Summerfolk 49 is happening next week! (August 16, 17 and 18, 2024) This festival, in Owen Sound, ON, is coming up really fast! We can’t wait to have our ears tickled by the new music that’s in store for us all at this perennially wonderful festival.
Here are our five choices for the Summerfolk events that we most want to see and hear:
1. Meteor Heist
At Summerfolk 48 in 2023, we happened upon a performance of Meteor Heist as they shared the stage, trading songs with another band. We were impressed by their pop-rock musicality, and the fantastic approach to rhythm by their percussionist, Thomas Carli. The band has a reputation for being an ‘indie pop powerhouse.’ From Toronto, they have Lila Wright on vocals, Cameron Stewart on guitar, William Kilbride on bass, Spencer Duncan-Dorton on keyboards and Carli on drums. They write songs that are lyrically complex, set to music with massive driving rhythms that are really fun to dance to. We look forward to hearing music from their new EP.
2. Vinta
Anyone familiar with the BalFolk scene in Toronto will be quite familiar with these four terrific musicians. Emilyn Stam (fiddle/accordion), John David Williams (clarinet), Nathan Smith (fiddle), and Robert Alan Mackie (bass). The band is what they call a ‘chamber folk quartet,’ and the group plays all original music, their own compositions, honed and developed within their own pandemic “bubble.” They’ve won a CFMA award for Instrumental Composers of the Year for their first CD, “Beacons” and we can’t wait to hear the music in concert at Summerfolk.
3. David Francey
Carpenter-turned-poet and songwriter David Francey is one of those musicians who seems to have been around forever. He’s been singing publicly for nearly 30 years, has had his songs covered by some pretty famous names, and has released 13 albums of his gorgeous music. While we have heard David now and again on festival workshop stages, we are excited to hear an entire set of his beautiful, spare songs. On Sunday night, he will close out the festival and do the final performance on the Stan Rogers Stage.
4. David Sereda
David, a really fine singer and composer, built his repertoire by weaving jazz, folk and soul music together to create his distinctive style. He’s local to the Owen Sound area. We love his writing style, his voice and his intellect, so we are highly anticipating his new approach to having the audience participate in his music-making.
5. Owen Sound Sidewalk Astronomy
Not a musical performance, unless you’re thinking of “the music of the spheres.” Steve Ritchie (Tanglefoot, RPR,) and AnnMarie Rowland will be bringing their enormous Dobsonian reflector telescopes to the dark end of the Summerfolk grounds and will show us how to watch Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the moon, and maybe even some galaxies far, far away. We’ve been watching what Sidewalk Astronomy has been doing for the past year or two, and we’ve been waiting with great anticipation for an opportunity to peer through those eyepieces. Now just might be our chance! Fingers crossed for clear skies!
These are just five of the 36 amazing performers on the Summerfolk 49 schedule. Watch out for the Youth Discoveries too!
