GET FOLKSY WITH THESE FIVE SHOWS
Canal festival stays intimate while upping star power
Since it first stepped up in 2008 to fill a conspicuous gap in the local music festival slate, Montreal Folk Festival on the Canal has grown from what felt in its earliest editions like a largerthan-average picnic (500 people attended the first year) to an affair that now walks the fine line between intimate, family-friendly gathering and star-studded destination event, with 30,000 attendees last year. Happily, the organizers appear determined to keep things on a neighbourhood scale even while offering a range of musical attractions that would be the envy of a far bigger festival. The setting, a green space on the banks of Lachine Canal near the footbridge extending from Beaudoin Street, is a big part of the charm. Here, chosen from among the lineup of 30-plus artists to reflect the variety of music on offer, are five recommended performers at MFFC 2018.
JOSH RITTER
Idaho’s greatest musical ambassador is in the troubadour lineage traceable back through Bob Dylan to Woody Guthrie, though like Mr D he has been known to rock out, too. Comparisons are often nefarious, but if you’re looking for further Ritter reference points try Townes Van Zandt (lots of words, a melancholy streak) and Ron Sexsmith (self-effacement, unstinting craftsmanship). Ritter’s third album, 2003’s Hello Starling, is the consensus classic in his catalogue, but his whole oeuvre is sufficiently solid that any given set list will be pretty much foolproof. (Friday, 9 p.m., Main Stage)
MANDOLIN ORANGE
No longer rising stars of American roots music, the Chapel Hill, North Carolina duo of Emily Frantz and Andrew Marlin are stars, period. Frantz and Marlin are multi-instrumentalists (Frantz’ fiddle is especially distinctive) and singers whose ace in the pack is their two-part harmony blend, redolent of the deepest wellsprings of Appalachia. Bluegrass is their baseline but it’s an inadequate word to describe their meld of multiple acoustic styles; songwriter Marlin’s compositions hold their own in the company of covers like Dylan’s Boots of Spanish Leather. (Sunday, 6 p.m., Main Stage)
PLANTS AND ANIMALS
Emerging in roughly the same early-century zeitgeist that
produced Islands, Broken Social Scene and Arcade Fire — we’re talking large-scale, big-chorus, inspirational indie — these Montrealers made a big international splash with their 2008 debut Parc Avenue. In the years since, they have broken out of scene affiliations and effectively reinvented their sound with each new release, with various musicians added around the core lineup of Warren Spicer, Nicolas Basque and Matthew Woodley. It’s hard to guess what they’ll play this weekend, and that’s kind of the whole point. (Saturday, 9 p.m., Main Stage)
CATHERINE LEDUC
Representing the point on the musical map where folk, chamber-pop and indie rock meet, Trois Rivières native Leduc cites Belle and Sebastian as a formative influence. So if you’re au fait with Scotland’s cult heroes you won’t need any more convincing. If you’re not, have a listen on YouTube of Leduc’s Les vieux hiboux. That should do it. (Sunday, 7 p.m., Main Stage)
KLEZTORY
The klezmer revival wave of the late ’90s may have ebbed, but it’s not as though klezmer itself has ever really changed. The traditional social music of Eastern European Ashkenazi Jewry, with elements of early jazz and Romany folk, it’s marked by dizzying interplay, dazzling chops, extreme tempo shifts, and an amenability to cross-genre experimentation that’s surprising in such a deep-rooted form; in many ways it’s the old-world equivalent of bluegrass. Kleztory, with their multi-cultural lineup and stylistically omnivorous approach, make for fine representatives of the state of the music in 2018. (Saturday, 6 p.m., Main Stage).