Latest news with #CalgaryFolkMusicFestival
Calgary Herald
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
CAKE to bring 'more frenetic, louder, messier' show to close Calgary Folk Music Festival
Article content When John McCrea returned to the stage after a lengthy break caused by the pandemic, he felt rare pangs of stage fright. Article content It was a strange development since the lead singer of CAKE has been performing as part of the California band since 1991, often in front of large festival or amphitheatre crowds. Article content 'Weirdly, after playing thousands of shows, I started having a bit of anxiety,' says McCrea, in an interview with Postmedia. 'I think I was just having anxiety about everything, about the world. But getting on the stage when you have anxiety is a tall order.' Article content Article content So, in the tradition of NASCAR races and Nickelback concerts, McCrea began to incorporate the T-shirt cannon into his band's act. Article content Article content 'Having that foil, as it were, this excuse for distance, this powerful T-shirt gun thing that made a nice, satisfying (pop), it actually got me back on stage,' he says. 'I could be playing music, but mostly here's what I'm doing: I'm shooting something into the sky. I guess that explains a lot of the gun-fetish culture. It gives you a reason to exist, I guess, in that moment. I'm not making any pro or con statement. I'm saying I'm playing music, but mainly I've got this physically demonstrative gesture. I can't explain it, but it really helps me.' It should add another layer of colour to CAKE's live show, which will take over the ATB Main Stage Sunday night to close the Calgary Folk Music Festival. Like most artists, McCrea has other ways of dealing with the anxiety the world, and his country in particular, has increasingly brought. At the end of 2024, the band released a single called Billionaire in Space. Initially broadcast as part of Texas Public Radio's Live from the Freight Elevator, the song has a folk-punk flavour and features McCrea's trademark nasally delivery. It's also the band's first new material since 2011's Showroom of Compassion and will be part of an album likely to come out in early 2026. Article content Article content While the title Billionaire in Space may seem on the nose in terms of the point McCrea is trying to make, the song has broader content than simply criticizing Jeff Bezos' and Richard Branson's costly and self-indulgent jaunts into the cosmos. It was inspired by wildfires in 2020. Article content 'We were going through the pandemic and down here on the West Coast, we were covered in smoke for weeks,' he says. 'There was a period of time when we were just buried, and it was very surreal. In the sky, the only colours you could see were brown and orange and grey for weeks, and there was very little difference between day and night, and the air was just toxic. It wasn't just trees of smoke, it was burned-down sporting-goods-store smoke. Anyway, at that same moment, we had two billionaires flying their rockets, orbiting the planet. It was poignant at that moment.' Article content Of course, politically thorny times have tended to produce good music in the past. Article content 'Inspire is a nice word for it, but I think maybe trigger would be a better word,' he says. '… I'm sort of at the mercy of whatever is going on around me in terms of subject matter.' Article content While the new album will have what McCrea refers to as veiled political content, he seems reluctant to pinpoint specific themes or musical direction it may take. Since forming in 1991, CAKE has never followed any rule book, except to offer a droll, dance-ready antidote to the humourless grunge acts that were ruling the music world in the mid-1990s. Article content CAKE became an unlikely platinum-selling group, offering a mix of disco, funk, folk, country and alt-pop — gamely referred to as 'quirk-rock' by some critics — that seemed to arrive fully formed on the band's 1993 self-released debut Motorcade of Generosity and its massive follow-up,1996's Fashion Nugget. Songs such as The Distance and an endearingly deadpan cover of Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive became staples on the radio. Article content Article content The band's early success was with the independent label Capricorn Records, although they did eventually sign with Columbia for a short period. While CAKE did face occasional pressure from label brass, their early success put them in a good place to steer their own ship creatively. Article content 'We released our first album on our own label and we were lucky enough to find distribution and it did pretty OK before we got signed,' he says. 'I'm pretty sure our song (Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle) was on the college-radio charts before we got signed. So they were kind of like, 'We don't know what this is, so let's just let them do whatever the hell this is.' That was cool. Mostly that's what they did. Here and there, they messed with us. A lot of bands, when they sign, it's a very unequal relationship and they can dress them up funny, put them with producers that are wrong for them, etc., etc.' Article content Article content As for the live show, we will presumably see some T-shirt cannon action, but beyond that, the band tends to be unpredictable on stage. CAKE never relies on a setlist for concerts, which should give the Sunday night showcase a sense of spontaneity. Article content 'We do that to stay alive inside and not feel like a machine that is being forced to play a certain song at a certain time,' McCrea says. 'That said, we tend to play songs from all of our albums. Most of the time, we remember to play a song that was popular in a country or a town. We remember to play that song sometimes, and sometimes we don't. But it is a more spontaneous, slightly more frenetic, louder, messier than our studio albums.'
Calgary Herald
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
Headliner cancelled, downpours of rain, but Calgary Folk Fest will still be how 'the world should be for four days.'
Nathan Ross is happy to be the one holding the spot for his 15 friends, says "it isn't even drawing the short straw." Nathan Ross was first in line for the Calgary Folk Music Festival. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Calgary Herald ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Calgary Herald ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors He arrived alone at 8:45 a.m. Thursday morning with a book, a short fold out chair, and seven hours of time to kill before the festival gate's opened. He's here this early every year. Not for any particular headliner — he's always confident the music will be good — but to run with tarp in hand and stake claim to the same spot of land his group does every year; centre field, but just far enough back to avoid a crowd that's rushed the stage. 'To say you can find us in the same spot every year, it's just a little sense of home.' Your weekday lunchtime roundup of curated links, news highlights, analysis and features. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again Normally, Ross says, he's not the only one there so early. 'I've met people just in line over the years, that I really cherish seeing once a year,' he said. 'It's not like I avoid them throughout the year, I know that they'll be here, and I really look forward to seeing them again.' The sense of community in long lineups and sense of home in tarp-territory has been driving the folk fest forward for 46 years running. That community was put to the test when first night headliner Michael Kiwanuka cancelled abruptly, citing sickness. 'He cancelled his entire tour,' said Kerry Clarke , artistic director for the folk festival. 'We worked really hard for 24 hours and tried a whole bunch of different artists. Arrested Development were one of the main ones we wanted.' Arrested Development will headline the first night of the Calgary Folk Fest. They got them. The hip-hop group released a new album July 4, and were in part able to make the event last minute thanks to being together for said album's promotion. Festival staff say that they've received an incredibly positive reception over social media for booking a group of their caliber on short notice. 'The last minute replacements, I get it's tough working for the fest, but to get Begonia and Arrested Development the week of, I think, is no small feat,' said Ross, still waiting alone more than an hour after arriving. He'd moved a five dollar bill to mark his place in his book. 'A couple years ago, I believe Courtney Barnett got stuck in Atlanta because her planes wheels melted on the Tarmac. When you work in showbiz, you understand that there are acts out of your control, and you just gotta roll with the punches,' Ross said. Cancellations aren't the only punches organizers were forced to roll this year, as those in charge of setting up the festival grounds were made to bob-and-weave weather patterns not seen by them in years.
Calgary Herald
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
'I was always a searcher': Jackson and the Janks to bring New Orleans inspired 'garage gospel' to Calgary
Article content In his early 20s, Jackson Lynch decided he needed to live in New Orleans if he wanted to make a go of a music career. Article content It wasn't as if he was living in the boonies before that. He was a New Yorker who would attend all-ages, hardcore punk shows in the underground clubs of the Lower East Side. But on his frequent trips to the Big Easy, he felt a new world opening up musically. It had the same fierce DIY spirit as hardcore, even if it didn't much sound like it. Article content Article content 'I was in my early 20s and was like, 'Damn, if I'm going to take music seriously for my life, this is where I gotta be,' ' he says. 'So I picked it all up and went down there and was there for many years. It was the brokest I've ever been in my life, but I was the richest I've ever been in my life creatively.' Article content Article content Initially, he would busk every day in the French Quarter. It put him in touch with fellow musicians. That included future Grammy winner and 2025 Calgary Folk Music Festival headliner Sierra Ferrell. He met up with ragtime band Tuba Skinny and the members of Hurrah for the Riff Raff. Article content 'I would bring my fiddle out every day,' he says. 'I was so broke, man. I would go out at 9 a.m. every day, and I would play the fiddle in front of this cafe. I would make like $40. And I was like, 'Hell, yeah! I'm good for the day.' Later in the day, he would jam with jazz bands on Royal Street. Article content 'I really cut my teeth,' says Lynch, whose band Jackson and the Janks will be making its Canadian debut on Saturday as part of East Town Get Down in Calgary. Article content Lynch is back in Brooklyn these days, but New Orleans is where Jackson and the Janks were born. Lynch eventually picked up an electric guitar and began creating a distinct 'garage gospel' sound that brought in various musical threads from New Orleans. The band's self-titled debut was recorded over several years in New Orleans and released in 2023. It has three originals by Lynch, but most of the material is old gospel standards and obscurities that the Janks re-envisioned in the studio. Article content That includes a Kinks-like run through Give an Account, which Lynch first heard as an old field recording by sisters Dorothy Lee, Norma Jean and Shirley Marie Johnson. Sleep On, Mother, a song that originated with an a cappella group called the Silver Leaf Quartette of Norfolk that performed spiritual music in the 1920s and 1930s.
CBC
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Calgary Folk Music Festival returns with Los Lobos, CAKE, Patrick Wilson and more
70 artists. Eight stages. Four fantastic days of music at Prince's Island Park. Does your summer bucket list include outdoor live music? The Calgary Folk Music Festival returns to Prince's Island Park from July 24 to 27, and CBC is a proud sponsor. Gather your friends, family and festival chairs for a music-packed weekend. The lineup of over 70 artists includes headliners like Los Lobos, Patrick Wilson, CAKE, Sierra Ferrell, BADBADNOTGOOD, Michael Kiwanuka and many more. Alongside internationally-acclaimed icons, festival-goers will discover new sounds — many of them homegrown. Albertan artists make a strong showing at this year's festival, with Aladean Kheroufi, Billie Zizi, Cedric Lightning and Starpainter slated to perform among other local acts. Start prepping for Folk Fest! Hear Aladean Kheroufi and Billie Zizi on this January 2025 episode of Key of A. In between stage-hopping (there are eight!), be sure to visit the arts market, family zone, beer garden and food vendor alley.
CBC
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Calgary Folk Music Festival drops the needle despite exchange-rate sour note
Social Sharing Picture it. Late summer 2025. You are strolling along Memorial Drive and as you get closer to Prince's Island Park, you can hear music. Lots and lots of folk music. The 46th edition of the Calgary Folk Music Festival takes over the urban island park for a four-day weekend starting July 24. "There are a lot of local artists and Canadian artists," the festival's artistic director Kerry Clarke told reporters Wednesday. "Because our festival is so collaborative, it gives them a chance to try things out and meet other artists and maybe do some new songs for them." Thursday's stage will welcome Sierra Ferrell, Michael Kiwanuka and Elisapie. Patrick Watson, Ruby Waters, Cymande, BadBadNotGood and Moontricks will entertain Friday. "Saturday night's festivities culminate with revered hardcore troubadour Steve Earle with Reckless Kelly, Texas's beacons of fresh hick rock, after crack East L.A. Mexican roots and blues rockers Los Lobos and Madeleine Peyroux's dusky lyrics, wrapped in sultry, playful, retro sounds," the festival said in a release. The festival wraps Sunday with Cake, Ocie Elliott and LA LOM. Here's the full lineup. Clarke said there's a lot of moving pieces with a festival of this size. "A lot of negotiation, a lot of back and forth. Michael Kiwanuka was out, then he was in, then he was out, now he is in. So a lot of juggling and negotiation," she said. "This festival is able to attract great artists because we have a really good reputation." The volatile situation south of the border with tariffs and a punishing exchange rate affects decision-making in Calgary, Clarke explained. "A lot of artists are booked well before we knew exactly who was going to be elected and when they were elected, exactly what impact that would have," she said. "There are a lot of American headliners that are going to bring in people to see Canadian artists, and we want to keep collaborations between the two countries. Those conversations are critical." The festival aims for a minimum of 50 per cent Canadian artists. This year, Clarke said it's closer to 60. But it's the U.S.-Canadian exchange rate that's really hurting. "It impacts the budget hugely," Clarke said.
