Fest offers music for beginners
Tracey Tong, Metro News Ottawa
Learn to play the ukelele at a free workshop.
Folkfest – The 17th annual Ottawa Folk Festival runs at Britannia Park from Friday through Sunday.
Artists – Headliners include Arrested Development, Calexico, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and the Jim Cuddy Band.
Go green – This is a green festival. Bring your own water bottle and refill at the hydration station, and cycle and leave your bike at the lockup or hop on the festival’s shuttle.
Online – Register for the free lessons at ofcmusic.ca.
Ottawa residents are lucky to be able to choose among lots of music festival offerings.
Earlier this year, there was the jazz festival, Ottawa Bluesfest, Music and Beyond, and Chamberfest.
If all that listening has inspired you to get in on some of the music-making action, you’re in luck.
The Ottawa Folklore Centre is running a series of free music lessons at Ottawa Folkfest, which runs Friday through Sunday.
Read more: Fest offers music for beginners
Ottawa Folk Festival takes on new challenge
Phil Ambroziak | EMC
Organizers are hoping a new take on one of the city’s most popular summer music festivals will result in a new audience while still attracting longtime traditionalists.
The Ottawa Folk Festival is scheduled for Aug. 13 to 15 at Britannia Park and, while it will still feature everything that has made it a popular event in the past, this year’s festival plans on being bigger and better than ever.
Although all acts that will be appearing at the festival have yet to be confirmed, Mr. Griffith noted that long-time fans will be pleased to see such folk music legends as Ramblin’ Jack Elliott while new groups such as Arrested Development will have a somewhat different approach in terms of lyrical content and how they connect with the audience.
“There will be new artists and new genres, but they will all have a connection to our roots in folk music,” Mr. Griffith said.
Full story on the EMC website: Ottawa Folk Festival takes on new challenge
Final Audition Winners Clarksdale Moan and The Musettes to Play Ottawa Folk Festival
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.
Student duo wins stage time at capital music fest
Cheryl Brink | West Carleton ReviewTwo All Saints Catholic High School students are transitioning from playing on their school’s stage for talent shows to performing for the city during the annual Ottawa Folk Festival.
Kelly Peltier and Trevor Pool bonded when they were the rhythm section for a school musical, and began jamming on their guitars in friends’ basements after classes. Last December, Kelly wrote her first song, and it made their band, Tall Trees, official.
In less than seven months, the folk duo has recorded six songs using friend’s equipment and editing software, jointly written a dozen solid tunes and won an audition into the capital’s annual music festival in August.
The duo will be playing at the Ottawa Folk Festival at Britannia Park between August 21 and 23; the schedule has not been finalized. Visit them online to hear their music at www.myspace.com/wearealltalltrees.
Full story on www.westcarletonthisweek.com: Student duo wins stage time at capital music fest
