Sound Salvation Army

Secret Sisters are actually sisters! There is no secret!

Now that we’ve put that little mystery to bed let’s expand a little. Laura and Lydia Rogers have music coursing through their very veins, a legacy of writing, playing, and singing that dates back to their ancestors. They’re young; it’s only been a couple of years since they’ve been pursuing music professionally, although they’ve been playing since they outgrew the bassinet. It allowed them to not only establish an impossibly-deep musical bond but also to craft songs that have instantly caught the ear of Americana music royalty like T Bone Burnett. He’s putting out the duo’s record and he’s not being very shy about it.

I have been making music for over forty years and The Secret Sisters album is as close to pure as it gets…Listening to the Secret Sisters sing, you hear in their voices a sound that is timeless and of the moment. You hear the history of rural American music from the 1920’s and a reverence for every musical genre this country has produced. Popular music requires the absolute honesty of the Secret Sisters and I’m thrilled to be involved in presenting them to the world.

That’s effusive praise, especially coming from the guy who played guitar for Bob Dylan and has won this many accolades (in addition to putting together the greatest soundtrack of all time.

They played a short teaser before KD Lang took the main stage on Friday night at the festival and the audience response was nothing short of fervent, especially when the nervous tremors in their voices while making small-talk with the crowd gave way to a chill-inducing a capella number that showed the depth of their musical understanding and interconnectedness.

Hear more about the sisters’ musical bond and their surprised reaction to the Regina Folk Festival in the interview below.

This interview wraps up our Regina Folk Festival interview feature for this year, sadly. While we endeavored to roll tape on all the artists who came by our tent some battery issues and forgetfulness meant we didn’t get enough of some interviews to publish. That means you won’t get to hear Cœur de Pirate’s Béatrice Martin and the audible contempt in her voice when I couldn’t properly pronounce her band’s name (due to my excessively English language skills) or ESL’s Cris Derksen discuss basses with Beth. Still, it was fun! Here’s hoping we get to do it next year too!

 

 Secret Sisters interiview: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Secret Sisters - The One I Love Is Gone: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Secret Sisters have their music for sale via their web site and through the iTunes thingy dingy.

Pat entries #RFF11, acoustic, CJTR, interviews, live music, Regina Folk Festival, Secret Sisters

He came over to our tent between playing a workshop at one of the free tents in Victoria Park during our broadcast on the Saturday of the Folk Festival. We were in the midst of an interview and he wandered off, coming back later on and apologizing for being late. What a sweetheart he is!

Mangan comes across as a genuine, relaxed Vancouverite, which I expect is exactly what he is at his core. He leaned casually against our table while spending a good 10 to 12 minutes chatting with our Rhonda Nye, who really could not have been more excited to talk to Mangan (he was one of the acts she was most thrilled to see this year). He has a very unassuming manner in conversation, making easy eye contact and laughing without reluctance.

It matches the tone of his work to date as well. His breakthrough album Nice, Nice, Very Nice is a collection of acoustic songs that have a unique energy, sometimes rocketing along at a high pace and sometimes moving as slowly as Slow Down, Molasses. His singing voice is acres away from his speaking voice, low and gravelly without sacrificing melody. His songs retain a sense of humour as well; you can hear him grinning as he sings a fanciful tune like “Robots” and the songs are that much better for it.

But all that seems to be set to change on his new record, Oh Fortune, which is released this week. The three tracks that have been released early are all rock and roll, make no mistake about it; electric guitars, heavy drums, aggressive tempos, group vocals, and amps-to-11 solos run throughout these three cuts. It’s not a wholesale change of direction but it stands out in a big way. It should be interesting to see if that scope follows through the entire running time.

You can hear Mangan discuss Oh Fortune, his touring schedule, and a road regret or two in the interview below.

 

 Dan Mangan Interview [5:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Dan Mangan - Rows Of Houses: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Dan Mangan - Road Regrets: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Mangan’s new album drops tomorrow on Arts & Crafts Records. Pick it up through his own web site, the A&C store, or the iTunes machine.

Pat entries #RFF11, Canadian content, CJTR, Dan Mangan, festivals, interviews, live music, Regina Folk Festival

Marco Calliari was one of the best and most pleasant surprises of the 2011 Regina Folk Festival for me. Having literally no knowledge of his existence until I started doing research for our interviews I was not expecting such a charming, charismatic, gregarious individual. What I thought might be a three minute interview went on and on, each question a springboard for his funny, fun-loving personality to vault forward from.

Calliari is Italian and he wants you to know it. He now calls Quebec home and it was in la belle province that he began his foray into playing music professionally. Back in 1989 he formed the thrash metal band Anonymous. His true love, however, lay in the music of his ancestors. In 2003 he began his solo career, marrying the racing tempos of thrash metal with the romance and ribaldry of his Italian heritage. The result, as I mentioned in my review of his main stage performance at the RFF, is a high-octane Italian-language take on the rollicking cabaret sound fostered by groups like Gogol Bordello.

Calliari in a one-on-one situation is much the same. Speaking with a fairly noticeable accent, he speaks in energetic bursts and never breaks eye contact. He is endlessly enthusiastic not only about his music but about all music and the relationship between fans and performers. You can hear him speak to all those things in the interview below. What you can’t get from the interview? Just how amazingly swank he was dressed while we were talking. That man has FINE taste in clothes.

 

 Marco Calliari interview: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Marco Callieri - L'Americano: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Check out Marco Calliari’s stuff at his big ol’ web store or via iTunes.

Pat entries #RFF11, Canadian content, Italian, Italy, live music, Marco Calliari, Regina Folk Festival, snappy dressers

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of reviewing the excellent new album from Saskatoon’s Slow Down, Molasses. It was, and is, a giant step forward for the group, which has evolved into a nearly-uncategorizable (no, that’s not a word) genre of it’s own devising that combines shoegazing rock music, roots elements, atmospherics, and everything from trumpets to typewriters. It deserves every accolade it got.

The band’s appearance at the Regina Folk Festival last month saw them on the cusp of some very big developments. It wasn’t more than a week or two later that the band made the trip across the pond for their first tour of Europe, which culminated in an appearance at the prestigious End Of The Road Festival near Dorset. The show has a crazy legacy of booking amazing acts and this year was no exception, as Slow Down, Molasses appeared alongside Modest Mouse, Yo La Tengo, Wilco, Deer Tick, Wolf Parade, Iron & Wine, The Mountain Goats, The New Pornographers, Caribou, and many, many more (fellow RFF performer Dan Mangan was also invited, as well). The story of how they got there is amazing in it’s own right; one night on tour, despite only about four people in attendance at a particular bar in a particular part of Canada, the band played their hearts out. One of the few people watching just happened to have an in with the festival and the rest is history.

You can hear band member Jeanette Stewart talk more about that in the following interview, conducted by Beth.

 

 Jeanette Stewart (Slow Down, Molasses/Jeans Boots) interview [6:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Slow Down, Molasses - Light: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Jeans Boots - Dark Forces: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

You can get Slow Down, Molasses music — digitally AND physically — via their bandcamp page. You can also fetch Jeanette’s solo/faux-lo nom de plume Jeans Boots on bandcamp as well.

Jeans Boots is performing in Saskatoon this Friday with buzz band PS I Love You. Check more details here.

Pat entries #RFF11, Canadian content, CJTR, festivals, interviews, Jeans Boots, live music, Regina Folk Festival, Slow Down Molasses

Grant Lawrence has achieved a singular kind of fame in Canada’s indie music scene, it seems.

It appears he hasn’t really been making a lot of music himself since the turn of the century (his band, The Smugglers, are something of a Can/Con rock touchpoint for those who were really into Mint Records in the 90’s). Since around 2000 he’s been working on shows for the CBC, progressing from researcher to fill-in host to the most beloved and celebrated host Radio 3 has ever known. People lose it for the guy and I totally get it. His apparently-ceaseless knowledge of Canadian independent music and relatable, affable demeanor has also made the Radio 3 podcast the hottest thing the internet has seen since Napster

He’s also been hosting the Regina Folk Festival for the last few years, bringing all of those qualities to the main stage and the festival tents for workshops. He also brought that affability to our interview tent on the second day of the fetival, showing off three years worth of Regina swag, including an RFF tote bag and a Fainting Goat t-shirt. You can hear him talk about his Regina experiences, why he loves the festival so darn much, and much more by checking ou the interview below.

 

 Grant Lawrence interview: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 The Smugglers - To Serve, Protect, and Entertain: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

You can check out Grant Lawrence’s terrific book, Adventures In Solitude, by borrowing my copy. OR you can buy one (which I’d prefer) from his web site.

Pat entries #RFF11, Canadian content, CBC Radio 3, Grant Lawrence, interviews, Regina Folk Festival, The Smugglers

Hey Ocean! was not an absolute nightmare. Far from it. The affable B.C. trio were as easy-going and spirited as their funky, laid-back pop songs would suggest.

Ashleigh Ball, David Beckingham, and Dave Vertesi are all attractive young folks with a relaxed air about them. While their bio material is frustratingly vague a quick perusal of archived interviews on the interwebs shows that Ball and Beckingham met while at a summer camp and formed a musical kinship that continues to bear fruit to this day. Presumably they share a love of modern pop music, but there’s also a very clear affection for their coastal home, as an awful lot of their songs reference the ocean, sunshine, etc (to an extent only Brian Wilson might be able to relate with). Its only natural, I guess. It’s a pretty goddamn nice canvas to paint some sunny, slightly funky pop songs on.

Of course, you can hear them talk about that and more in what I think might have been one of our longest interviews of the entire festival, linked below. Since I started writing this they have also released an entirely brand new song, which can be found on their old-timey, new-tangled Facebook page.

 

 Hey Ocean! interview: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Hey Ocean! - Turn Up The Stars: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

A very enthusiastic fan site, I Love Hey Ocean!, has links to both digital and physical music purchases of Hey Ocean! records. Check it out!

Pat entries #RFF11, Canadian content, Hey Ocean!, interview, live music, pop, Regina Folk Festival, rock

The 42nd annual Regina Folk Festival probably put a lot of performers outside of their comfort zone, but probably none more so than Regina’s own Rah Rah. The sassy sextet has only grown more appealing to me as it’s widened its tent the last few years, allowing contributions beyond Marshall Burns’ stately rock songs to occupy space on their records. Good idea, because the rest of the group has put forward some of their best numbers.

But the comfort zone thing: the reference is two-fold. Our interview was with the band’s unassuming drummer and singer Erin Passmore, who approached the tent with a modicum of nervousness (a quality that carried through into the question and answer session as well). Whether or not she’s getting used to interviews I can’t say but despite whatever hesitancy she was feeling her answers were more often than not wry and hilariously self-deprecating. I’d interview her again in a second.

Also, she spoke about the difficulty the six-piece band was having trying to nail down a set list for their main stage festival performance, considering their “teaser” set on Sunday was restricted to only three members. You can probably see why that might be tricky, considering a lot of their songs utilize some pretty fancy electric guitar work and the playing of more people than I can count (on one hand, anyway). Sadly I wasn’t present to see the results but I imagine it would’ve been a treat to see a band Regina knows very well deviate from their norm.

Now, that’s all well and good but one of the highlights of our chat was when Passmore revealed the first few details about some forthcoming solo material she’s been working on. That, to me, is exciting because she just happens to be responsible for my second-favourite Rah Rah song (1. “Fuck NAFTA” 2. “Salty Cities”). To say my hopes are high for that material is to say the least!

Listen on, dear readers!

 

 Erin Passmore (Rah Rah) interview [7:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Rah Rah - Salty City: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Rah Rah’s latest release is the EP Sailors, which can be found on iTunes, along with their other material. Their new label, Hidden Pony, is also getting set to release an EP of remixes of their songs. Fun!

Pat entries #RFF11, Canadian content, Erin Passmore, local flavour, Rah Rah, Regina, Regina Folk Festival, rock

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.

 

 The Sojourners interview [5:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 The Sojourners - Jesus Hits Like An Atom Bomb: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

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.

 

 Michael Bernard Fitzgerald interview: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Michael Bernard Fitzgerald - Care For You: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

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.

 

 The Hard Ramblers interview: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 The Hard Ramblers - Hard Travelin': Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 The Hard Ramblers - Flatland Boogie: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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