All folked up
Great weather and great music summed up the 41st edition of the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival, held in St. John’s this weekend.
Folk music enthusiasts flocked to Bannerman Park in downtown St. John’s Aug. 4-6, for the 41st Annual Folk Festival. The weather was as steadily impressive as the festival acts, with the sun shining down upon the stage all weekend long.
This review details the evening session on Saturday, Aug 5.
If I had covered the whole festival, my word count would have been exceeded by the time I finished naming the acts.
In an effort to save space, here’s Folk Fest Night 2, presented in bullet form.
• Earle and Coffin: I am convinced that Nick “Slick” Earle and Joe “Fro” Coffin are actually
teenage townie reincarnations of undiscovered delta blues artists. The duo played a rousing opening set, which included tracks off an unreleased live EP.
I’m already stoked to hear the rest. • Daniel Champagne: This
was a standout set of the weekend for me. I typically find solo acoustic singer/songwriter acts to be a bit tame, but Champagne is anything but. His guitar doubling as percussion, the Australian musician made expert use of his instrument. It was his first time in NL, and here’s hoping he returns — I’d love to hear a full length set. • Hannah Sanders and Ben Savage: The UK folk duo had a
tough act to follow, but they did their best to hype up the crowd. Their performance, while low key in comparison to the weekend’s boisterous acts, showed off their impressive vocal ability — these two voices were made for each other. • The Fretless: This classical
folk fusion four piece lit the place up, accentuating their performance with a step dancer. Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra’s violinist and fiddler Carole Bestvater was seated
nearby, emitting occasional squeals in between utterances of disbelief, which continued as The Once joined The Fretless for “By The Glow Of The Kerosene Light.” The park sang along, Carole almost cried, and I loved every second of it. • Bon Débarras: Their first
time at Folk Festival since 2008, it was exciting to say “Welcome back” to the Francophone trio, whose name translates to “Good riddance.” Their fast
paced folk tunes, performed on banjo, guitar, and violin, kept the energy high. It was during this set that the audience took to their feet, never to sit back down again.
• Matt Andersen: The stage
was set for headliner Andersen, who emerged to a wave of applause before breaking into the bluesiest folk music heard all weekend. Impressive musically and vocally, Andersen wowed me, as the one man band riffed
whenever and wherever he pleased. Witty stage banter and inspired singalongs added to his stellar performance, during which I was so tuned in, I totally tuned out the park. It was ethereal. • Shred Kelly: With keys, electric guitar, mandolin, drums, bass, and tambourine, Shred Kelly has a big sound, with pop
influences. The five piece “stoke folk” band brought a lot of energy, but Matt Andersen had
tired me out. I bobbed along with their catchy tunes, soaking in the happy vibes around me. The crowd was diggin’ the show, and by proxy, I was having a blast, too.
Another successful year at Folk Fest – and we still have a whole afternoon and evening to go as I write this!
Here’s hoping this festival lasts for another 41 years, at least.