2013 Vancouver Folk Fest Day Three: Workshops Galore and the Waterboys
Skot Nelson
Posted On July 22, 2013
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The tradition of the lazy Sunday makes no exception for folk festivals: Sunday always seems to get off to a bit of a slower start, and the third day of the 2013 Vancouver Folk Festival was no exception. In my case–a bit dazed from a lot of sun yesterday and a late night writing–this meant getting there about noon. Although the weather was as warm and sunny as its been all weekend, the place wasn’t quite as busy as it was on Saturday.
I headed for stage five as soon as I got there, where a Sam Baker led workshop titled From a Deep Down Place was scheduled to start. The stage was packed with a pretty impressive list of talent: Reid Jamieson, Danny Michel, Loudon Wainwright, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion.
Baker demonstrated a talent for hosting too, immediately settling into easy banter with Wainwright over the conflict between his New York home and his southern roots. When Wainwright’s turn to sing came he approached the mic and quickly demonstrated his trademark wit: “We’re supposed to sing songs about things that are close to our heart. I got one about acid reflux.” After Wainwright charmed the crowd with a witty rendition of his My Meds song Baker threw it to Sara Lee Guthrie who quickly responded “You expect me to follow that?” Baker’s response was fast: “No. I followed him and threw it to you. I followed him and used the sketcher and the bubbles [ed. a reference to a brief chat with the audience] to break the tension and then threw it to you for something sweet.”
Something sweet followed from Guthrie and Baker’s hosting continued to work its magic as the group on stage began to play on each other’s songs. These kinds of collaborations are what make the workshops a magic place to be: the moment when Danny Michel started playing with Sarah Lee Guthrie’s singing was one of the best of the day that had plenty of good moments in it.
My next workshop was hosted by Justin Rutledge and titled Inspired By. It featured Rutledge, Del Barber, Phildel and Cold Specks telling the stories behind some of their favourite songs. Barber’s introduction of his song about chickens was one of the most entertaining moments: ““If you’re feelin’ down and you’re not happy, spend a week with chickens. You’ll be jealous of their happiness.” I doubt I’ll follow the advice, but I’ll never forget it.I moved along to the A Family Affair workshop next featuring The Littlest Birds, Whitehorse, Reid Jamieson and Lena Anderssen. All of these artists play with their significant others and shared tales from the road.
For me this meant a visit to stage four for a Justin Rutledge show–a highlight of which was when an audience member asked “Do you have any happy songs?” to which Rutledge quickly responded “No” resulting in a solid round of laughter. The main stage was kicked off by Loudon Wainwright before the Waterboys took the stage.
The Mike Scott led band has never played the festival before, and their celtic tinged rock saw the by now sizable crowd head towards the stage. The band’s classic “Fisherman’s Blues” came early in the set and by the time “Whole of the Moon” the wings of the stage were crowded with other festival performers–most of whom were singing along. Exhausted and full of a weekend of solid music, I opted to to skip the later show and head for home at this point.So, after three days what to make of the 2013 edition of the Vancouver Folk Festival? It’s pretty clear that after 36 years the festival still has the ability to attract top acts. With the weather cooperating in an almost ridiculously favourable way–three full days of sun and hot temperatures–Jericho Beach was the best place in the world for a music fan to be this weekend.
it was nice to see the workshops shine this year–my last visit was a bit disappointing on that front. They’re the heart of the festival, and the spontaneous collaborations they can introduce are what make it a compelling event to visit every year. This year’s organizers deserve a hearty round of congratulations for creating the artistic pairing they did. Memories of this year’s festival aren’t likely to fade anytime soon.
The Vancouver Folk Festival runs on the third weekend of July every year at Jericho Beach in Vancouver. Check the festival’s web site and sign up for their newsletter to receive information about next year’s festival.
