Each year, the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals (OCFF) honours the work of an individual or group that has made significant contributions to Ontario’s folk music community. The award is named after the late Estelle Klein, a long-time advocate of Canadian folk music and one of the early founders of the folk festival scene in [...]
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The Canada Day long weekend offered a special moment for celebration this year for folk and roots music fans. Between the flag-waving and the fireworks came the welcome news that that beloved singer-songwriter Valdy is to be admitted as a Member of the Order of Canada. Few are more deserving of the honour than this [...]
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It may be one of the most compelling live albums ever made – yet chances are, you haven’t heard it. Featuring Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Phil Ochs all at the height of their powers, Amchitka, the 1970 concert that launched Greenpeace is an extraordinary document of an inspired moment. Mitchell was at that point [...]
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I was 10 in 1967 when the Rolling Stones released Satanic Majesties Request and I don’t know how he did it, but Sam had it on the wall for a buck ninety. It wasn’t the concept or the content I was drawn by. And while I knew I should, I didn’t really know much about [...]
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Gurf Morlix is a highly respected Austin, Texas producer, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter. Gurf is a member of the Austin Music Awards Hall of Fame (2004) and the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame (2005), and is the Americana Music Association Instrumentalist of the Year for 2009. Prior to embarking on his own solo career, Gurf was [...]
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(Alternate title: Gold But Better) While I was reading Samuel R. Delany’s Dhalgren, “an Everest among books”, part of the thrill was the space troubador character named, oddly enough, Bruce Cockburn, who provided a floating lyrical chorus to the convoluted narrative. I was so impressed that our Bruce was actually a fictional character. His transcendent, [...]
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It’s Bob Dylan‘s seventieth birthday, and we’re going to celebrate this American cultural landmark in true Canadian underdog fashion: by claiming some of the limelight for ourselves. That’s right: the man who is arguably the greatest American songwriter, is (perhaps paradoxically) also in important ways, a kind of Canadian. Here’s why we think Bob Dylan [...]
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I have my mom to thank for introducing me to the music of Hazel Dickens. When I was a kid, we owned two albums by Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard, recorded in the 1970’s for Rounder Records. Hazel and Alice were the first bluegrass/old-time musicians I ever listened to. I had no idea these were [...]
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Willisville Mountain, near the village of Willisville in the Subury area, has been beloved by artists and sacred to nature-lovers since time immemorial. Group of Seven members are among many who have sought inspiration there. Canadian folk legend Ian Tamblyn dedicated an album to Willisville Mountain and lent his name to the cause of preserving [...]
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