Arriving to Bird's Hill Park and the Winnipeg Folk Festival grounds a bit late on the first night of the festival unfortunately meant missing some very talented artists in Snowblink and James Vincent McMorrow (luckily this wasn't our only opportunity to hear either of them, as they'll both be part of the "Your Indie Heart" workshop on Friday afternoon).
Emma-Lee has a voice that has to be heard to be believed. Seriously. Her voice is phenomenal. While there are plenty of artists, Canadian and otherwise, who can write well-crafted songs, there are very few who can combine that with a range and tone like Emma-Lee's.
Fred Eaglesmith is one of Canada's most recognized folk icons. He's a dedicated disciple of a way of life that refuses to die. His discography is decorated with songs about the down-and-out, death, trains and tiresome travel. This year, Fred tours extensively with the aptly-named Tin Can Caravan.
Someone is smiling down on Emma-Lee. The Toronto singer-songwriter has recovered from two vocal cord operations since 2006, yet her voice remains unhindered. In an age where pop-soul songstress Adele wins big at the Grammys, Emma-Lee fits right in. This may be her sophomore full-length but her dynamic with collaborators suggests a friendly level of professionalism.
Despite its relatively small size, Winnipeg knows how to throw a summer party! From late June until the end of August, this prairie city known mostly for its cold winters and newly-returning hockey team comes alive with festival after festival celebrating music, theatre, and culture.
Unfortunately, as we alluded to yesterday, there won't be any big posts for the next couple days from the Winnipeg Folk Festival, as the exhaustion (and let's face it, fun) of camping is taking up a lot of our time over the weekend.
Thursday night at the 2011 Winnipeg Folk Festival featured some pleasant surprises, but it was indie folk mainstays Tegan and Sara who rocked the Bird's Hill Park field to a delighted and uncharacteristically raucous crowd.
Back in 1993, the iconic Canadian roots-rock band Blue Rodeo released their album Five Days in July, probably their most defining work in their nearly three decades as a band.
Dozens of acts, tens of thousands of festivalgoers, and countless hours of great music helped make the 37th Annual Winnipeg Folk Festival a memorable five days. The weather held up for the most part, while the music certainly did.
I'm going to be honest here...
The rain finally came to the Winnipeg Folk Festival on Saturday -- but what would an outdoor festival be without a bit of the wet stuff falling? It didn't seem to damper the spirits of festival-goers, however, as plenty of people were out at all the workshop stages throughout the day -- some decked in ponchos and others just letting the rain cool them down.
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