Mponda Kalunga Live In Orbit

Show Me Happiness. Performance of an original tune, recorded by Mponda Kalunga at Radio Regent 9 February 2018 as part of Winterfolk XVI preview.

Winterfolk Springs Us Open Again

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Living La Vida Winterfolk for three days on Toronto's Danforth sure does bring out the inner "folk" in you. Friends grow out of tightly packed corner strangers and random volunteers turn into spirit guides. The musicians wander into the daylight on Saturday and Sunday afternoons with their midnight glow intact. Little wide-eyed kids get their first dose of real music alongside their wide-eyed parents. This year's edition was especially congenial due to aggressively beautiful weather that gave everyone a squinty smile and a boot-free attitude.

For the fifteenth time in as many years, musicians from east of the Don River hosted a six-venue kitchen party for 150 or so acts, invited from the GTA and the nearby peripherals. Lead conspirator Brian Gladstone got the inspiration for this event when he realized that if no folk festival would hire him, he would have to start one of his own.

Beverly Kreller, booker and publicist for Winterfolk, and owner/operator of SPEAKMusic, has her finger on the pulse of emerging talent on the Canadian music scene. SPEAKMusic is only one way talent comes to her attention. She scouts music year round through sonicbids, submissions, and by attending a constant flow of concerts throughout the year. The talent is thoroughly laced with Juno and CFMA winners and noms, local legends, warhorses of the blues, and upwardly-motivated avatars of the new sounds and songs that will pave a path into the future of Canadian music.

Friday night at the Black Swan opened with soul-baring reveries from the life of David Essig, who perhaps came the farthest to participate. Nanaimo-based but of American descent, David is a Mariposa, CBC and record production vet. He retraced his life in a tribute to friends, bars and family in a captivating set, played entirely on electric guitar. It was a huge contrast to his traditional acoustic blues ebullience, not only in tone, but in the pensiveness of his lyrical flow. Standing out brightly were a song about his Blue Valentine, Willie P. Bennett, a single crystalline instrumental, and a fine closer, "One More Song", recounting his father's last days. He threw us into the deep end. Jon Brooks followed up with return fire on the topics of violence, revenge and the end of the planet. "I'm not here to cheer you up friends," he intoned mordantly.


Across the way at Dora K., Louis Simao was restoring calm in zephyrs of Mediterranean sway with repertoire from his recent, brilliant A Luz CD.  And at Terri-O's, folk songster David McLachlan and his band were debuting the songs of Traveling Truthfully, composed and recorded last year in Nashville.

Saturday brought sunglasses weather and a slate of workshops based on harmony, spirit and Canadiana. And more Nashville.
Sue & Dwight were busy rallying the patriotic fervours attendant to 150 Years of Canadian Folk (really needed more time) upstairs at The Swan with Kim Doolittle and accompanists of note Tom Leighton and Conrad Kipping.
 
And downstairs, the Saturday regulars were in full boisterous wakefulness, as local folkers Glen Hornblast Kirsten Jones and Clela Errington sang angelic Americana anthems in the back room, featuring guitar-chameleon champ Bob Cohen. The Nashville vibe continued at a showcase at Dora's and another hour at The Swan with a swing shift consisting of Kevin Bell, Kim Doolittle & Kat Goldman.

Mid-afternoon,Dora Keogh's became a-jostle with banjo aficionados making elbow room to hoist their barleys while taking in successful frailers Esther Wheaton (Onion Honey), Cara Luft (The Small Glories), & Matt James (All Day Breakfast). Lessons in claw hammer history, journeys to jig-able planets, and a mysterious tune named Johnny Booger kept the throng enchanted, lively, and mostly off their phones throughout.

A collective fresh breath was taken as Tragedy Ann took the stage and emanated romance, harmony and joy with such charm and dynamic interplay that the hush became palpable. The applause rose in wave upon wave throughout their set.They repeated the accomplishment a few moments later to open the SPEAK MUSIC showcase. Isaak Bonk brought Gerdie's Folk City back to life with topical talking blues and a lyrical homage to the song-poetry of the sixties.

Much of the crowd shifted at sunset to the main event, The Harmony Hoedown upstairs at The Black Swan, featuring The Redhill Valleys, who had just finished lighting up Dora`s, the pop-folk sibling conviviality of The Command Sisters, and streamlined Laurel Canyon-style thumpers Johnson Crook.




Emerging from studio seclusion with all the promise of a sun-splattered Wiarton Willie, Trent Severn made everybody`s day with a triumphant set of maple and trilliums and a preview song from their forthcoming album, Portage, a show-stomper called Eh Canada.


Singer Dayna Manning also brought me in a black 64-ouncer of Trent Severn beer from Stratford brewery Black Swan (courtesy of her Dad; gracias papa). Avoiding a legal skirmish with my new B.F.F. Carmine, I had to surrender it to management in order to keep the liquor license safe and also to keep from being removed from the premises. The paparazzi had a field day. 

Sunday was blues church. Our eminent host, deacon Jack De Keyser, having just committed full scale slaughter on the same stage a few hours previously with his all star band, returned to survey the battlefield, and to welcome a wine list of fine vintage Toronto guitarists to come up and cauterize their blues wounds.

Mike McKenna and Tony Quarrington preceded my arrival, but when I got there, I found the hall packed with highly amusable enthusiasts.  Margaret Stowe was decimating the room with an unprecedented assault upon the modes and measures of the blues that had more to do with Sonnys Greenwich or Sharrock than any of the Kings of the genre. Jack and his rhythm section (Alan Duffy & epic snare slugger Rick Donaldson) held stoicly to the changes as Margaret displayed terrifying leaps of faith over suspensions, extensions and altered dimensions of music. Trust me folks, this is not mere hyperbole.

We all needed a bit of down time afterwards, so D`Àrcy Wickham brought a nice blues twist to David Crosby`s Long Time Coming, followed by ``Danny on the Danny``, a blues carousal with Mr.Gold Digits, Danny Marks, a crowd favourite. He and the De Keyser band set off smiles and sparks with classic Hendrix & Chuck and a cheerful blues camaraderie.






Over on the shady side of the avenue, Tony Quarrington and Wendell Ferguson (``Don`t look for his sensitive side: he`s sitting on it.``) were having an amiable go at acoustical knitting with a lot of insights into their inspirations and processes in between tunes. Tony was having an exceptional day since the live tribute CD The Songs of Tony Quarrington was to be launched later in the day and his old muchacho Joe Hall was playing in the festival too. Random link-ups abounded in the clubs and on the street where fruit markets, a record shop and an L.C.B.O. encouraged all kinds of chance encounters

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The juxtapositionof  hearing Brian Blain, David Essig, Jerome Tucker and Danny Marks on one stage exemplifies the kind of cross pollination that takes place on this fantasy-folk weekend 

Every year Winterfolk manages to scrape a little winter off of all of us lucky enough to attend. This year was particulary thorough. I will not include a picture of the guy who was in his bathing suit. Thank me by private message.









...and what was that last piece that Annie Bonsignore played????

Winterfolk XIV - Icicle Fingers And Thawlicious Songs

A Jon-Brooks-Eye view of the Saturday night crowd at Dora Keough's

Denim was thoroughly tucked and poorboy caps were pulled down to cover as much ear area as was fashionably possible this past frosty weekend in Toronto's Danforth / Broadview matrix, as families, friends and fiddlers got down to some earnest song-doings. 
And yes, there wuz antlers.

Eyes were a-twinkle with joy, cider and wind-chill factors as a storm of blues, ballads and plunk-rock hovered for three days over this fourteenth annual festival of rootsy Americana and Canadiana music.

Officiating luminaries Danny Marks and Festival Founder Brian Gladstone

Telecasters and flat tops were in abundance as fretmasters went from pub to pub on errands of guitar wizardry. Valuable instruments were even seen being squeezed protectively into washroom cubicles.

Prime guitaristas Brian Cober, Ben Sures and David Essig at The Black Swan's slide workshop.

Highlights included workshops, song swaps, showcases and one particulary significant tribute on Sunday to the recently departed Ron Hynes. Not only a major representative of the honey flow of Newfoundland lyricism, he was the creator of an inestimable contribution to the world-renowned Canadian Songbook. His death was in the same order of irrevocable heartbreak that his lyrics portrayed. 

Shawna Caspi and Jory Nash with incendiary smile power in evidence.

On hand to celebrate his music were the top seed of Canadian singers and songwriters. The finale of Sonny's Dream, led by Shawna Caspi, although set up as an crowd singalong, produced such a haunting blend of strong emotion and harmony that the audience kept a silent respect for the power of the moment.

L-R @ The Ron Hynes Tribute: Tony Quarrington, Jon Brooks, Grit Laskin, Julian Taylor, Jory Nash, Shawna Caspi and Rebecca Campbell

The permanent smiles and easy camaraderie of the crowds, musicians and volunteers made the whole thing go along smoothly, and the weekend was another success for community and culture in this city. One criticism was the failure of some venues to manage their indoor temperatures comfortably. The question of perhaps extending the event to include Family Day next year was also on many peoples' minds.

The clarion voice of Joanne Crabtree rang out over the NBA coverage with anthems and authentic folk songs at Terri-o's sports bar Saturday.

Rebecca Campbell and Ben Sures settling their bar tab semi-amicably.

Tia Brazda set the jazz-mometer to hot at Dora's Friday night.

Next year will mark the 15th Anniversary of the event, and it will again provide one of the few reasons to look forward to February. Find out what else you missed here >>>>      http://www.winterfolk.com/xivschedule/

Winterfolk Cascades Through The Downtown Danforth In Toronto

Alfie Smith's solid blue kickoff ignited Toronto's 13th annual Winterfolk frolic Friday at Danforth and Broadview

The Heavyweights Brass Band stirred up a profound crisis of stomp and holler and then marched away into the night.

 

West coast roots hero David Essig applied a deft slide to his 12-string guitar, which he calls "the steam locomotive of the blues", educating and rousing a rapt audience.

The Jessica Stuart Few unpacked their jazz / folk / manga repertoire at Terrio's with a tight and trippy performance.

Rae Billing and Lynn Miles shared wisdom, wit and harmony yodelling with an afternoon audience at The Black Swan and Linda McRae provided a country quilt of stories and songs, ending with a singalong on "Be Your Own Light".

Noah Zacharin's fingerstyle embroidery decorated the afternoon for an amiable crowd at Dora Keough.

Kristine Schmitt busted homestyle rambles at Dora's evening showcase as Hotcha's Beverley and Howard, and chantistas Isabel Fryszberg and Clela Errington gave full frontal support.

 The O`Pears enchanted a room that was just about ready to hoot with elaborate harmonic ideas and original melodies of persuasive distinction.

Whoa Nelly popped fuses with their highly charged country swing and ballads.

And The Wanted gave us a hot chance for a Saturday night wail-along with 

These Boots Are Made For Walkin`, amongst other classics.

Photos by Paul & Kim Corby

Gala Concert For The East End Friends of Acoustic Harvest and Winterfolk XIII in Toronto

 First round featured "Don't Bypass My Heart" and "Wind Of Change", sensitive song work by Lynn Harrison and Brian Gladstone, with overarching guitar adornments by longtime fret-wielders Noah Zacharin and Tony Quarrington. Tony also killed with an original take on Robert Johnson's classic, the suburban nightmare blues, "Hell Hound On My Lawn". Noah brought a wide variety of classic and original tunes, including Lester Brown, Red Red Bird, Ten Tons of Road, and All Go Blind.

 Above, the Kingston Village Outlaws, Noah, Brian and Tony, with singer Glen Hornblast standing by for moral support.

For the second round, two duets, one angelic (Clela Errington and Jocelyn Barth, above), and one outlaw (Fraser & Girard) parenthesized Meg Tennant, who seems to be able to go both ways. Clela offered harmonies to her left and right and Marianne Girard provided an emergency acoustic guitar for Meg's busted tuning peg disaster. By the grand finale (below) of "Will The Circle Be Unbroken", the answer to that eternal question was, more than obvious, manifest. A true communal experience with laughs, tears and lots of bright moments on a dark, dark Saturday night.

L. to R. Allan Fraser, Tony Quarrington, Marianne Girard, Meg Tennant, Clela Errington, Noah Zacharin, Brian Gladstone, Lynn Harrison and Joselyn Barth. More to come, by and by, at the 13th annual Winterfolk Festival

WHERE: The Danforth:

• Black Swan Tavern (two stages), 154 Danforth Ave. , 416-469-0537,
• Dora Keogh Irish Pub, 141 Danforth Ave., 416-778-1804,
• Terri O’s, 185 Danforth Ave., 416-462-0038,
• Globe Bistro (upstairs lounge), 124 Danforth Ave., 416-466-2000,

WHEN: February 13 – 15, 2015

$$: Combination of paid and free concert stages

HOURS:
• Friday February 13, 7:00 p.m. – 1:30 a.m. -  Saturday February 14, 1:00 p.m. – 1:30 a.m. - Sunday February 15, 1:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.