra, Amanda, and everyone at the festival for allowing me to run around for three days feigning importance. The festival might be done, but you’ll be seeing more from me than you might’ve expected to in the coming days.

UPDATE: Check out our full photo set, now up on flickr. Thanks to James Brotheridge and the Prairie Dog for the link.

Pat entries #RFF11, Canadian content, finale, Fred Penner, Hawksley Workman, live music, Regina Folk Festival, Shakura S'Aida, Shotgun Jimmie, The Sojourners

~ photo by Brandi Book
Main stage proceedings on the second day of the Regina Folk Festival began with a downpour. At least, that’s what I’ve been told.

After four hours broadcasting live with my CJTR cohorts, I went home to nap. I was exhausted. My tired brain also managed to transpose the hours that shows were starting with the hours from the night before. Assuming Vancouver’s Dan Mangan didn’t go on until 7:00 pm, I slept until 6:30. Damn it.

It’s a shame. It’s a cryyyyyyying shame, but them’s the breaks. I was really looking forward to Mangan’s set. During our CJTR interview the singer/songwriter admitted that his set would feature a lot of new material, maybe too much in his estimation. He exuded a quiet confidence about the new material, insisting that he’s always had more song ideas in his head than he was able to get out at one time and stressing his opinion that this album is a more important record than his break-out album Nice, Nice, Very Nice. Moreover, he told us that it’s a flat-out better album. That’s saying an awful lot, considering his last record boasts several perfect songs with dense hooks and a playful sense of humour. The implication of a greater sense of maturity is interesting, but all I have to go on is the song included below because I MISSED THE G-D SET!

My cohort Rhonda, host of the illustrious Campus Countdown program, informed me that the rain hit hard during the hour, leading to the cancellation of local piano hero Jeffery Straker’s set. During an interview earlier in the day Straker showed the endless enthusiasm that has driven him to record three releases in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Toronto in the last two years. Check out his web store and get some of his music, the guy deserves some attention!

I arrived at the beginning of Quebec-based Italian band leader Marco Calliari’s set. The charming, well-dressed folk festival newbie provided one of our best interviews of the day, revealing how he dealt with his first foray into workshops involving other artists and his history in thrash metal. On the festival’s main stage he and his six-piece band fulfilled his promise to bring a more festive atmosphere to Regina’s festival, constantly exhorting the audience to clap along with every song, to get up and dance, to jump as high as they can, and to spin in circles.

The group utilizes trumpet, accordion, and electric and acoustic guitars to create upbeat songs that bridge the gap between rock and roll, cabaret, and folk music. Elements of reggae, Italian balladry, and more are woven into songs that are entirely sung in Italian. The language barrier was nonexistent, as the crowd was easily coerced into singing along when prompted as well. Calliari also helped by giving some of the background on songs like “L’Americano,” which he explained was about the obsession of Tuscan teenagers in the late 1950’s with American movie stars like James Dean and Marilyn Monroe. The high-energy number was one of many in a set that passed all too quickly.

The RFF’s closest thing to beach bums hit the main stage next for a short teaser set. Hey Ocean! are a group of three young Vancouverites that seem to be obsessed with the vast expanse of water with which they share their name. Pared down to acoustic guitars and vocals for the brief set, the three found a typically warm reception for their breezy pop tunes, their easy harmonies and gentle rhythms washing over the crowd as a light rain fell on the park.

A major highlight on a night filled with highlights was Toronto’s Shakura S’Aida. She had a tumultuous journey just getting to Regina; after missing a morning flight, her afternoon flight was delayed as well. A slight hitch in travel plans didn’t stop the downright fierce performer from absolutely bowling over the entire audience. S’Aida is a 20 year veteran with a range of jazz, blues, and R&B experience. Her singing is effortless and immensely powerful, switching from gentle cooing to sultry growling in the same breath. A consummate performer, S’Aida’s charisma is overpowering. In a precipitously short dress, she prowled back and forth across the stage, singing a range of powerful songs about women done wrong and teaching men how to be the right kind of lover.

S’Aida interacted continuously with the audience, especially during the lead-off track to her 2010 album Brown Sugar. Teasing the audience and eliciting numerous call-and-responses about whether or not the ladies/fellows want a “Mr. Right”/”Mrs. Right” and how they might go about finding one. The song also served as an opportunity to highlight members of her backing band, including incredible lead guitarist Donna Grantis. S’Aida’s writing partner up the backbone of her sound, wielding a thickly-distorted guitar tone that drives home every bluesy lick. Grantis is an incredibly gifted guitarist and soloist that absolutely electrified the audience over and over again. The entire set was powerful and an unexpected delight.

The next teaser group is probably the single most frequently-seen act of the weekend. Between a Friday set on the Scarth Street Mall, a full set Saturday, numerous workshop appearances, and a teaser set on the main stage Vancouver’s ESL has played more times than I can count. The four ladies in the group create a magnetic combination of pop, rock, and energy that features trumpet, keyboards, drums and cello. Whether it was playing their originals or an unexpected set of covers by the likes of the Velvet Underground, Beastie Boys, and Neil Young the group was turning heads at every corner of the park and managed to win a whole new slew of fans.

~ photo courtesy of Brandi Book

But the evening (up until KD Lang’s closing set) belonged to Taj Mahal. While we at CJTR couldn’t secure an interview with him, Folk festival staff insisted that meeting the icon was a very sobering experience. He apparently spent much of the day just hanging out backstage, meeting and chatting with anyone who happened to stop by. He brought the same loose attitude to the stage. Introduced with his bassist and drummer as The Taj Mahal Trio, the stately blues legend approached the mic with a relaxed confidence that carried throughout the set.

His time-weathered voice was as commanding as S’Aida’s in an entirely different way. Despite it’s gruffness Mahal is playful and charismatic, alternately purring, growling, squealing, and shouting to the crowd. He had the audience deep in the palm of his hand, exhorting them to respond over and over whenever he shouted, “Commence the boogie!” And he did, over and over again, a massive smile on his mustachioed face. He appealed to the older crowd by praising the ladies among them, saying he wanted to celebrate “the first generation of grandmothers to wear mini-skirts.” He occasionally broke into a light falsetto made all the more entertaining by it’s broken, gruff underpinnings. With 40 years in music he’s clearly got an incomparable confidence in his sound.

Despite his advanced age his hands are as lively as ever, his expressive fingering and picking creating an absurdly forceful and percussive blues sound. As a group the trio is incredibly intuitive to each other’s playing, whether Mahal is playing his guitar, keyboard, or banjo. His multi-note finger-picking and lyrical poetry made “Queen Bee” one of the most purely enjoyable moments of live music I’ve ever experienced. It was amazing to see the amount of people that were unabashedly boogieing in the crowd.

You couldn’t ask for a better lead-in to KD Lang’s headlining set.

More still to come, including a run-down on Sunday’s main stage acts and artist spotlights from CJTR’s four hour live broadcast!

Pat entries #RFF11, Canadian content, Dan Mangan, ESL, festivals, Hey Ocean!, Jeffrey Straker, live music, Marco Calliari, Regina Folk Festival, Shakura S'Aida, Taj Mahal, Taj Mahal Trio, The Secret Sisters

~ photo courtesty of Brandi Book

During what can only be described as an indescribable set at the Regina Folk Festival on Saturday night KD Lang encouraged us all to repent. So here it is: I’m sorry I’ve taken you for granted for so long.

Let’s back up. My day was jam-packed with festival goings-on, due in no small part to my inclusion on CJTR’s first-ever live broadcast from the RFF site. The four hour spectacular saw us interviewing a boatload of performers, organizers, volunteers, even festival-goers. We’ll talk more about that later, along with the rest of the night’s main stage performers.

But my goodness, even if KD Lang was the only performer on Saturday I think it would’ve been one of the more memorable nights at the festival. Taking the stage as headliner after an incredible set by Taj Mahal and his backing band, Lang strode purposefully to the front of the stage after her band The Siss Boom Bang fell into position. From the first chord that stage belonged to Lang and only Lang.

I don’t think it’s inaccurate to say that she has swagger. Stage presence like this is a rarity. From the outset Lang alternated between stalking, lunging, walking, and dancing over every single available inch of the stage, making constant eye contact with audience members, even stopping at the front of the stage and staring intently at one person for ten seconds at a time. Intensity in 10 cities, Live at Budokan, as Wayne Campbell would say. At times she began gyrating her hips, the visual and her unmistakable voice making a pretty goddamn good argument that KD Lang is the closest thing we’ve got to Elvis Presley right now (in a good way, obviously).

Her band is big and brilliant. Six players flawlessly recreate Lang’s catalogue numbers and tracks from their latest album, Sing It Loud. Lap steel, piano, and fantastic guitar work are all effortlessly performed and the band look good doing it; like Lang, they dress in all black, including matching tailored jackets. Most of the group looks young enough to have missed out on much of Lang’s career but their performances are fantastic, especially the spot-on, perfectly harmonized backing vocals.

But the show is 100% Lang. She is as malleable performer as she is a singer, putting forth an incredible intensity for new track “I Confess” before switching to a coquettish vampiness (including unexpected self-groping at the front of the stage) during a terrific rendition of the vaguely Latin-flavoured “Miss Chatelaine.” She emoted about as much as one can responsibly get away with during her hotly-anticipated cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” long a centerpiece of her own act but given new vitality after her crackerjack performance at last year’s Vancouver Olympics. I’ve long held that Jeff Buckley’s version is the definitive one but I’m having doubts after seeing the power and intensity of Lang’s live arrangement. It was nothing short of astounding, I assure you — it might actually be the best argument I’ve heard yet for the existence of God.

And the surprises kept coming. After Lang exhorted the crowd to repent, she and the band broke into a song that made my face look like this:

~ photo courtesty of Brandi Book

Lang and the band played a cover of “Heaven” by the Talking Heads, one of my all-time favourite bands of all time. And it was a great cover. Like all of Lang’s songs her voice makes whatever she plays her own. Her tenor never wavers, carrying even the lengthiest notes at a strong and steady clip. Even when it drops to a whisper it has total command of the audience, even more so than her physicality and performance. She’s the total package as an entertainer.

Leaving nothing to chance, Lang pulled out all the stops for the fevered audience of thousands (including more than a few people who were listening in from outside the fence). She went all the way through two encores, even playing what is arguably her most well-known hit, “Constant Craving.” Needless to say no one left unsatisfied.

RFF artistic director Sandra Butel has said that there are still people who talk about Lang’s 1985 performance at the festival. I have no doubt that’s true, just like I have no doubt that people will be doing the same about this set in the same fashion for decades to come.

Check out KD Lang’s web store for for physical albums and iTunes for digital.

Pat entries #RFF11, Canadian content, country, covers, k.d. lang, KD Lang and The Siss Boom Bang, live music, Regina Folk Festival, rock

~ photo by Colleen Fraser

That’s one night in the books!

The Regina Folk Festival’s 2011 edition is in the books and it was a hell of a start. After opening it’s gates to an honest-to-goodness line-up at 6:00 pm the show got underway promptly at 7:00. Evening host Grant Lawrence (CBC Radio 3 host and Adventures In Solitude author) gave a pretty heart-felt welcome, extolling on the virtues of the Regina festival in his fifth year as a host (I’m pretty sure that’s what he said, anyway).

The park space is in fine form, the audience area quite visibly larger than in previous years. The beer garden area seems to be expanded as well, providing some tables and chairs for those not looking to spend their time directly in front of the stage.

~ photo by Colleen Fraser
The sun was still up when the gentleman Fred Penner and his electric guitarist/bassist took the stage, the first act to open up the weekend. Penner was a treat, as jubilant and effervescent in his presentation as I can remember him being on television as a youngster. The songs were pretty evenly split in terms of ones I recognized and ones I didn’t. Memory is a funny thing, though; for instance, I don’t remember a mouth-fart noise being planted right in the middle of the wonderful “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No More.”

While his oeuvre remains firmly ensconced in children’s songs Penner clearly recognizes the maturity of his audience, the ones who grew up with his songs and TV show and are now fully grown. “Where In The World Are You?” featured a spoken word break in which Penner asked the crowd if they’d seen the Holy Grail recently (he asked the show’s artistic director if they had any left, only to be told that they gave the last one away ten minutes earlier). He sang a song about garbage as well that was downright apocalyptic in it’s thoroughness as a cautionary tale. “We’re filling up the water with garbage,” he sang, continuing, “soon there will be nothing left but garbage.” Penner and his axeman also showed their age by performing a brief snippet of “Ghost Riders (In The Sky)” and “Stairway To Heaven,” the latter of which resulted in a short staged argument between the two.

~ photo by Colleen Fraser
Penner is also keenly aware of his biggest hits, saving “Sandwiches” and “The Cat Came Back” for his closing numbers, a one-two punch that is guaranteed to go over big. The cadre of kids and toddlers at the front of the audience area dancing along throughout the set were more than happy to indulge Penner when he called out for them to make their best cat noise…repeatedly.

The man Grant Lawrence insisted in his introduction is a Canadian legend was an inspired choice to open up three days of chaos and wonderment. Shotgun Jimmie is about the only other performer that could’ve had a snowball’s chance in hell of following him.

Jimmie was the first of what will be a lot of “teaser” performances, the brief three song/15 minute (or often less) sets that keep the audience busy while stage crews set up for the next major act. The host of Saturday’s main stage (and a Saturday Sunlit Stage performer) showed off his charisma by playing a kid’s song of his own after Penner wrapped up, singing a very passable song about breakfast. Performing solo with just an acoustic guitar, Jimmie followed that number up with two about drinking booze. Running far less than 15 minutes, his three songs passed all too quickly, but the “teaser” set served it’s purpose; the growing audience got a great view of his charm and sense of humour.

Montreal’s indie rock band of the moment, Braids, took the stage next. Having only a passing familiarity with their debut album, Native Speaker, I was pleasantly surprised by the performance. They’re more than capable in a live setting, considering the relatively complex structures of their songs and their young age. Their pop side came out in spades, their hooks sounding enormous in the park setting. Their structured songs were immensely enjoyable, but from a personal standpoint I felt like their drawn-out psychedelic moments were a somewhat jarring transition from Penner’s (and Jimmie’s) acoustic playfulness. Still, singer Katie Lee rose above the din with her sweet, cooing vocals, her soaring falsetto almost-but-not-quite reaching a yodel, creating an unmistakable entrance to the group’s sophisticated sound. A great choice for the festival’s first big rock moment.

Earlier in the day the festival launched with a performance by B.C.’s ESL on the nearby Scarth Street stage. The all-girl rock band features cello, keyboards, drums, and a trumpet. Cellist Cris Derksen provided the second “teaser” set, taking the big main stage by herself. Her solo material is world’s away from ESL’s energetic, upbeat pop. Carried by her moodily-bowed instrument, Derksen utilized pre-recorded and looped electronic elements to create a foreboding soundscape that falls somewhere between Owen Pallet’s work and Halifax’s bombastic It Kills. She played two longer, fairly ambient songs that were punctuated be her (literally) howling vocals. It was equal parts chilling and exciting. Considering the breadth of her work on Friday Derksen is clearly a multi-talented artist that we’ll all want to keep our eyes on.

~ photo by Colleen Fraser
Nigerian group Etran Finatawa captured the audience’s attention in a big way as the sun set and the stage lights came up. The six-piece is comprised of members of two warring tribes, come together in a show of unity between people. They also unify musical styles and instruments, using traditional percussion instruments as well as acoustic and electric guitars. Taking stage in full robes and face paint (depending on each member’s specific tribal affiliation), their brand of “nomad blues” was an engaging mix of familiar, almost Western-sounding song structures and completely foreign sounds. Though the language was completely unfamiliar the group’s vocal harmonies were deft, also seeming somehow familiar. Heck, one song almost sounded like country music. An extremely warm response from the audience elicited a few words of English, as the group gave an equally-enthusiastic “Thank you, Canada,” at a few points.

~ photo by Colleen Fraser
Showing his affinity for the underground, Lawrence provided an effusive introduction for Saskatoon’s terrific Slow Down, Molasses, calling them the best band in Saskatoon. You really can’t disagree with that assertion right now; Lawrence related the band’s story of how they managed to book a spot on the lucrative End Of The Road festival in the UK, a testament to their pluck and determination to play the best they can, even if it’s to fewer people than make up the band.

What is normally a seven-piece group was shrunk to just three members for the band’s teaser set. Band leader Tyson McShane and Jeanette Stewart handled vocals on three songs, all of which were stripped of the electronic guitars that have become a more prevalent presence on their latest record. Broken down to acoustic guitar, banjo, and tambourine their songs weren’t exactly hushed or fragile but also weren’t bombastic. They were earnest and filled the space in their recorded arrangements with focused energy. Nature itself was even on their side, as the goddamn Northern Lights made a brief appearance during their set (during the song “Lights” no less). If you didn’t look up you might have missed it. Thankfully members of the audience began calling out “northern lights,” as though it was a song request the band could never have honoured.

~ photo by Colleen Fraser
The real break-out set of the night, however, belonged to Andrew Bird. During an interview Friday afternoon headliner KT Tunstall tipped the Chicagoan as the act she was most looking forward to this weekend and he definitely won over several thousand audience members with an incredible performance. Reminiscent of Owen Pallett’s jaw-dropping set back in 2009, Bird performed solo with only a violin and occasional electric guitar parts. Much of his time was spent looping violin parts, building up layered performance tracks as he went (much like Pallett). His first few songs were instrumental, aside from his prolific whistling. The intricate stacking of plucked notes and strumming on the violin seemed to transform people’s expectations of the instrument and Bird even seemed to be throwing some improvised elements into some tracks as well, a practice he’s more than used to. The crowd responded powerfully to his efforts, which is probably good because he essentially avoided banter with the audience altogether. The longer set lengths given to the latter performers worked out well for him; as his set seemed to go and go he only picked up more steam and the audience was wowed.

Calgary’s Michael Bernard Fitzgerald came the closest of anyone to late-night content, slipping portions of Sir Mix-A-Lot and Sisquo songs into his acoustic love balladry. The guy is beyond talented, his voice a powerful and perfectly-controlled counterpoint to his guitarwork. His entire teaser set seemed to flow by very quickly with the crowd adoring his efforts to lighten and brighten the mood.

Scottish singer KT Tunstall provided a number of electric moments in her headlining set as well, to the surprise of many (on Twitter, at least). Plenty of audience members could be heard to remark how varied and dynamic her set was. Opening with several newer numbers and a more rock and roll sound (characteristic of her most recent full-length album), Tunstall even knocked some socks off with an unexpected cover of The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” — complete with some powerful kazoo playing. How can you respond to that?

So much more to come tomorrow. Click here to see Saturday’s main stage and free day stage schedules.

Pat entries #RFF11, Andrew Bird, Braids, Canadian content, Cris Derksen, Etran Finatawa, festivals, Fred Penner, KT Tunstall, live music, Michael Bernard Fitzgerald, Regina Folk Festival, Shotgun Jimmie, Slow Down Molasses

Slow Down, Molasses is not just a clever name. To say that this band’s songs take their time to get where they’re going is more often than not an understatement. Thankfully for music fans, however, they’re not so patient when it comes to putting out new songs.

The Saskatoon group is embarking on a new journey, releasing its new album Walk Into The Sea in digital formats today (CD and vinyl will follow on the 15th). The one-time mostly-folky alt-country act has chosen the perfect title for an album that sees a shift in form that flows naturally from its earlier work. It’s also an album that sets the band apart from other collective groups, which seem to be becoming more and more prevalent in Canada’s independent music scene.

I remember seeing the band live for the first time last year. They played a typewriter on-stage, something that astounded me then and still kind of astounds me now (glad to see it’s still in the mix on the opening track, by the way). But the change in band leader Tyson McShane’s MO is clear right from the start. Lead track “Sometimes We All Fall Apart” establishes the past and the present immediately, opening with a lonesome guitar and mournful, tastefully-reverbed vocals before a hint of feedback leads builds into a full-on, heavily distorted electric guitar build. The song is a sorrowful lament about loneliness, an emotion that’s writ throughout many of the tracks on the album.

The noisy ending dovetails with second cut “Bodies,” which picks up where it’s predecessor leaves off: McShane is standing before a sprawling body of water, remembering his own death. While the band’s sound has been called “as spacious as Saskatchewan,” the vivid imagery presented here seems to suggest that this record is informed as much by all of Canada’s scenic landscapes as a whole, not just our own dusty province. The track’s languid pace is familiar for the band as well, a slow arrangement that is as much shoegaze as anything also serves as the listener’s first taste of what’s to come: gradually-sawed violins, complementary horns, and a patient build-up all lead to a squalling wall-of-sound ending that shows McShane and his large group of players aren’t afraid of venturing into a noisy mix as long as every part continues to serve the song as a whole.

The appearance of more straight-forward rock and roll comes in the form of tracks like “Late Night Radio” and the fantastic instrumental number “Wake Me Up At The Coast” (which is really the only track that justifies the inevitable Broken Social Scene comparisons). Both feature quicker tempos, fearless power chords, and fantastic auxilliary instrumentation, namely the very-welcome presence of a terrific horn section.

The remainder of the album is an incredibly lush and lovely exercise marked by gorgeous, if occasionally sombre, songs. McShane’s fantastic duet with east coast indie maven Julie Doiron is definitely a highlight as the two paint an evocative picture of fall on the prairies, fragile fallen leaves collapsing around them. Their voices are wonderful counterparts, McShane’s breathy delivery blending with Doiron’s as intimately as the trumpets and strings do in the instrumental breaks. It’s a pastoral tune that, like several songs here, brings a tangible, visceral set of images to mind.

McShane’s lyrical scene-setting, combined with the purposeful and creative instrumentation, production, and mixing of this record, creates a remarkable listen that will elicit different reactions and lyrical interpretations from every listener. That open-ended universality can and should make Walk Into The Sea one of the more notable releases from our humble province this year, if not Canada.

The band is heading out on tour soon, which is great for two reasons: you can see them live and they’re taking fellow Saskatchewanian Jeans Boots along with them.

Jeans Boots is the stage name for Jeanette Stewart, a creative rock and roller who has also just issued a new EP of her own, Txt Msgs.

Stewart’s sound could be described as a combination of Best Coast and Eric’s Trip, gritty guitars and playful, occasionally cooing vocals that shove classic pop-rock arrangements ahead full-throttle. The frequently-muscular rock sound that dominates this recording was a bit jarring at first, being that I was really only familiar with some of her older acoustic numbers, but it couldn’t suit her better. She sounds like she’s been playing this kind of music forever.

All in all, it’s shaping up to be the first can’t-miss tour of the spring. Make sure you don’t!

Slow Down, Molasses (yeah, I’m capitalizing all the words) albums are available at their Bandcamp page for a VERY reasonable price. If you prefer iTunes for some reason or CD Baby for some fool reason those are there too.

Jeans Boots has a shiny Bandcamp site that is even MORE affordable!

Tour dates, yo:
March 10 - Saskatoon - Caffe Sola Walk Into The Sea w/ Dreaming of Electric Sheep (All Ages album release)
March 11 - Saskatoon - Amigo’s (Walk Into The Sea album release & tour kick off)
March 12 - Edmonton - Wunderbar w/ Jeans Boots and Jessica Jalbert
March 15 - Vancouver - The Biltmore w/ Jeans Boots and Aunts & Uncles
March 17 - Calgary - Broken City w/ Deadhorse and Scars & Scarves
March 18 - Regina - O’Hanlons w/ Jeans Boots
March 19 - Winnipeg - The Lo Pub w/ Jeans Boots, The Empty Standards and The Slow Dancers
March 20 - Thunder Bay - The Apollo w/ Jeans Boots
March 22 - Toronto - The Horseshoe w/ Jeans Boots
March 24 - Halifax - Gus’ Pub w/ Jeans Boots, Dance Movie and Klarka Weinwurm
March 25 - Fredricton - The Capitol w/ Sleepless Nights and Writer’s Strike
March 26 - Sackville - The Royal Canadian Legion (Shotgun Jimmie CD release)
March 27 - Charlottetown - Baba’s w/ Jeans Boots
March 29 - Montreal - L’escogriffe w/ Jeans Boots
March 30 - Ottawa - The Raw Sugar w/ Jeans Boots and The Ethics
March 31 - Peterborough - The Cannery Arts Centre w/ Jeans Boots and Typewriter
April 1 - Toronto - The Garrison w/ Forest City Lovers and Kite Hill
April 2 - London - APK Live w/ Forest City Lovers and Olenka & the Autumn Lovers

Pat entries Canadian content, indie rock, Jeans Boots, Julie Doiron, live music, musical typewriters, Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Slow Down Molasses