No Sunday at the Winnipeg Folk Festival would be complete without the 11:00 gospel workshop, this year featuring the formidable talents of John Boutte, The Warrior Gospel Band and Jim Byrnes and the Sojourners. While you’re there, stick around Big Bluestem Stage for the next show, a very special Tribute to Willie P. Bennett, the great Canadian songwriter who passed away this year. That is, if you don’t want to miss Nanci Griffith, Kathleen Edwards, Charlie Louvin and Justin Townes Earle over at Snowberry Field. So many choices… See the complete Sunday schedule below to map out your festival day. Or download the Sunday schedules here as a PDF.
Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow
Quartet featuring Béla Fleck
What could be better than a warm summer Saturday spent lounging and listening to music in the beauty of Birds Hill Park? Here are the all-star Saturday daytime stage schedules for the 2008 Winnipeg Folk Festival. Bluegrass aficionados will flock to Big Bluestem Stage at 12:30 to see The Infamous Stringdusters, The David Grisman Bluegrass Experience, and Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet featuring Béla Fleck together on stage! Daytime concerts abound too, with groups like The Warrior Gospel Band, the Pascale Picard Band and the Red Stick Ramblers putting on shows. But that’s not all - have a look at the full Saturday schedules below. Or download a PDF here.
Friday, July 11 is the first full day of programming at the Festival, and it’s a smorgasbord of musical delights. Just a few highlights: concerts by Basia Bulat, Jim Byrnes and the Sojourners, Geoff Berner, and Justin Townes Earle. The “I Hate Tucson” workshop at 4:00 on Green Ash–which features Calexico, Hayden and hometown heroes The Weakerthans–is bound to draw a crowd. Check out all of Friday’s schedules below.
The death of a legend leaves some big shoes to fill, and the tender age of 15, Seun Kuti slid seamlessly into his father’s. An Afrobeat legend, Fela Kuti was flamboyant, often controversial, and brilliant; from him, Seun inherited musical talent, a swaggering onstage presence, and a revolutionary sense of what Afro-jazz could be (though not, perhaps thankfully, some of the elder Kuti’s more outrageous antics). When Fela died in 1997, young saxophonist and singer Seun quickly took the reins of his father’s band, Egypt 80, and continued the original Kuti crusade: to promote political freedom through the love of music, change through a chorus of voices and a host of dancing feet, and pride in Africa’s vibrant musical traditions.
In her 33-year career, Joan Armatrading has made a lot of firsts. She was the first black UK artist to debut in the top spot of the Billboard blues charts, the first to earn a Grammy nomination; she was also the first female UK artist to do so. Born in the West Indies and raised in Birmingham, Armatrading cultivated a style that’s soulful, sensual, and profoundly organic. Pairing her full and flexible voice with tasteful guitar riffs, Armatrading’s low-key and clever take on the blues has wowed fans like Nelson Mandela and earned her a spot as one of Britain’s top music radio hosts. And the acclaim keeps coming: her last CD, Into The Blues, earned a Grammy nod for best contemporary blues disc.
Joan Armatrading plays the Main Stage on Sunday night, July 13.
Fans of seminal indie act Neutral Milk Hotel might look at A Hawk and a Hacksaw’s biography and say, “wow, drummer Jeremy Barnes! I have to see this show.” Well, they do have to see the band, but not because it sounds anything like Barnes’ former project. Instead of indie rock, Barnes and cohort Heather Trost delve into the exotic, mesmerizing depths of klezmer and Hungarian folk music. They return with a unique experiment in modern folk: cantering wedding dances deconstructed with avant-garde production, somber European folk given a dark edge by spooky gang vocals. Their most recent album, The Way The Wind Blows, is their most trad yet; but those scintillating klezmer dances still rock deliciously off-kilter.
Check out the Performers page for the new improved lineup with recent additions: Manitoba’s The Absent Sound, Nova Scotian folk/electronica act Rebekah Higgs, and children’s entertainers Green Kids and Green Fools Theatre.
The full fury of the skies couldn’t silence the music of N‘awlins, and when the storms cleared, John Boutte’s voice rang right across the Big Easy. Long famed as one of Louisiana’s top jazz vocalists, Boutte grew up crooning soul in the Seventh Ward and playing trumpet in his school marching band. But it wasn’t until he joined the army and found himself singing gospel and blues in Korea that Boutte found his own American voice. And oh, how wonderful it is: fresh as a spring breeze, gentle as a summer rain, and rich throughout with fluid passions and perfectly controlled inflections. It’s too easy to call him another coming of Sam Cooke or Jackie Wilson; but Boutte’s angelic soul voice easily belongs in their company.
It’s an annual May tradition. The phones are ringing off the hook at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, and the Festival Music Store is packed with eager Festival-goers.
The Winnipeg Folk Festival may be July 10-13, but there’s another important date too: much of the Festival’s audience wouldn’t miss the May 31 Early Bird Deadline for the world. Until this Saturday only, adult weekend passes are $147 plus service charges. The price goes up to $168 plus charges as soon as the calendar flips over to June. Youth, senior, and single-day passes also all increase in price on June 1.
Each year the the Winnipeg Folk Festival and the Exchange District Biz team up to bring free entertainment to Old Market Square. This year, The Bedford Investments Music in the Market Concert Series happens on both Thursdays and Fridays from June 5 to July 10, from noon to 1 pm. The last concert, with Festival performers Outlaw Social, will mark the kick-off of the 2008 Winnipeg Folk Festival! Continue reading ‘Bedford Investments Music in the Market Concert Series’
At home in Minnesota, Spider John Koerner turns his eyes to the skies, building telescopes from scratch. As a musician, however, his gaze goes the other way. Since getting his start in Minneapolis’ booming ‘60s coffeehouse scene, Koerner has specialized in earthy, even humble acoustic folk and blues. But though Koerner’s music may be grounded, others consider him a star: Bob Dylan and Bonnie Raitt (who famously covered Koerner’s “I Ain’t Blue”) name him as an influence, and David Bowie cited the classic Blues, Rags and Hollers album (with legendary trio Koerner, Ray & Glover) as one of his all-time faves. But though Koerner maintains a lower profile than his famous contemporaries, his rock-solid chops, lighthearted performances, and massive catalogue of top-notch tunes announce him as a master of his craft.
You ain’t never heard pedal steel like this before. Robert Randolph grew up playing the guitar in a New Jersey church, but when he stepped out of the sanctuary, his music went from divine to dynamite. Joined onstage by his cousins and keyboardist Jason Crosby, Randolph’s virtuoso fingers blaze through everything hard-hitting rock-blues, funky soul tunes, and gospel-inflected ballads. The sound is huge, and the buzz is even bigger: Rolling Stone named Randolph one of the Top 100 guitarists of all time; ABC TV asked him to pen the theme song for a season of NBA games. Even better, Eric Clapton was so impressed by Randolph’s furious “sacred steel” that he took Randolph on tour and sat in on the Family Band’s 2006’s Colourblind album.
Listen to Robert Randolph and the Family Band using the widget below, or visit these pages:.
Do you love the Winnipeg Folk Festival? Then we want to hear from you!!
Send us an email and tell us your own personal “reason to love the Folk Festival”. You could win some Festival merchandise AND a prime tarp spot in front of the Main Stage on the night of your choice at the 2008 festival!
Deadline for entries is midnight on Friday, June 27. Winners will be notified by Friday, July 4.
Please email your entry to specialprojects@winnipegfolkfestival.ca and be sure to put “What’s Your Reason? Contest” in the subject line. Please include your name, address, and daytime phone number. If you are under 18 years of age, you will need parental consent in order to be eligible. One entry per person please.
Please note: By sending us your entry, you give us permission to publish your name and ‘reason’ and to contact you for further information, if needed. To be eligible, entries must be publishable so send us a ‘reason’ you’d be proud to show your mom!
In no particular order, here are 35 things we’re doing to celebrate the 35th annual Winnipeg Folk Festival!
Bigger artistic budget: Best. Festival. Ever!
“Light the Way” campaign: receive a mini-LED lantern as a gift with a minimum $135 donation
New LED screen at Main Stage: the “big screen” will be visible in daylight.
New tent covering Snowberry and Big Bluestem Stages
Enhanced campground installations and activities
New tents for the Festival Hub and at the Folk School
Main Stage Music moves to the Festival Hub. Now you’ll be able to pick up CDs by that evening’s performers at the same place you buy your souvenirs and sundries.
