Konono No. 1’s Congo-tronic dance party is among the fest’s highlights
Our staff picks for The Calgary Folk Music Festival
Patrick Boyle writer
Gravel Road Travelers (Corb Lund Geoff Muldaur Tom Russell Ian Tyson) — Workshops can be hit or miss but it’s hard to imagine that this one will be anything other than instant chemistry. I have no doubt that Alberta music fans are wetting themselves in anticipation of seeing two titans of local country music (one old one new) go head to head.
Ghostkeeper — I have seen Shane Sarah et al. play a handful of times but I never much cared for their stuff. That all changed with the release of their recent self-titled record which was my #1 pick for the Polaris Music Prize. I don’t know what clicked but something crazy happened inside my brain such that I can’t wait to see them live.
Man Man — Man Man is Captain Beefheart at the height of a peyote binge always on the brink of elbowing through the saloon doors to flip the table and raise hell. Much like Akron/Family or Kid Koala last year this is a side-stage headliner that will whip the crowd into a frenzy with a non-stop assault of mind-melting material all while the blanket-and-lawnchair types curl up for a nap between main-stage acts.
Peter Hemminger writer
Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens — Daptone Records provided one of the 2007 fest’s biggest highlights with Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings; label-mates Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens are set to channel the same old-school soul.
Konono No. 1 (pictured above) — Konono’s trance-inducing thumb piano grooves sound like nothing else on Earth.
Man Man — Man Man is more fun than 1000 more conventional rockers.
Mark Teo music and screen editor
Dan Mangan — The lyric “Robots need love too / They want to be loved by you” is the precise moment where the profound meets the lobotomized. And to hear it sung in unison by thousands of concertgoers — well that just drives the point home.
Frank Turner — He’s a British songwriter who owes more to Billy Bragg than he’d ever care to admit. But when this greying-around-the-temples ex-punk drops quips such as “Musicians who lack the friends to start a band / Become singer-songwriters… and official club photographers” he’s actually describing everyone you know who’s under the age of 35. It’s some wild shit.
Timber Timbre — Timber Timbre’s Taylor Kirk has one stunning ability possessed by few musicians: He can silence a room in mere seconds. His brand of haunted unsettling blues is probably more suited for a Catholic Easter procession but that’s exactly why it’ll be incredible to see him perform at an outdoor summer festival.
Mary-Lynn Wardle writer
Avett Brothers – Thursday night’s headliners are the Avetts North Carolina everymen who discovered pop via punk and bluegrass. They create musical phrases that are simultaneously raw and exuberant while exploring the universal struggle to travel honourably through temptation.
Tom Russell — Sure this gritty no-holds-barred-troubadour graces Calgary about once a year but the addition of oxygen and sunshine to his Southwestern insights should guarantee ignition.
Joe Henry — This is one of those “wow” bookings as in “Really?! Is Joe Henry really bringing his stolen-moment jazz-bruised insights to Prince Island? Wow!” Combine his penchant for exploring the dark corners of the psyche with the open island air – mmm smells like an oxymoron.
