Ottawa Folk Festival- Aug 13 to 15 2010

[SaggyBalls]

Highlights for me:

Galant, TuPerds ton Temps - a Quebecois a capella group in the Hall Stage wih Lau and at the dishwashing tent...amazing. It seems as though everywhere they went they started a choir or a singing game or something. Those girls sure made me feel at home wherever they were hanging around and singing.

LAU

Kris Drever of Lau came across to me as one of the most able performers of the weekend. Fitting subtle guitar work in with everyone while not getting into himself was a real treat. I'd ike to think that if I ever make it to Orkney (scotland) that I'd wat to time it to catch him playing there somewhere. So what if he's a 'diddle dee-dee' player? Seamless playing and what a great voice.

Horse Feathers' very shy workshop with Clarksdale Moan, Jenny, and Dan Whitely.

Horse feathers

Very nice but certainly not on the same page as the rest and that's not a slag....either way, it was intresting and a great set of music, complete with a beautiful Gillian Welch nod. That slide player from Clarksdale Moan - tasteful and entertaining...and the singer? Truly Congenial. I liked those guys. A real pleasure to usher onto the stage.

Bruce Peninsula. Nice to meet Flipzozo and great to see that e's helping to share these guys with the world. A real treat to hear such awide range of sounds and feeling across one song and set.

Frank Turner's set in the Dance Tent - kept me in one spot longer than most other acts the whole weekend, second only to Calexico. Which was truly impressive. If you ever wondered why anyone would want to play a short scale bass guitar, remember that sound (if you were there) - fat, punchy, heavy grooves all night long. I was more than impressed and felt distracted all set.

Very wow. No wonder they're so very prolific.

I'd travel to see Calexico and fit a trip around it but I'd probably be more likely to fit a Frank Turner set into a trip. Good times either way.

Arrested Development's implicit involvement in everything they could participate in. Wholly/Holy impressive.

Everything Hoots and Helmouth I saw (good call, CJ), even the brief encounters with the musicians. The sincerest seeming 'thank you' I've ever received from a compliment given to a musician I don't know personlly.

H&H

I remember walking round the back of the Dance tent to hear a band's backline and monitor mix (it usually sounds much better back there as opposed to through the Front of House) and I turnd the corner around a trailer's open door and there was one of the guys from H&H playing an accordion. I suggested that I didn't want to interrupt and got into a convo about how new it was to him and how to make it work on stage (when i realy just wanted to listen to the band by the back of the stage)...then a couple more came over and after a brief hello I got back to the tunes. Absolutely nice guys. Fantastic act, great tunes.

The Acorn - I love the way these guys layer their guitar/uke sounds...I sure hope I'm thinking about the right band cause if not it's not much o a compelling highlight report.

Jim/Weakerthans kept me from the Hidden Cameras. I went back and forth and in theend, the Hidden Cameras weren't as compelling to me at that time. Maybe in another venue/time, but not for me then.

I really liked that set. I'd heard that Jim Bryson sets were sort of hit and miss, so I'm glad that he finally has a band back him up that's worth his time and makes him worth theirs.

Namgar...very pro sounding eastern electroni fusion...Impressive act for sure. Would be absolutely killer in a theatre...

...as would Tanya Tagaq/Jesse Jubot/Jean Martin

Tanya Tagaq

Zubot's my favourite violinist - I first heard 'Zubot and Dawson' with Steve Dawson - which to me was the americana answer to Kevin Breit/Cyro Bapista's Supergenerous. I was lucky to see Zubot's band 'Fond of Tigers' open up for Tortoise in Vancouver and had to make this set. Tagaq's exp-ressive vocal style and stage presence incorporates a feeling of modern dance to modern and traditional inuit throat singing. It was like a sexy exorcism that challenged my sensibilities about as much as a spicy chopped scallop roll (sushi). Slippery, rubbery,slimy...I want to keep chewing and can't do anything but feel it out until I can convince myself everything will be alright.

Zubot, running his violins trough a myriad of processing (at times), and Martin flourishing beats to fill the space around Tagaq and the audience - either in the dance tent or outside - with such a thick atmosphere that it was entirely captivting and envigorating. Instead of the typical rubberneck reaction to most performers and performance artists that truly get into what they do, I felt compelled to pay attention instead of looking for the tragedy. Each of the musicians truly interacted with one another and added to the experience. If this act ever comes close to you and you can make it out then be sure to experience it.

I don't think Zubot took a comment I'd made to him the way I'd intended because his respose to 'that was a really intense set' was 'It's the only kind of music I want to listen to'.

If we were talking 'desert Island' picks I'd have to agree that that's the only kind of musical experience I'd want to stretch out for any long period of time. Songs can get old. Pure sharing and expression is truly timeless and permanent - though, at a folk festival the 'Sexy Exorcism's timing led me to deke out to the portalet.

Great weekend - It ran so smoothly that at times I felt guilty for having so little to do. Thanks be to Sean Taylor for getting everything nailed down and working out perfectly.

I really like the new beach at Brittania. It makes getting to the point much easier. Awesome spot.