Great success for a frugal folkfest: Rookie emcee and new director bring in lots of creative talent
Lynn Saxberg, The Ottawa Citizen
Bruce Cockburn, Joel Plaskett and Steven Page, three of the Ottawa Folk Festival’s marquee performers, shared a tiny outdoor stage with Ottawa singer-songwriter Ana Miura on Sunday afternoon.
Under blues skies, a crowd of about 1,000 sprawled out on the grassy riverside to see Cockburn, a Canadian folk legend and Ottawa native, trade songs with Miura and singer-songwriters Page and Plaskett. The three are musical representatives of a generation of Canadians who grew up with Cockburn’s music.
The session was titled Road Songs and each artist plucked, from his or her repertoire, a song about travelling, revealing various viewpoints. One of Cockburn’s contributions was a powerful version of Mines of Mozambique, based on a trip he took to the war-torn country, but then Page followed it up with Helicopters, which pokes fun at rock stars who visit war-torn countries. No malice was directed at Bruce, Page noted, the real problem is how the media simplifies the story.
Full story: Great success for a frugal folkfest
Tags: artists, environment, live music, Ottawa Folk Festival, Ottawa Folkfest, outdoor concert
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