Final Audition Winners Clarksdale Moan and The Musettes to Play Ottawa Folk Festival

July 2, 2010 · Filed Under Festival News, News

The 2010 Ottawa Folk Festival Final Auditions took place on Thursday, June 10th at the Library and Archives of Canada, awarding two exceptionally talented acts Clarksdale Moan, and the Musettes with performance slots at this year’s festival.

Judges Louise and Harvey Glatt, donators of the One Fret Less Award, Kay Kanbayashi, artistic programming coordinator at the NCC, and Dean Verger, long-time proprietor of legendary folk café Rasputin’s, had the difficult task of selecting the top act in each category.

The admittedly nervous performers each put on strong, crowd-pleasing performances, making the judges’ decisions tricky to say the least. In the end two acts stood out above the rest. To Bob LeDrew, OFF board member and MC of the Final Auditions, the judges panel was not an envious place to be.

“I was really impressed with all six performances. I would not want to be a judge. There was a great diversity present in the acts in the style of music being performed from more traditional delta-blues to singer-songwriter” said LeDrew.

Winner of the youth category (aged 16-25), The Musettes won not only the coveted festival performance slot but also the Galaxie Rising Star award and a cash prize of $1000. The three charming young women that form The Musettes met at Canterbury High School, where they graduated from the vocal program. The Musettes music is a cheerful blend of harmonized vocals, ukulele, acoustic guitar and the fiddle that has been compared to The Wailin’ Jennies and The Good Lovelies. The Musettes members Laura Inostroza and Rachel Harrison beat out the other two acts in their category despite being short a member, as fiddler and vocalist Meaghan LaGrandeur was overseas doing charity work. They will use their prize money to invest in new equipment to further improve their sound. To The Musettes the big payoff is the chance to play in this year’s festival.

“It means a ton to be performing in the Ottawa Folk Festival. It’s such an opportunity to be playing with such well known performers,” said Laura Inostroza.

Open category winners (aged 26+), Clarksdale Moan took home the One Fret Less award as well as their time slot and $1000 cash prize. From Chateauguay, Quebec, Clarksdale moan is comprised of vocalist Kevin Harvey and guitarist Kenny Pauze, who together play definitive blues, complete with heart-felt vocals, slide guitar, harmonica and pounding foot stomping. A true blues act, Clarksdale Moan took their stage name from 1930’s blues band Son House’s elusive recording “Clarksdale Moan”. The duo’s emotional performance was what set them apart from the competition.

The 2010 Ottawa Folk Festival will take place August 13-15 at Britannia Park. For tickets go to www.ticketbreak.com.

Tags: Britannia Park, folk festival, folk music, Folkfest, music festival, Ottawa Folk Festival