Spring 2014
TABLE OF CONTENTS The President’s Message............................................................................................. 5 Executive Director’s Message...................................................................................... 6 Happy Birthday, CFMAS............................................................................................ 8 Let My Spirit Be Unchained..................................................................................... 10 2014 Board Elections................................................................................................. 14 Stop Making Sense.................................................................................................... 17 New Members............................................................................................................. 20 Folk Music Member Festivals................................................................................... 21 Funders, Sponsors and Partners............................................................................... 23
BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2013/14 Executive Committee President Alex Sinclair.......................................pmsinc@interlog.com Vice President.............................................Position Vacant Treasurer Jan Cody.................................... festival@sheltervalley.com Secretary Dan Greenwood .......................... dan.greenwood@bell.net Member-at-Large Rachel Barreca.............moxy.woman.creations@gmail.com Shawna Caspi................................ info@shawnacaspi.com Jerry Switzer......................... jswitzer@feehelygastaldi.com Directors Adam Brown....................................... abrown@uottawa.ca Nicole Colbeck........................ nicole.littleacorn@gmail.com Jane Harbury.............................................jane@harbury.ca Brad McEwen................................... mill_race@yahoo.com Scott Merrifield................................ smerrifield@eastlink.ca Katharine Partridge...........katharine.a.partridge@gmail.com Amie Therrien.........................amie@balsampiermusic.com
STAFF Executive Director – Alka ����� Sharma ������ ....................asharma@folkmusicontario.ca Office Manager – Jennifer Ellis ........................... jellis@folkmusicontario.ca Membership Services Coordinator – Thrity Canteenwala .......................register@folkmusicontario.ca
Phone: 1-866-292-6233 or 613-560-5997 Fax: 613-560-2001 www.folkmusicontario.ca Mailing address: 508-B Gladstone Avenue Ottawa, ON K1R 5P1
Layout by Orion Printing Cover photo courtesy of Leah Morise Vendors at the 2012 Eaglewood Folk Festival
Please visit bit.ly/18LoEZK for ad rates, formats and sizes. Submissions (max. 500 words) and pictures welcome! We cannot guarantee inclusion of your submission in Folk Prints (but we’ll try!). Please send submissions in text format only. If you have pictures, call us before sending them. The views expressed in this magazine are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of Folk Music Ontario. Questions or comments regarding Folk Prints should be brought to the attention of Alka Sharma at asharma@folkmusicontario.ca. Articles and photos may not be reprinted without the express written permission of the author
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The president’s message
I’m not sorry to see this winter go. I suspect that none of us are. I mean, it was lovely, with all that fresh snow – day after day after day of fresh snow – but enough is enough already. Another thing that I won’t be sorry to see go is some of FMO’s financial woes. I’m not saying that they’re done with, but for the first time in a long time we’re starting to use black ink in our reports. Our staff has done an excellent job of keeping the expense side of our operations under control, and our revenue has held steady. We believe that we’ve turned a corner on bringing down the deficit which has accumulated over the past few years. Time will tell how well we can continue on this course, but I am confident that we’re improving. We have a strong team – great staff and a committed board. Alka can fill you in on our activities, but here’s a quick peek: We launched a new initiative this spring aimed at our festival members. FMO board member Brad McEwen, passionate folkie and erstwhile
Mariposa Folk Festival board member Chris Lusty, our staff and our funders have worked long and hard together to bring this festival retreat to fruition, and we expect that it will be just the first in a series of special, non-conference, events for our various stakeholders. FMO launched a new award this year – the President’s Choice. Thanks to a modest sponsorship, we were able to present Lifetime Memberships to two of our many outstanding community members. This year’s winners – chosen solely at the whim of our president in appreciation of their many contributions to our community– are Richard Flohil and Lynn Miles. There’s no guarantee that this award will continue in future years, but we’re working on securing some long-term funding for it. I’m happy to say that we’ve been able to send our ED out to an increased number of events this year. This helps build her personal knowledge of the folk biz across Canada and the US, and it also does a lot to raise the profile of our whole organization and increase the opportunities that we can help create for our members. We’re working with SOCAN to get a low-cost license for our members who put on a small number of house concerts in a year. The details are still being developed, but we’re close to an agreement, and we’d love to know how many of our members might be interested in taking advantage of such an arrangement. The idea is to allow smaller house concert presenters to get a license with re
by Alex Sinclair
duced cost and paperwork; this would keep them on SOCAN’s good side, preventing those letters that some of us have received in the past, and allowing our performers to receive their proper royalties for their concert performances. It feels like a win-win situation, but we need to hear from those of you who present fewer than 10 house concerts in a year. We’ll tell you what’s being proposed and you can tell us if it looks like a good deal. I know that each of you has a passionate opinion or twelve on this subject and we want to hear all of them. Here’s another question for our house concert presenters: Would you like us to put a listing of house concert venues on our website that FMO members could access? I suspect that the performers would like to see one, but would it just mean you’d get inundated with requests? Tell us what you think. And remember, the Canadian Folk Music Awards are in Ottawa this coming November. We at the FMO will be helping out in any way we can, and we’d love to see a huge turnout for the gala presentations – as well as any other events that the CFMA folks decide to hold. We’re going to share our office with them for a while, so if you’re in Ottawa, drop by and chat with both organizations. Ask what we can do for you, and what you can do for us. We’re all in this together.
executive director’s message
What a year it has been! There have been a few changes as we move forward from being the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals (OCFF) to Folk Music Ontario (FMO). First off, we’re changing some aspects of the 2014 conference, as announced in a recent eNews. We’re hoping to build and foster a greater folk community not only in Ontario, but across Canada. Here are some of the changes announced for the conference this year: 1. Official showcases will start on Thursday. FMO will present six showcases in one room on Thursday evening. Friday and Saturday will still each have twelve official showcases – six in each of two rooms, with staggered starting times. 2. Sponsored showcase slots will be available for booking on Thursday night (after the official showcases), Friday lunchtime and Saturday lunchtime. Private showcases will still be held only on Friday and Saturday night. There won’t be any overlap between spon-
sored and private showcases, so they will not be competing for each other’s audiences. 3. The conference will no longer include a gala dinner. Instead, Folk Music Ontario will provide complimentary breakfast food on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings, and will provide complimentary coffee and tea throughout the conference. 4. The awards that were presented at the gala dinner in the past will now be presented at an Awards Brunch on Sunday morning, followed by the Estelle Klein Award interview. A “Sunday only” daily conference registration rate will be added to the daily rates already available for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Obviously, if you are reading this note, you will notice a change with Folk Prints going digital for its spring edition for the first time ever. We are anticipating that distributing the magazine digitally will make it more accessible for many people. FMO surveyed its members about their use of Folk Prints, and a clear majority indicated a preference for a digital magazine, rather than a printed one. Folk Music Ontario will be trying different things as the year progresses. Please do provide us with feedback, whether it is good or bad. We are here for you and would like to hear from you. For the first time ever, Folk Music Ontario held a retreat for its festival members’
by Alka Sharma
executive directors, board members and festival administrators, over the weekend of May 23- 25 in Orillia, ON at the Lakehead University facilities. It was a great success and really helped us understand what festival members need to know not only for professional development, but also about the changing political landscape of Ontario and some of the changes affecting many not-for-profits. The festival retreat would not have happened without the financial support of the Department of Canadian Heritage. The retreat really stemmed from various discussions that occurred at past FMO conferences and came about with the support of David Barnard, Cultural Consultant, Canada Arts Presentation Fund, and Aengus Finnan, former Touring & Audience Development Officer for the Ontario Arts Council. Last but certainly not least, speaking of Aengus Finnan, Folk Music Ontario is more than thrilled to congratulate him on his new post as the new Executive Director of Folk Alliance International! This is really great for all Canadians involved in any form of the music industry. We wish Aengus all the best in his new endeavours in Kansas City. Folk Music Ontario is excited to be working with him in this very prestigious role. Have a great summer and I hope to see many of you at a music festival soon!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CFMAS! by Graham Lindsey The Canadian Folk Music Awards celebrates its 10th anniversary this November, and we’re bringing the event back to Ottawa where it all began! Slated for November 27-30, the 2014 CFMAs will be a celebration not only of the country’s current top talent, but also a salute to the past decade’s worth of award winning artists. The CFMA 10th Anniversary Celebration weekend will culminate with the much-anticipated Awards Gala on Sunday, November 29th. In keeping with the past ten years of tradition, which have included performances by Ron Hynes, James Keelaghan and Oscar Lopez, Sylvia Tyson, and Cara Luft, to name just a few, the Gala will feature some of the country’s best artists. We will announce the gala performers and other exciting information about the celebrations in the coming months. The days leading up to the Gala, November 27-28, will feature Nominee Showcases and other activities. That’s where you come in! Submissions now being accepted Folk and roots artists from coast to coast to coast who have produced albums over the past year (June 15, 2013 to June 14, 2014) are encouraged to submit their works in any of our 19 categories. All entries or nominations must be received by 5 pm EDT, Monday, July 14. Our submission pricing is $50 for the first category, and $40 for each subsequent category.
ALL submissions require an artist photo, an MP3 file of one track (your choice) from the album, proof of production of at least 300 copies of your album, and a 1000 character (that’s about seven tweets!) bio. Bios of all final nominees will appear on the folkawards. ca website. Since we are a volunteer-based organization, while it’s not required, if bios could be provided in both French and English, it would be really appreciated. New this year: digital submissions accepted in two categories! The results of a recent survey show that both artists and past jury members were overwhelmingly willing to submit and judge digital submissions, so this year we’re running a trial for two categories. For anyone submitting in the Young Performer of the Year and Pushing the Boundaries categories, digital submissions are required. After registering and providing all the info listed above, simply upload a ZIP file containing your album’s MP3s and a PDF of your album artwork
– we’ll send you a link to our upload page. After this year’s experience, we will once again consult with a number of artists and jurors to evaluate the experience, and let you know the outcome. To submit in the 17 other categories, you will still need to submit six CDs per category, so we can mail them to jurors. We have also added an option for artists who only have a downloadable album (i.e., artists who sell download cards), but you will still be required to submit six printed CDs per category for judging. Click Submissions / Application Info & Criteria at folkawards.ca for more information. This is a milestone year for the CFMAs, so we’re hoping to reach another new milestone in the number of submissions we receive, as well. Please spread the word! We’re looking forward to receiving your submissions at folkawards.ca, and can’t wait to see you in Ottawa this November! Thank you for supporting the Canadian Folk Music Awards – without the support of the national folk community, we wouldn’t be the organization we are today.
HAVE YOU MOVED..? …or has your contact information changed? Please take a moment to send us your new details, by e-mail (register@folkmusicontario.ca) or by snail mail to: Folk Music Ontario 508-B Gladstone Avenue, Ottawa, ON K1R 5P1 Be sure to include your name, postal address, phone number, e-mail address and website, as well as any business contact information. Thanks for helping us keep our records straight!
LET MY SPIRIT BE UNCHAINED by Jay Aymar After my dad returned home from serving the entirety of WW2, he wanted to explore the world away from his village near Saulnierville, NS. Still in his early twenties, he decided to head into Toronto with his cousin. The war so shaped his outlook that he must have felt it was time to leave his home town. A few years and a few sales jobs later, he “…wound up in Sault Ste. Marie, with five suits and money in the bank. A few years later [he] was knee deep in debt with eight mouths to feed, a few well worn suits left!” Fortunately he met mom, who was completing nursing college at the time, and the two embarked on their long lives together. SERIOUSLY DELIRIOUS I was conceived in the summer of love A little bundle of joy sent down from above While a half a million hippies left Yasgur with some trash I was rockin in the cradle to the sweet Johnny Cash My old man engineered that train Like a streak bolt of lightning right through the rain He’d say “Keep your head steady son and don’t look back That’s how you keep the train on the track”
I added the “rockin in the cradle to the sweet Johnny Cash” reference quite deliberately as an inside joke. You see, for as long as I can remember, we had this small classical guitar lying about the house. As the story goes,
dad’s friend asked him to come along to visit an acquaintance who was doing some small time in the Comeauville jail. During the visit, the guy wanted five dollars for his cheap guitar (evidently for a carton of Players Navy Cuts). My dad thought this was a fair trade, and evidently fancying himself an ‘artiste’, he made the deal. The transaction went down and this would ultimately become the first guitar I would see in my life. It was adorned with painted red and green palm trees and various birds and a Hawaiian sunset on the front of it. It was a very small guitar with nylon strings. In reality it was more of a toy. My earliest childhood memories are of my dad popping his collar, pretending to strum while gyrating his hips like Elvis – screaming “YOU AIN’T NOTHING BUT A HOUND DOG” in front of all of us. I was transfixed. How was this guy getting so many cheap laughs for this lame gimmick? Our very first record player was a small stand-alone unit with just a few records in the rack below it. Johnny Cash Special 20 Original Hits Volume 1 sat amongst the few gems. For the longest time, the connectedness of it all just seemed to be logical to me. The cheap guitar from that guy in prison – was that Folsom Prison? The train songs – the rockabilly beat. The joy it gave me. It taught me so much. 10
That said, our family was not even remotely into country music. My dad’s true passion was swing jazz and crooners. At 92 he can still sing Nat King Cole’s Mona Lisa and send shivers up your spine. The only reason that album ever made it into our house was through one of my older brothers. I eventually discovered the epic “Live” albums: “At Folsom Prison” and “At San Quentin”. Then slowly over time I discovered an entire world of fiction based on these themes, from Voltaire’s Candide to Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, and on and on. This eventually extended beyond music and literature. So in saying that, I’ve been surrounded with this empathetic feeling toward those who’ve spent years of their lives imprisoned. It’s partially an irrational connection but also informed with wisdom through the artists who’ve capture the experiences and shared these stories. So, when I first heard those live recordings of Cash singing in maximum security penitentiaries, so early in my
life, I immediately assumed that this was perfect gesture of kindness, of selflessness. WHAT A DREAM Sing for the innocent victims Crying alone in the night Sing them from their hopelessness Sing them into the light
“Only Cash could have pulled that off! I wonder what that would have been like?” I would often ask myself this question. This one little notion of playing songs for the hopeless has sat in the recesses of my mind for these many, many years, informed by the aforementioned list of events. I followed this moonlit river around the bend into an open bay of still water. It was here I heard the distant voices singing songs of peace and freedom. I was in a higher place. In October 2013 I received an email from Jill Zmud, a talented folk songwriter, community activist and all around cool girl from Ottawa, ON. She was coordinating Folk Music Ontario’s Art Beat program, which connects folk musicians with local schools and hospitals (among many other institutions). During a previous conference, for example, I had volunteered to discuss “FOLK MUSIC” and “SONGWRITING” and “LIFE ON THE ROAD” to about 60 grade 7-8 students at a southern Ontario elementary school. It was amazing! As always, these gestures always pay us back tenfold. The discussion with the kids slowly turned into me a ranting maniac on the virtuous
effects of folk music on our collective consciousness, our communities, our society, our soul. “You kids want change? How we gonna do that? FOLK MUSIC!” The kids screamed, “YEAH!” “Ok kids, I propose we have huge speakers blasting music during lunch break in the cafeteria! Why don’t we have music playing during lunch? Who wants music? Repeat after me: ‘WE WANT MUSIC…WE WANT MUSIC!’” “LOUDER…STOMP YOUR FEET…I WANT YOU TO ALL STOMP YOUR FEET AND SCREAM SO LOUD THAT THE PRINCIPAL WILL COME UP HERE AND FINALLY LISTEN TO US!” And so they did. The principal arrived at the door a few minutes later. My guitar strapped over my shoulder, I whispered to him in the hallway, “Just play along, I’m teaching them how to protest!” And he was brilliant. He stormed into the classroom to become the perfect foil. “What’s all this about?” he screamed. “We want music in the cafeteria during lunch hour!” The kids laughed, the teacher laughed, the principal pretended to scowl until I laughed out loud and blew my cover. I then asked them sing along to my one and only children’s song “Apple Pickin” and we all walked away richer for the experience. I’ve often thought if I were to retire from music, teaching would be such a noble profession. 11
Art Beat had worked its magic. Everyone benefited from the experience. This time, Jill’s Art Beat email was a bit different: Jay, we’ve been trying to have a correctional facility sign up for Art Beat for many years and it finally happened! They’ve agreed to let a performer come in and sing! We thought of you immediately. I phoned Jill: “Why did you think of me Jill? [Chuckling] Have you been looking through my past?” “No we were just discussing your record and.…” “My RECORD? I smoke ONE JOINT at the Montreal Jazz Festival in public and….” “No Jay, your latest record – OVERTIME!” “Oh yeah…of course... Overtime!” I guess word had spread a bit about my love of Cash. In fact I was singing his songs during the late 80s and early 90s when people would grimace. Yes, there was a time for a while when he was heartily underappreciated and this always seemed sacrilegious to me. So without hesitation, I agreed to perform in the Brampton Correctional Facility in October as a part of Art Beat. Without thinking too much about it, I simply romanticized the task at hand and embraced the concept. “Hey Aymar (I said to myself), you’ve been singing about this stuff for so long, it’s time to put up or shut up.” My inner artist trembled with fear. My persona and ego dug in their heels, took a deep breath and said, “You
can do this!” And so it was. I arrived at the front desk of the Brampton Ontario Men’s Correctional Institute on a cold autumn afternoon, not allowing myself time for reflection so as to quell the anxiety. “My name is Jay Aymar, and I’m here on behalf of Art Beat…I’m scheduled to perform from 2-3pm this afternoon?” The staff member was extremely sensitive to my anxiety and quickly made efforts to be a collegial as humanly possible. “Oh wow, do you know any love ballads? This guy beside me here needs all the love he can get!” she declared, pointing to her administrative assistant who cracked a quick smile. Then, after some security clearance, he led me down the hallway to the recreational room. In came the men who sat in a circular format in front of me. Several guards were on hand to brief me in a room prior to the concert. As I prepared for the first song, the sector warden leaned into my ear and whispered, “You’ll be fine son…they’re an appreciative audience!”
As I was about to hit the first chord, I looked up and saw the crowd. Something happened when I looked into the faces of the men staring back at me. I was grief stricken. Can’t explain it. I was trembling on the inside. This wasn’t a nervousness or fear, but in fact a deep feeling of empathy. I didn’t know what to do. I hadn’t prepared for this. After thousands of shows in my life, I’d never felt this stuck. This feeling became overwhelming. This wasn’t a joke. Nothing about this was like Johnny Cash in Folsom; my dad buying a guitar from a guy in prison; those stories told through classic literature! That was fiction! This was reality and here I sat in the middle of it. I was suddenly so paralyzed by the stark reality of it all. THE CHANGE When music is communion we’ll sing a holy prayer We’ll form a common union to whatever’s in the air Does that SOUND strange I can HEAR the change
Behind the men in the crowd there was a booth where two guards watched the proceedings from above
everyone. It was all cool and controlled. I played my first original song then quickly asked for a request. “CASH!” someone yelled as if it was preordained. I said, “Who was requesting Johnny Cash?” Someone from the back raised his hand. I said “Ok man, how about A Boy Named Sue!” And off it went. The verse in that song in which the narrator says his father “…took out a knife and cut off a piece of my ear” fortunately broke the tension as everyone laughed aloud and FINALLY I calmly settled into my persona. I looked up to the tower and saw two of the guards clapping and dancing which eased my mind even more. Then I asked if there were any guitar players in the crowd. Someone yelled out “Honky Tonk! Get up there!” “Where’s Honky Tonk?” And there he was, front row centre, humbly raising his hand. “You feel like playing a song for everyone Honky Tonk? Who wants to hear Honky Tonk?” The place erupted and
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much like the elementary school kids in full protest mode, the guys began chanting “Hon KY Tonk! Hon KY Tonk!” It was just then that I realized I may have been breaking protocol as there was flurry of activity from the guards. That said, they calmly agreed and allowed Honky Tonk to come and join me for the rest of the show. He was escorted to a room where his guitar awaited and arrived ready for showtime. He was a tasteful player, very adept at his blues scales and was happy to sit back and simply accompany me with some gentle picking. He was a quiet and seemingly humble man. Then, as though time had evaporated, I looked up at the clock to realize the concert was over. A few encores ensued and I gave a brief wave and said “Thank you for being such a respectful audience and THANK YOU Honky Tonk!” Before I left, the staff and I had a brief conversation about “simple gestures of kindness” in this type of environment. The section warden offered his finally thank you and insights: “Jay, there may be an outside chance that you’ve planted a small seed of hope in just one soul. Enough to give one man faith in something. It might be enough for him to cling to in the darkest hours. It might not seem like much, but it’s everything!” I choked up with tears. HOLD ON NASHVILLE As I look out upon the road I have the feeling that my future’s told Remember all the songs are true Most about loving all of you
By the time I made it out to my car I was shaking. I sat in the parking lot for twenty minutes. I closed my eyes and said some prayers to the great unknown asking for my own redemption. The sheer luck for being born into a loving stable family in a country as rich and wonderful as this. How lucky am I? Then I thought about my own dad. Not the guy from “A Boy Named Sue” but the guy who stood up in front of me with his little Spanish guitar, shaking his hips, screaming “HOUND DOG!” That guy. The same guy who said “Never look back – you can’t change the past,” the guy who provided for his eight children day in, day out, without ever complaining. The loyal husband and father who
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kept us all on the straight and narrow. The same guy who bought the record player for his family just to have music in the background. I left the parking lot and drove to the four-day conference where like-minded folkies had converged on a hotel in Mississauga, ON. Remember: GIVING BACK – PAYING IT FORWARD - this all seems to be run of the mill kind of stuff for our little community. It’s all part of the tradition. It’s part of the spirit. I felt safe here with my tribe. There were times over the weekend though that I couldn’t shake the feeling of having been transformed during that prison concert. Never have I carried around so many mixed emotions from one experience. When I arrived home on
Sunday evening, the first person to call me up was my dad. “Well son, I just wanted to know how the concert in the prison worked out?” I gave him detailed account of the events and asked, “I wonder why I have these mixed emotions about it all? It’s like I don’t understand how I’m supposed to feel about it all. Strange, isn’t it?”
“It’s not strange at all,” he replied. “I expected you to say this. Sometimes we don’t have answers for how we feel. Just move on. Just like your own song says: Keep your head steady and don’t look back That’s how you keep the train on the track”
Monroe had just been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature as a “master of the contemporary short story” and her journey inspired me to share this short story. Thanks Alice, Art Beat, Cash, dad, Folk Music Ontario, and all of the artists who inform and inspire me. Music truly is the reward!
I awoke that Monday morning to hear that Alice
2014 BOARD ELECTIONS FMO’s Board of Directors is a dedicated and enthusiastic group of thirteen volunteers, elected democratically by the membership via advanced balloting during the fall and at the annual conference in October. Four directors on FMO’s Board will be completing their terms this fall. The new slate of candidates is as follows:
Tim Fraser – London, ON Tamar Ilana – Toronto, ON James Keelaghan – Perth, ON Jani Lauzon – Toronto, ON Brenna MacCrimmon – Toronto, ON Preetam Sengupta – Guelph, ON Alex Sinclair – Toronto, ON
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To read more about the candidates, please visit www.folkmusicontario.ca – click on About Folk Music Ontario / Board of Directors. Advance balloting for FMO members begins September 13, 2014. Remember, your vote is your voice – exercise your franchise!!
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STOP MAKING SENSE: STYLE OVER CONTENT / CONTENT OVER STYLE IN CONTEMPORARY SONG by Ian Tamblyn
From an ongoing discussion during the Wakefield, QC Songwriter Course – Serving the Song – fall 2013 I got a girlfriend that’s better than this And you don’t remember at all As we get older and stop making sense You won’t find her waiting long. Stop making sense, stop making sense…..
Before I get into this look at style and content in songs, I will confess I have rarely written a song that didn’t make sense – at least to me. Some of my songs might be nonlinear but hopefully they’re emotionally centred. Occasionally I will include a phrase that seems to come from the “speaking in tongues” territory, but nothing like the work of David Byrne during his time with Talking Heads. And yet, his seemingly dis-
connected snippets of cultural graffiti made perfect absurdist sense in the context of totally danceable grooves and the post-modern urban scene of New York. “Psycho Killer, Qu’est Que C’est! Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa….” It didn’t make sense but you couldn’t help but sing along! He was “the times”, just as Dylan had been the New York “times” when he came out with his post beat phantasmagoria on Highway 61 Revisited in 1965. God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son” Abe says, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on” God say, “No.” Abe say, “What?” God say, “You can do what you want Abe, but The next time you see me comin’ you better run” Abe says, “Where do you want this killin’ done?” God says, “Out on Highway 61”
This hip rewrite of this Old Testament Biblical tale helped bring an end to the earnest and erstwhile folk movement with a style-driven “beat” look at the world – trumping the content-laden messages of his (and his generation’s) previous work. Bob knew the times they were a-changin’ and he had the talent and skill to move with the times – in fact, to determine the cultural times. Yes, there was content in this song, but the style of the song was the thing! A modern day version of style over content would be Feist’s hit song “1 2 3 4”: 1234 Tell me that you love me more Sleepless long nights That’s what my youth is for Old teenage hopes Are alive at your door Left you with nothing But they want some more.
I might suggest that you do not spend a lot of time plumbing the depth of the lyrics here, but recall how catchy the song was because it was exactly indecipherable and perfectly, perfectly stylish. It was “the future is friendly times” – complete with a cute animal to take you there. In this case, the style absolutely triumphed over the content of the song – its catchy melody, a definitive voice and a perfect combination of innocence,
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amateurism and slick professional gloss made this the ultimate pop song. If you think this type of style over content song is a recent phenomenon, think about T-Rex’s “Bang a Gong” or The Kingsmen’s “Louie Louie”. In the cases above and many others it would seem that style rules over content and, to be McLuhanesque in a way, style is the content. The swing of style and content, and where it is balanced in song, has moved back and forth over the last century and probably before. For most songwriters, particularly those leaning towards the folk and country end of the spectrum, narrative content remains an important element, and yet style in the content of the song comes with
every writer and player. The way one sings, the way one plays the guitar, the way one approaches the writing of a song, the subject matter – all are the beginnings of a style. Some of us might also ascribe to a style of the day, or an artist one particularly admires. One might take on the voice of Neil Young, Tom Petty, or Lucinda Williams – I might risk a guess and say Kathleen Edwards’ first CD intentionally sounded very much like Lucinda Williams’ “Car Wheels on Gravel Road” and contributed to the success of the album. Kathleen slipstreamed Lucinda during a period when Lucinda was releasing a much quieter CD, “Essence”. On a personal note, though I think of myself as a “content”
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writer, I have worked equally hard at developing my own style. At one point I realized I might not be the “fastest” guitar player in town but I could develop a unique finger picking style that could be recognized as my own and distinguishable from another. I listened to a lot of guitar instrumentalists like John Fahey, Bert Jansch and John Renbourn at one time. As I wrote my songs I looked for different chord inversions drawing on the guitar voicings of John Martyn and Nick Drake and Dougie McLean. I would say the same of my voice. I long ago stopped trying to sound like Neil Young, although if you heard my very first album you might wonder. However, it wasn’t until I did that first album that I
heard who I was sounding like. On the other hand, I was also influenced by gravelly-voiced blues singers and it took years to stop singing at the back of my throat and just be myself. I will admit I do not have the strongest natural voice and it took years of listening - and I’m still listening - to get the nasty bits out of my vocal delivery. Over the years I have also developed a songwriting style - perhaps not as distinct or pithy as Randy Newman or as brilliant as Leonard Cohen or Joni Mitchell - but with the emergence of recurring themes, a style and take on things has emerged. These days people say I sort of sound like a cross between Gordon Lightfoot and Bruce Cockburn – it drives me mad! – all that work for nothing! I think it important for each songwriter to be aware of style and content in their work and where their work fits or stands apart from the ongoing song continuum. We write songs in some solitude but not in a vacuum. As you write songs, it is important to develop your own style and be aware of ongoing and emerging styles that are coming from the street or part of the sonic of the times. Bill Candy is pleased to announce the release of his 3rd CD.
BILL CANDY
“NORTHERN COMFORT” Official release date is Oct. 18.
The CD has 13 tracks including an arrangement of “A Highland Lullaby” written by Bill’s grandfather, Canadian composer George Coutts. There are 7 originals by Bill and 3 from participating musicians Tom Leighton, Roly Platt and Gary Taylor. There are also 2 covers. One from everyone’s favourite songwriter/guitarist/funny man Wendell Ferguson and a down home cover of the Lucille Starr hit, ”The French Song”.
CD will be available at www.billcandy.com in October. Bill Candy and The Northern Comfort Band. AT The Living Arts Center, Royal Bank Theatre, Mississauga. Tickets at www.livingartscenter.ca or call 905-306-6000 or 1-888-805-8888.
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New Members
Folk Music Ontario welcomes the Following new members who joined us since the last issue of Folk Prints:
New Ontario Individual Members
Veronica Kutt, Toronto
Femi Abosede, Toronto
Grit Laskin, Toronto
Nick Arseneau & Brittany Brooks,
Jani Lauzon, Toronto
Music Venue, Ottawa Glenn Buhr & the Button Factory Band, Toronto
Alie Lavoie, Ottawa
Murdoch Music Management, London
Patrick Ballantyne, Oakville
Geoff Lewis, Waterloo
Slocan Ramblers, Toronto
Rachael Melissa Bauman, Stouffville
Terra Lightfoot, Hamilton
Dan Belgue, Kingsville
Tim Machin, Toronto
Sun Parlour Folk Music Society, Wheatley
Eli Bender & Rachel Capon, Toronto
Dave MacLachlan, Mississauga
The Ottawa Chamber Music Society,
Fred Bevan, Whitby
Anouk Masters-Leniveau, Toronto
Jessica Blake, Toronto
Douglas McLean, Kearney
Lucas Bozzo, Toronto
Grace McPhillips, Ottawa
New Out-of-Province
Evan Champagne, Brantford
Hannah Shira Naiman, Toronto
Individual Members
Andrea de Boer, Toronto
Emma Phillips, Fergus
Okaidja Afroso, Portland, OR
Steve De Piante, Hamilton
Dan Plunkett, St. Catharines
Rachel Beck, Stratford, PE
Frank Evans, Toronto
Julian Powell, Toronto
Brita Brookes, Ferndale, MI
Timothy Feher, Stittsville
Dana Sipos Randor, Toronto
Rick Fines, Peterborough
BĂŠla Ray, Toronto
Alexandre de Grosbois-Garand, Beloeil, QC
Clea Foofat, Toronto
Angela Saini, Toronto
Michael Gallagher, Toronto
Alison & Darrin Schott, Langton
Calum Graham, Toronto
Mimi Shaw, Hamilton
Susan Greensmith, Owen Sound
Kathey Smith, Port Hope
Adrian Gross, Toronto
Peter Smith, Port Hope
Pouya Hamidi, Toronto
Emilyn Stam, Toronto
Joshua Hofmann, Prescott
Jeff Stamp, Kearney
Elena Hudgins Lyle, Toronto
Ken Tizzard, Campbellford
Laura Inostroza, Ottawa
Emily Jill West, Toronto
Dennis Kalichuk, St. Thomas
Kay White, Wyebridge
St. Catharines
Vivia Kay, Toronto Murray Kinsley & Leigh-Anne Stanton, Greely Geoff Kulawick, Burlington
New Ontario Organizational Members
Ottawa
Rebecca Lappa, Edmonton, AB Mike O’Brien, Montreal, QC Greg Przygocki, Montreal, QC Chris Ronald, Vanouver, BC Kevin Roy, Winnipeg, MB Theresa Sokyrka, Saskatoon, SK Michelle Tompkins, Montreal, QC Lucas Zimbel, Pointe-Claire, QC New Out-of-Province Organizational Members The Bombadils, Montreal, QC
Folk Roots Radio, Hillsburgh FOLKRUM Ottawa Community
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Updated: June 10, 2014
Folk music Member festivals May / mai May/mai - September/septembre HARBOURFRONT CENTRE SUMMER EVENTS - Toronto 416-973-4000 info@harbourfrontcentre.com www.harbourfrontcentre.com
July 17 - 20 juillet STEWART PARK FESTIVAL - Perth 613-264-1190 bia@perth.ca www.stewartparkfestival.ca July 18 - 20 juillet HOME COUNTY MUSIC & ART FESTIVAL - London 519-432-4310 info@homecounty.ca www.homecounty.ca
June / juin June 20 - 22 juin TOTTENHAM BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL - Tottenham 905-936-4100 888-886-4566 tottenhamchamberofcommerce@bellnet.ca www.tottenhambluegrass.ca
July 18 - 20 juillet LE FESTIVAL DU LOUP DE LAFONTAINE - Lafontaine 705-533-0003 leloup@csolve.net www.festivalduloup.on.ca
July / juillet July 3 - 6 juillet TD SUNFEST - London 519-672-1522 info@sunfest.on.ca www.sunfest.on.ca
July 18 - 20 juillet RIVER AND SKY MUSIC/ CAMPING FESTIVAL - Field 866-892-9766 info@riverandsky.ca www.riverandsky.ca
July 3 - 13 juillet RBC ROYAL BANK BLUESFEST - Ottawa 613-247-1188 info@ottawabluesfest.ca www.ottawabluesfest.ca
July 25 - 27 juillet HILLSIDE FESTIVAL - Guelph 519-763-6396 info@hillsidefestival.ca www.hillsidefestival.ca
July 4 - 6 juillet MARIPOSA FOLK FESTIVAL - Orillia 705-326-3655 officemanager@mariposafolk.com www.mariposafolk.com
August / août August 1 - 3 août BLUE SKIES MUSIC FESTIVAL - Clarendon Station 613-279-2610
July 5 - 6 juillet NORTHERN LIGHTS FESTIVAL BORÉAL - Sudbury 705-674-5512 nlfboffice@gmail.com www.nlfbsudbury.com
August 1 - 3 août THE MILL RACE FESTIVAL OF TRADITIONAL FOLK MUSIC - Cambridge 519-621-7135 mill_race@yahoo.com www.millracefolksociety.com
July 11 - 13 juillet CANTERBURY FOLK FESTIVAL - Ingersoll canterburyfolkfestival@ingersoll.ca www.canterburyfolkfestival.on.ca
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August 4 - 10 août GODERICH CELTIC ROOTS FESTIVAL - Goderich 519-524-8221 festival@celticfestival.ca www.celticfestival.ca
August 29 - 31 août SHELTER VALLEY FOLK FESTIVAL - Grafton 905-349-2788 festival@sheltervalley.com www.sheltervalley.com
August 8 - 10 août FERGUS SCOTTISH FESTIVAL AND HIGHLAND GAMES - Fergus 519-787-0099 866-871-9442 info@fergusscottishfestival.com www.fergusscottishfestival.com
September / septembre September 10 - 14 septembre OTTAWA FOLK FESTIVAL - Ottawa 613-230-8234 officemanager@ottawafolk.com www.ottawafolk.com
August 8 - 10 août LIVE FROM THE ROCK FOLK AND BLUES FESTIVAL - Red Rock 807-886-9910 redrockfolkfestival@gmail.com www.livefromtherockfolkfestival.com
September 25 septembre - October 5 octobre SMALL WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL - Toronto 416-536-5439 info@smallworldmusic.com www.smallworldmusic.com
August 8 - 10 août TROUT FOREST MUSIC FESTIVAL - Ear Falls info@troutfest.com www.troutfest.com
October / octobre October 16 - 19 octobre FOLK MUSIC ONTARIO 28TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE - Toronto 613-560-5997 / 866-292-6233 info@folkmusicontario.ca www.folkmusicontario.ca
August 15 - 17 août SUMMERFOLK MUSIC & CRAFTS FESTIVAL - Owen Sound 519-371-2995 generalmanager@summerfolk.org www.summerfolk.org
October 23 - 28 octobre OTTAWA INTERNATIONAL WRITERS FESTIVAL - Ottawa 613-562-1243 info@writersfestival.org www.writersfestival.org
August 22 - 24 août PETERBOROUGH FOLK FESTIVAL - Peterborough ptbofolkfest@gmail.com www.peterboroughfolkfest.ca
COMING UP IN 2015: February 13 - 15 février WINTERFOLK XIII - Toronto admin@winterfolk.com www.winterfolk.com
August 23 août EAGLEWOOD FOLK FESTIVAL - Pefferlaw 1-888-817-FOLK (3655) info@eaglewoodfolk.com www.eaglewoodfolk.com
March 6 - 9 mars WINTER FOLK CAMP - Haliburton 705-457-9110 singingdog1@gmail.com www.winterfolkcamp.com
August 26 août - September 1 septembre ASHKENAZ FESTIVAL - Toronto 416-979-9901 sam@ashkenazfestival.com www.ashkenazfestival.com 22
Funders
sponsors
partners
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