SUMMER SERENADES
Local musicians relish the chance to perform live
Earlier this month, Amy Nelson gave a solo show on the new rooftop patio of the iconic King Eddy.
It had been months since she last performed. The gig was a private party and the Calgary Stampede was set to start the next day. So the singer-songwriter admits she had a few reservations at first.
“I was like, `Oh, it's the day before Stampede. It's probably going to be more like a Stampede gig,' which can be rowdy,” says Nelson in an interview from her Calgary home. “I was like, `It's been so long since I've been around any crowds!'”
But it turned out to be a surprisingly gentle re-entry into live performance for the artist, who had always managed to keep a busy schedule of local and regional shows before the pandemic.
“It was people eating hotdogs, listening to music,” she says. “It was calming.”
Which was probably a good thing. Like many formerly busy performers in the city, Nelson was looking forward to getting back on stage.
But it was still daunting. As with many, the lengthy pandemic pause was an anxious period for her, especially at first. She didn't really take to the livestream performances that a lot of her peers were experimenting with. In fact, Nelson did not pick up her guitar or banjo for a lengthy period of time. Unlike some songwriters who were eager to explore the dark feelings of isolation and anxiety in their work, she also didn't experience a productive burst of inspiration to create new material. But she did start to understand how important the connection to live audiences was to her.
“I actually didn't realize how much it was part of my identity,” says Nelson. “It was one of those things where I've done it now for long enough and it's my main job and the thing I enjoy the most in life. But I think what happens for musicians is that you get your gigs, you're booked up and you're just going from one place to the next. You're forgetting to stop and say, `Oh my God, I'm doing this. I'm actually singing in front of people.'
“I think I was almost forgetting that. The performance became so innate, so second nature. Having it taken away really made me miss it, which I think is a good thing. You can't have the joy of summer without knowing winter a bit. I learned to miss it.
“When I went to perform at the last gig, I felt things I had never felt on stage. Because I've never played before thinking that it could be taken away from me.”
Live music is returning to Calgary. Some long-standing jams have returned. Live music venues are filling slots. In fact, local acts that are on the ball are sure to be very busy in the next little while since travel is still limited and borders are still closed.
But one of the biggest coups for any local musician has always been landing a spot on the Calgary Folk Music Festival lineup. The organization is offering its own gentle re-entry into live music starting July 22 with a seven-day series of outdoor concerts at Prince's Island Park. Organizers have been emphasizing that this is not the festival. It's been rechristened Summer Serenades and there will be safety measures in place, social distancing and limited amenities. There will be no beer tent or children's area and only one stage, or 1½ if you include the performance space attached to the main one where acts can perform while bands are getting set up. There will be a strong all-canadian lineup, including the Cowboy Junkies, Lido Pimienta, Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy and Montreal up-and-comer Dominique Fils-aimé. But not unlike the main festival, the Summer Serenades will also be giving a number of local musicians, including Nelson, a chance to perform on a big stage and audiences a chance to sample the city's thriving and eclectic music scene.
“Music for me is such a healing journey, so I've been using it to move forward,” says Wyatt C. Louis, who will be playing a solo set as part of Summer Serenades. “I was very fortunate to have my partner and I have a three-year-old dog, so they were helping me keep sane going for walks and stuff.”
For the first part of the lockdown in the spring of 2020, Louis spent the time in pre-production for his first full-length album.
“It really helped me stay creative,” says Louis, a Nehiyaw singer-songwriter who grew up in Wetaskiwin and came to Calgary five years ago. “Even today, I'm still coming up with a healthy routine and staying healthy.”
Like Nelson, Louis has never played the folk festival proper but has played Block Heater, its winter cousin that takes place in a number of venues in February. Louis will be playing July 26 as part of a lineup that also includes Fils-aimé, Julian Taylor and Dan Mangan.
“Getting ready, it will be the stage nerves and all that,” Louis says. “But I feel really grateful to all the people behind the scenes who have passed my name around and (given) Indigenous people a seat at the table and representation for younger Indigenous creators. It feels nice to be in that role.”
The local lineup covers a number of genres. Alongside the soulful folk of Louis and Nelson's old-time banjo music, there will be world music by oud player Aya Mhana, R&B singer-songwriter Kate Stevens, Americana act the Blake Reid Band and veteran hip-hop act Dragon Fli Empire.
“I think it does nicely reflect the rest of the lineup,” says festival artistic director Kerry Clarke about the local element. “There's cool stories like Dragon Fli Empire. They've been together 20 years and they are going to be covering the two decades in the two sets they are doing. But there is everything from country music to hip hop.”
For Nelson, who will be performing July 27 in a lineup that includes Fiver, Frazey Ford and Charlotte Cardin, the pandemic has led her to appreciate and make the best of opportunities such as Summer Serenades.
“I feel closer to music than I ever have,” she says. “I love performing and I love what it does. But I've always been the kind of person who has a bit of an impostor syndrome. I'm constantly asking myself, `Why did I get that? Did they ask the right person? Do they have the right email? Maybe it was a mistake.' With the pandemic, that side of me has shut up. I realized if you get invited to the table, you're there. If they made the mistake or not, you're there and you've got to just take that and do something with it.”
Summer Serenades runs from July 22 to July 28.
Visit Calgaryfolkfest.com