Lion Bear Fox highlight of Lake Country Folk Fest

Members of trio perform individually and then together

Trust Ryan Donn to do something different, something special for the inaugural Lake Country Folk Fest on Saturday.

Lake Country’s cultural development co-ordinator saw Lion Bear Fox at BC Touring Council’s Pacific Contact 2016, an annual showcase where the Vancouverbased trio was one of 50 acts vying for bookings.

Singer-songwriters Christopher Arruda and Cory Woodward, from Vancouver, and Ryan McMahon, from Ladysmith, started joining in on each other’s songs after an impromptu show in Winnipeg in May 2012. A trial tour followed, with one of their first performances (if not their first) as Lion Bear Fox at Kelowna’s Minstrel Cafe four years ago.

The rest is history, with their debut EP, We’d Be Good Men, released in late 2013, the LP Lion Bear Fox in 2016, more than a dozen tours across Canada and a series of performances at music festivals last summer.

So Donn asked the three folk/rock artists to go back to their roots at Lake Country Community Complex, to perform as individuals in George Elliot Secondary’s intimate music room and then to headline the final concert in Creekside Theatre.

“Nights like this remind me of when Lion Bear Fox first started,” said McMahon (Fox) as his set began. “The reality of how special this is is sinking in. This is really cool.”

During their theatre concert, Woodward (Bear) said the three talked backstage and discussed how “we haven’t played solo in front of each other for a long time. That’s how the band came to be with our first show at the Menstrual (sic) Cafe. I’m glad we had that discussion (in 2012). This was a very special night for us. But it feels really weird to be drinking (alcohol) in a high school . . . again.”

During his individual performance, Arruda (Lion) noted: “This has been fun. This is just my first solo set in a year-and-a-half.”

As his haunting vocals drifted down the school hallway, all 50 seats in the small music room quickly filled with more soon-tobe-fans sitting on the floor and standing at the rear. They included “superfan” David Buckna, who commented: “Individually, they are all great. If you think this is good, together, they are magic.”

Undeniable was their unbridled enthusiasm when showcasing their individual singer/songwriting skills. After all three performances, you could only conclude that the music room wasn’t big enough for their powerful voices.

And then, there was the theatre performance that stretched for more than an hour as their intricate harmonies entranced more than 300 now-fans. Extra chairs were brought in, but even that was not enough seating.

Their concert concluded with all three stepping away from their microphones and they stood at the front row, Arruda playing his acoustic guitar, and all three harmonizing to Home from their EP.

“You make us feel like this was our home,” commented Arruda, as the entire theatre jumped to its feet with thunderous applause. It was indeed a concert to end all concerts that night.

One of the challenges with a festival like this, of course, is trying to catch all 10 acts on three stages since you are bound to miss many of the notable local artists, everyone from Donn, Jane Eamon of Kelowna, Michael Painchaud of Lake Country and Carolyn Anele of Vernon in a song-writers-in-the-round show, one-man band Ari Neufeld (formerly from Lake Country) and El Mariachi Los Dorados mariachi band.

With the overwhelming success of Lake Country’s first folk fest, will there not be another?

“Would you guys come back next year?” asked Woodward.

The enthusiastic applause reassured him everyone would.