The Calgary Folk Festival wrapped up it’s 2024 edition this weekend, and the host of CKUA’s Folk Routes, Tom Coxworth, was there to take it in.
It has become common over the last couple of decades for long-time roots fans to bemoan the lack of actual folk and blues music at festivals that call themselves folk and blues festivals. And this year’s Calgary line-up contained a particularly long list of names unfamiliar to the usual folkie crowd — though it certainly also included some fan favourites such as Celeigh Cardinal and Cowboy Junkies (who arguably also aren’t folk but they fit the vibe).
Tom joked that he turned over every stone at the festival, and this is what he could find that was folk.
Here are five artists who stood out for him.
Benj Rowland
“It’s just that he brought it back to the roots and with a Celtic feel and a real earthy audience connection. He went on the main stage and played the hurdy gurdy and played guitar. You know, he has that old hippie vibe.”
The McDades
“The quality of the musicianship, the interplay between … them as a band … together with other people – you can’t beat them for [their] expertise in jamming and playing along. Not only are they strong singer-songwriter players, but they just enjoy the gathering, and they make it better for everybody. The David Francy song [Lonely Road] is always great. When you put Solon, Jeremiah and Shannon together, you know, there’s an interplay where you don’t even know how they know to switch up a tune to play off the flute, the saxophone, the violin — and Solon’s bass playing is jazz perfection in the folk world.”
Ben Howard
“Ben Howard. Pop guy. Only saw him about 10 to 15 minutes. He’s just one of those new singer songwriters that connect lyrics to a younger audience – for the under 40s. I think they’re very personal songs, you know? You’re not going to find a folky singer-songwriter there, but they’re very personal songs, and he has a very substantial following that knows every every single song.”
Declan O’Donovan
“He just has a way of approaching a song that you know he’s talking to you. So it’s again the under 40. And what do I really know about under 40 or under 70? But it really comes down to he makes those connections. And also, when he’s playing on stage with others, he’s playing on stage with others. He’s engaged. So he’s got quite a following there.”
Krut
“The bandura player from the Ukraine. You know, she’s got an instrument that’s incredibly difficult to play. And she wows you with it from blues to Bach. It’s a classical instrument, but I saw her in a jam session this afternoon with some world instrumentalists. And when she took her spot, that instrument shone, and it was just because of the way she did the finger picking and then the sweeps and the way that she made that instrument stand out and made people lean forward. And I followed her around three times. So I saw her three times in three different settings without seeing her in a full solo session. And. she just has that special thing with an instrument that nobody knows anything about. And she knows it well enough to take you, like on her journey with the instrument.”
