Vancouver Folk Music Festival Day Two @ Jericho Beach Park -- 07/20/13

The second day of the 26th Annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival was packed, so let's just get right to it.
(See day one here)

It was a day of seeing workshops, and started off with one called Songwriters' Café featuring a score of Canadian talent. Led by Justin Rutledge, who was joined by Miranda Mulholland on the violin, it also included Hannah Georgas, joined by her guitar player Rob Tornroos; Kathleen Edwards, joined by Jim Bryson; and Del Barber, joined by... no one.
The best thing about the workshops is the collaboration that can happen, and there was a touch of that here; Kathleen and Jim joined in on Hannah's song "Robotic", helping on vocals. There were also a couple of cover songs, Hannah covering "Bye Bye Love", and oft-covered song made famous by The Everly Brothers, and Edwards with a sultry version of Nirvana's "All Apologies". I was also very impressed by Del Barber, who I had only heard a little of before the weekend. His good storytelling convinced me to check out his full set later in the afternoon.

I caught a bit of Reid Jamieson and his folky singer/songwriter fare, and later on in the day there was the Going Bi-Coastal workshop, with Charlottetown, PEI's Tim Chaisson and Mo Kenney from Waverley, Nova Scotia representing the east, and Vancouver's Hannah Georgas, and Victoria's Aidan Knight taking care of the west.
There was some nice collaborating in this workshop, Aidan and Hannah being familiar with each other at the folk fest, and Chaisson joined in a Mo Kenney song on his fiddle. Hannah also covered Sarah Harmer's "Coffee Stain" and as the workshop drew to an end, Aidan got everyone -- on stage and in the audience -- to join in to "Jasper", which was one of the highlights of the weekend, and Tim wrapped it up by pulling out his fiddle and evoking a good old fashioned east coast kitchen party.

From there it was off to Del Barber for his own set. Musically, he is a pretty good folk singer/songwriter with a bit of a country edge, but it's his charm and storytelling that put him above others. Introducing most songs with a story, and chatting with the crowd between -- and sometimes during -- songs. Even when he screwed up (something he would attribute to bad karma the next day) he covered effortlessly.
There was also a great song that was about Archie marrying Veronica (an even that happened in Archie comics a few years ago) which was my favourite of the set, and he ended with a cover of "Harvest Moon"
Del was one of my favourite "discoveries" of the festival, and I will have to make sure to catch him next time he is through Vancouver.

As the sun arced over Jericho Beach Park, I caught the first couple songs from The Wooden Sky, but they were having technical issues to start and the heat was starting to bear down, so it was off to the beer garden and catch Maria In The Shower in the background. I had heard a lot about the East Van band, but never seen them live. They put on a pretty fun set, and I'll have to catch them next time they put on a show.

Not long after that, the main stage started for the night, with Danny Michel and The Garifuna Collective. Danny recently went to Belize to record and be inspired, and he came back to Canada to do the festival circuit with them as his backing band. They traded off songs, with highlights being "Survivors Guilt" and the catchy "What Colour Are You?", and put on a very energetic and fun set.

And then, ending my day was Whitehorse. One of my most unexpectedly favourite shows of the year so far was when I saw them at the Commodore, so they were one of my most anticipated of the weekend.
Married couple Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland are excellent musicians separately, but when put together, something magic happens. With only the two of them on stage, they have an array of instruments and looping pedals at their command, crafting each song from scratch, building them up one by one. Starting with "Killing Time Is Murder", the duo wowed the crowd, especially with Melissa's voice and Luke's guitar skills.
Aside from their own songs, they did a couple covers; a little bit of George Thorogood's "Who Do You Love" slipped in to "Radiator Blues" and a JJ Cale's "Crazy Mama" in the middle of the set. They also played each other's songs as well, including Luke's deliciously bitter "Broken" and Melissa's "Passenger 49", starting soft and then exploding part way through.
After what seemed like not nearly enough time, they wrapped up with the intense "Jane". They definitely didn't disappoint.

That was all for day two (there were other performers after Whitehorse, but I had to leave early). Day three would feature a couple more workshops and solo shows, and another one of my favourite festival discoveries.

The Trews @ Vogue -- 11/06/10

When I first heard The Trews were doing an acoustic album and shows, I was a little wary of how it would sound. Turns out I was foolish to doubt them, as their album was pretty great and the show at the Rio last year was outstanding. So when I found out they were coming again, I couldn't pass it up.

Opening act was Tim Chaisson, who intrigued me when he mentioned he had worked with Joel Plaskett and Gordie Johnson, then won me over with a pretty good cover of "All Hell For A Basement". From PEI, he was out with just another guy on guitar, and had a very east coast sound, especially when he broke out the fiddle to do some standards. I would be interested to see if his regular stuff is the same acoustic tone that he had, or if he was just playing acoustic for the tour. I didn't get a chance to pick up his album, but I'll definitely have to keep an eye ear out for him in the future.

The Trews took the stage, on stools, promising a more low-key show; but even The Trews low-key and acoustic is pretty rocking. "Sing Your Heart Out" got things going, and they played songs from all over their three albums, even ones that are not on their acoustic Friends & Total Strangers. They played two sets, the first consisted of just the four of them and included some great songs like "Every Inambition", and a new song, "One By One". More than a couple songs has everyone sing/yelling along and when they ended with "Poor Ol' Broken Hearted Me", on my my favourites, they turned the mic over to the crowd for the chorus.
At the beginning of the set, they tossed out a couple balloons to go around, which lasted longer here than in any other city, according to Colin. Though he seemed to be getting mildly annoyed that they kept coming on stage instead of staying in the crowd.
After a short break they brought out Jeff Heisholt on accordion, as well as Tim Chaisson and the other guy who played with Tim for some support. That set started with the great "Can't Stop Laughing" and topped the energy of the first set. "Yearning" included a great breakdown by the amazingly talented John-Angus on guitar and Tim Chaisson on the fiddle, and after the salute to the troops song, "Highway of Heroes", they pulled out another now one, "Love Is A Real Thing". The new songs were really good, and I'm curious to see what they'll be like fully electric. At one point, Colin was handed a card (from Canadian Tire) that said it was someones birthday, so they sang for her, with most of the crowd joining in. After another sing along for "Not Ready To Go", they brought the second set to a close with another one of my favourites, "Ishmael & Maggie"
But of course, they came back out for the encore with another new song, "You've Got To Let Me In", a cover of Faces' "Oh La La" and then tore the place down with "Hold Me In Your Arms", with a little bit of Zeppelin slipped in.

I've seen The Trews about a half dozen times live now, and even acoustic, they are full of such raw energy and put on an amazing show. After their acoustic show last year, I wasn't sure if they would be playing any more, but I am glad that they decided to keep going with it.

setlist
Sing Your Heart Out, So She's Leaving, Every Inambition, Den Of Thieves, Paranoid Freak, Tired of Waiting, The Love You Save, Fleeting Trust, One By One, Poor Ol' Broken Hearted Me.
(intermission)
Can't Stop Laughing, When You Leave, Travelling Kind, Yearning, Highway of Heroes, Love Is A Real Thing, Man Of Two Minds, (Happy Birthday), Not Ready To Go, Ishmael & Maggie.
[encore] You've Got To Let Me In, Oh La La (Faces cover), Hold Me In Your Arms (w/ When The Levee Breaks).