Festival battles winter blahs
For the fifth year, and second year at Sherwood Park’s Festival Place, the Winter Roots Roundup taps into folk, blues and other sounds this weekend.
In his continuing collaboration with the University of Alberta Folkways Alive office, founder Peter North hopes to satisfy music fans facing mid-winter cabin fever with five separate evening concerts and several musicrelated events.
“Making things both educational and entertaining has been the mandate from the beginning,” notes North, “and I think we’re continuing that between the films, workshops and the dialogue between artists.”
Friday’s concert with Ottawa’s MonkeyJunk has already sold out.
The Roots Roundup concerts start Thursday when Maria Dunn, Cara Luft, Del Rey and Lizzy Hoyt trade off in The Women of Folkways, tapping classic songs from the historic archive of the Folkways record label. The wild card here is Seattle’s Del Rey, a lively singer-songwriter and one of the finest practitioners of the metal resonator guitar. A special tribute to recently departed folk icon Pete Seeger is planned.
While MonkeyJunk is sold out, another show Friday night in the Cafe space features Calgary’s Cara Luft (cofounder of the Wailin’ Jennys) in a folky-jazzy collaboration with the fine Gypsy jazz trio Hot Club of Edmonton.
New Orleans music master Allen Toussaint appears in concert Saturday. An alternative show Saturday brings Calgary string slinger and recent Memphis Blues Challenge solo winner Tim Williams to the stage in the Cafe space.
Two films each screen twice, Thursday evening and Saturday afternoon. I Ain’t In It For My Health documents the story of drummer/singer Levon (The Band) Helm. This Ain’t No Mouse Music is the story of Chris Strachwitz and Arhoolie Records, one of the most significant independent labels to further the availability of great vintage roots music.
Stony Plain Records owner Holger Peterson hosts a panel discussion dubbed The Blues of Folkways with music masters Tim Williams and Allen Toussaint, Saturday, 4 p.m.
Tickets to all events are available from Festival Place (box office 780-449-3378, festivalplace.ab.ca.