By Kyle Francis
The first time I heard that music, it did something to me,” Marc Savoy recalls. “It really confused me. I was about five or six years old, and when I heard those instruments together–the accordion, the fiddle–it did something to my head. If I had experienced it as an older person, as a teenager, I… Continue reading Music Interview: Home-cooked Cajun music
Gauntlet: Folk musicians are traditionally struggling. I hear when you were really struggling, you had some very dubious employment. Dan Bern: Yeah, when I first moved to L.A. for eight hours a day I had to wear headphones and in each ear was a different all-news radio station. I had to write briefs for every… Continue reading Music Interview: A Dan Bern of all trades
By Kyle Francis
Just like the Paul Frank popped-collar douchebags trying to fit in at the Hop-in-Brew, Bedouin Sounclash stuck out like two hobos snogging in the daytime when they played the mainstage at the Calgary Folk Music Festival. Both guitarist/vocalist Jay Malinowski and bassist Eon Sinclair seemed as though they knew they didn’t fit in, and were… Continue reading At A Glance: Bedouin Soundclash
By Emily Senger
After three hours huddled under clammy tarps to avoid a downpour, God smiled down upon Folk Fest goers. The sky cleared, the sun (almost) came out, and those brave enough to stick out the nasty weather were rewarded during Sunday’s final performance brought to them by the awesomeness that is Ani DiFranco.Feminist hero, political activist,… Continue reading At A Glance: Ani DiFranco
Every year, the folk fest offers a wide variety of musicians, offering up new experiences to those attending. This year 12,000 music fans were exposed to Tanya Tagaq, an Inuit throat singer who is anything but conventional.Performing on a variety of stages–a quick spot on the mainstage; sessions with a variety of artists like Iran’s… Continue reading At A Glance: Tanya Tagaq
Wolves in Wolves’ Clothing- 2006 NOFX’s latest offering is anything but their best. Like other bands that have lasted past the twenty-year mark and still continue to produce music, their brilliant writing days are long behind them. Contains the usual clever lyrics, but new fans would do better with a classic like Ribbed or White… Continue reading NOFX: Selected discography
Rock stars are meant to vacation intensely: yachting in St. Tropez, sunbathing in Bombay, rehab in California. But Bedouin Soundclash drummer Pat Pengelly’s vacation plans didn’t include drugs, bikinis or sunny locales. “We’ve been off for a whole week!” Pengelly exclaims as he walks down a Kingston, Ontario road. Cell phone in hand, he wanders… Continue reading Sounding off with Bedouin Soundclash
By Darren Young
Fat Mike hates George Bush. The front man of NOFX has made speeches, given interviews, and even released 2003’s The War On Errorism to condemn the cowboy in the whitehouse, just in case anyone had trouble picking up on it. Having vigorously campaigned for the punk rock lifestyle since 1983 and against the Bush administration… Continue reading NOFX: Christianity just got punk’d
By Kyle Francis
Henry Smyth was a simple man. He’d often spend long days out in his shop, toiling over a steaming forge, creating horseshoes, armour, weapons and other accoutrements requiring the hand of a master blacksmith. One day, the devil, disguised as a goat named Mendes, approached Henry and asked him to make some goat shoes. Clever… Continue reading Rocking out with the forces of evil
Despite what she may say to the contrary, there’s something more to Kinnie Starr’s music than the indie/trip-hop/ jazz/whatever it’s often described as. A Calgary native who cites her brothers’ friends and her father’s clients as influences, whose lyrics are not only a mish-mash of themes but languages as well, Starr’s speech is about as… Continue reading A Starr Named Kinnie