FOLK FEST LINEUP
Cockburn among headliners
All the stars aligned perfectly for Sandra Butel when she was organizing the lineup for the 2018 Regina Folk Festival.
Butel, the CEO and artistic director of the festival, unveiled a major portion of this year’s lineup on Thursday, which includes headliners Walk Off The Earth, Michael Franti and Bruce Cockburn.
Butel described the process as something that “came together nicely ” but she did admit how surprising it was for the lineup to fall into place so quickly.
“It was really interesting this year because I put out offers in October and November and then I took the whole month of December off. I came back in January and they were all accepted, which is unheard of,” said Butel. “If I had come back to the office in January with the contracts unsettled, it would’ve resulted in a lot more work from my end.
“We did a lot of work with the Edmonton Folk Festival this year in sharing artists so there was a lot of availability of artists because of that sharing.”
As far as the headliners go, the announcement included a newcomer to the festival ( Walk Off The Earth), a good friend of the festival (Franti) and a Canadian music icon (Cockburn).
In getting Walk Off The Earth to sign on the dotted line, it appears Butel was rewarded for her tenacity.
“I’ve been working on them for a long time,” said Butel. “They’re such a great live band. People will likely remember them from their videos because they have these crazy videos. They are the ones that did the Gotye video with all of them playing one guitar at the same time. That was when people first heard of them. They play their own music but they also do covers of a lot of artists where they do live videos so they’ve got quite a visual following.”
Franti has been a frequent visitor to the festival and it was his history with the event that brought him into the discussion for the 2018 edition.
“I was at Jazzfest in Saskatoon last summer and I got the opportunity to introduce Franti. Right before the show, I talked to him about his memories of Regina, like the fact he met his wife at our festival and the show when he first played the festival where he played a 10-minute drum solo because we didn’t have any power for the speakers,” said Butel. “I think he has some pretty good vibes for our festival, considering all the things that happened and how they all worked out. We’re glad to have him back again.”
The 72-year-old Cockburn will be touring this year in support of his latest album, Bone On Bone, which was released in September. A member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, Cockburn has released 33 studio albums. Bone On Bone has been nominated for a Juno Award, giving Cockburn the opportunity to add to his collection of 13 Junos.
Butel is looking forward to seeing Cockburn perform.
“Bruce Cockburn has a new album and it’s been a while since he played Regina. It’s really nice to have him when he has new material out, too. It will be interesting to hear what the new sound is and what Bruce has to say because his social message is always very strong,” said Butel.
Other artists included in Thursday’s announcement are: Neko Case, Tanya Tagaq, Shakey Graves, DJ Shub, The Deep Dark Woods, DakhaBrakha, Pierre Kwenders, Las Cafeteras, Reverend Sekou, Ndidi Onukwulu, Gabrielle Shonk, Hannah Epperson, nêhiyawak, Matt Holubowski, Zachary Lucky, Natural Sympathies, Rayannah and Riviere Rouge.
In addition to the mainstage concerts, the festival will offer free daytime concerts and workshops on four stages, a children’s area with music, dance and crafts, an arts’ market, a daytime beer garden, a record store and an international food court.
Early bird weekend passes for the festival, which is scheduled for Aug. 10-12 in Victoria Park, will be on sale until April 6. Adult passes are $110 plus applicable fees while passes for seniors (65 and over) and students are $100 plus applicable fees. Children 12 and under are admitted free. Tickets can be purchased online at reginafolkfestival.com or by phone at 1-888732-1682.
The individual night lineup will be announced on April 3, with tickets available to newsletter subscribers on April 3 and the general public on April 6. JEFF DEDEKKER