Latest news with #FolkMusicFestival
National Post
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- National Post
Edmonton Folk Fest Friday: Mars and Venus night with Allison Russell, Stephen Wilson Jr. summons Springsteen
From the female disco incantations of Allison Russell to the muscular King of the Hill twang of Stephen Wilson Jr., the great, diverse hydra of the Edmonton Folk Music Festival began to fully emerge from its misty cave. Article content If folk fest has a hump day, it's Friday — a kind of liminal space between just getting going and that free-range, kaleidoscopic fractal wonderland of 13 hours a day of proper weekend programming. Article content Article content Hopefully you didn't burn out yet! Article content Walking around the fully-open grounds, you start to get into that random vibe of knowing around every pack of plastic-plate noshers and volunteer blue monster T-shirts something wonderful is happening for someone on any of six active session clamshells, striped green and white for peace, prosperity and unity. Article content But as local singer-songwriter Everett LaRoi noted early Friday night wandering about with no goals or expectations, it's like a radio dial where you can just stop wherever it pleases. Article content Being a bit of a D&D dork wizard-lured me to Acoustic Alchemy jam on Stage 2 at 6 p.m., plus Shaela Miller gave off a good impression using the folk fest rare words 'Depeche Mode' and 'New Order' in her bio. Article content Hosted by Manitoba's deep folk roots Dry Bones — banjo-picker and emcee Leonard Podoluk's late dad co-founded EFMF's elder sister in Winnipeg — handsome Aussie barefooter Kim Churchill was back from last year with a slight trim, mesmerizing guitar duo Ryley Walker and Bill MacKay filling up the stage. Article content Those two pulled me closest, an acoustic double windstorm of delightfully avant-garde jazz somewhere along the echo border of Django Reinhardt and John Fahey, though if anything of all things their finger-plucking interplay reminded me of the way The Stanley Brothers' voices wove around each other into a single vibration. Article content Dry Bones did a nice Bill Bourne tribute — good to see he's being kept alive in song — while Churchill told a cute story about how his high school career counsellor advised him not to live in a camper van and play music for a living. Whoops! Article content Article content As for gothy tattooed mother-of-two Miller of Lethbridge, her country songs has a nice grit, and her banter was ceaselessly funny in a kind of a 'what the hell am I doing here?' way, talking about losing her phone in the bar the night before, as well as important fashion tips. Article content 'If my skirts aren't short and sexy enough, I just stuff them up my belt!' she explained. Article content Calvin Vollrath had a cosy little fiddle and step-dancing session over at Stage 7 at the same time, but after being disappointed headline-riffer Jesse Welles only had small T-shirts left in the grass-floored merch tent, I popped over to another buffet session over at Stage 6, where Aysanabee, AHI, Julianna Riolino and Jennifer Castle dug into their various inspirations, Aysanabee pulling Lala Noel up to help him sing instead of letting her have supper, haha!
CTV News
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Edmonton Folk Festival tickets go on sale Saturday
Edmonton Watch Here's your reminder to get your tickets for the 2025 Edmonton Folk Music Festival.
