My story about my musical year starts with a short term obsession about a song. The CBC broadcast a story about the popularity of Leonard Cohen’s song Hallelujah in Britain on the National (TV news) on the Friday night before Christmas. The CBC was interested because the writer was a Canadian. The story was that …
Richard Preston recognized a good story when he heard about Steve Sillett, ninja climbs and the quest for the tallest tree. He told the story effectively in “Climbing the Redwoods”, written for the New Yorker (ninja version here), and republished in Best American Science Writing 2006. He has managed to write it again, even better, …
Vancouver Island was good. It must be one of the large folk festivals in Western Canada, with enough sponsors, grants and fan support to be able to get the performers that attract more fans. The Comox Valley Fairground is a good venue, with enough room for half a dozen stages, and camping. The camping is …
Sunday evening, July 8, 2007, I heard Don McLean and his band perform American Pie at the Vancouver Island Musicfest (aka Folk Festival). McLean, like Joan Armatrading, Los Lobos, and Bedouin Soundclash, was a headliner, who played one set during the evening concert at the main stage. The performance was professional and competent. McLean’s songs, …
It is Gordon Lightfoot’s week. November 5 – the anniversary of the Last Spike in the CPR, the inspiration for the Canadian Railroad Trilogy. Today, (November 10) the anniversary of the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, which inspired The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. As the riots in the French urban suburbs continued, a …
Winnipeg Folk Festival, Sunday July 10, 2005. Another hot sunny day, carrying a forecast of possible severe thunderstorms. The storms seemed to arrive around 9:45 PM with strong winds, sending the mainstage crowd surging for the exits. The wind died down, we had some light showers, and made it through the rest of the evening. …
Winnipeg Folk Festival, Bird’s Hill Park, Saturday July 9. There isn’t much to report. It was a sunny windy day, 32 degrees, humidex in the 40’s. I stayed home, visited my parents, shopped, cut the grass because it wasn’t raining and I was mainly in the shade, and didn’t visit the Festival until after 8:00 …
Friday July 8, 2005. Weather, site, a little music, mainly a rant about the way Festival management deals with the site.
Thursday July 7, 2005, Winnipeg Folk Festival. My report on weather, site, music and whatever else I want to blog about.
The Winnipeg Folk Festival starts today. I am again a volunteer on the Site Security crew. I have gone to the orientation meeting and to the T-Shirt evening. I have my pass and my schedule. The Festival has become a personal event, perhaps a ritual of summer for me and for the majority of fans. …