Dancing shoes at the ready for folk fest
New artistic director says there will be some ‘serious’ rug-cutting to do this weekend
Debbi Lynn Salmonsen has deep roots with the Vancouver Folk Music Festival. Before leaving the Calgary Folk Festival to replace outgoing artistic director Linda Tanaka, she had done the rounds of the event.
“Before I went to Calgary in 2014, I attended the festival in different capacities, whether as media or record tent worker,” she said. “I’ve been an executive director of various non-profits for about the past 16 years, but always played music as a hobby and worked in it when I could.”
Citing qualities ranging from critic to “opinionated lover” of music, Salmonsen has certainly given the city something to talk about in her debut year.
While always an event beloved by local audiences, it’s not unusual to see audiences split between the “workshop crowd” and the “evening mainstagers.” This year, they’ll all be sticking around.
Headliners such as Neko Case, The Dead South and Ry Cooder featuring the Hamiltones are not to be missed. Nor are searing singer-songwriter Steph Cameron, rising Irish star Mick Flannery nor the brilliant Czech folk fusionists Dalava on the smaller, more intimate workshop stages.
Salmonsen said you can book a festival that’s loaded with talent of all types and levels when you have an audience like the folk fest.
“We are lucky to have a very loyal and long-term multi-generational audience as well as 1,400 caring volunteers who really help us operate effectively,” she said. “And they keep coming back with wide-open ears.”
Like every newly arrived artistic director, Salmonsen wanted to put her stamp on the event. While she has a long history with the festival, she isn’t a dogmatic folkie. The days when the Trotskyist nose flute symphony or person who rode on a bus with Joan Baez in the ’60s got a gig are mercifully over. Instead, they are replaced by inclusive, varied and fun acts.
“One of the benefits of being in Calgary was that I was able to see a lot of Canadian acts that didn’t always tour all the way out here and I’ve focused on them this year,” she said. “Incredible talents like Kacy & Clayton — her voice is so incredible — or Art Bergmann, who won our songwriting contest last year, as well bringing a lot of women and women-led bands was a focus. I wholeheartedly support gender equality in this discipline as long as the music is really good and it is.”
Festies will be able to take in such rising talents as Skye Wallace and the legendary Carole Pope as well as violinist Kendel Carson and acclaimed Irish songwriter Wallis Bird. Salmonsen also wanted to liven up the action on site.
“We’re going to have some serious dancing this year with Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys doing a Cajun dance party (Saturday, 11:10 a.m. to noon; Stage 1) and locals Professor Banjo and the Estro Jennies doing an all-ages square dance (Saturday, 3:10 to 4:10 p.m., Stage 1),” she said. “Plus, our wonderful local all-female Mariachi group Las Estrellas de Vancouver (Saturday, 12:20 to 1:20 p.m., Stage 1) will be doing roving sets showing up at places like the food court and so on. And I love country, jazz and bluegrass, so we have people like Appalachian-style singer Dori Freeman, this amazing Alberta roots singer-songwriter Muriel Buckley and the wonderful jazz/blues of South Carolina’s Ranky Tanky.”
She said that music is important, but so is songwriting. So there are a lot of great singer-songwriters playing this year, from the score of getting Cooder and the Hamiltones to snarky Texas legend James McMurtry. She said you can catch McMurtry near the beer garden Friday night before his mainstage set (Friday, 5:05 p.m., Stage 4).
Salmonsen said the 14-day weather forecast is also looking good, too.