ShaneWilson.net

The Doomsday Cartel

A friend of mine has built a recording studio in the basement of his house he owns. We are going to be working on recording and promoting bands as well as actors and models. I spent the past two afternoons in the studio with a local hip-hop band called Doomsay Cartel (also known as The DC Show). They're pretty talented guys. We hope to have a CD out for them by Christmas.

Folk Fest - Day 4

My Sunday started at 11:00 with a session featuring Garnet Rogers, Lynn Miles, and Rachel Davis. (top picture) This was the funniest session I attended. At one point Rachel Davis was tuning up a banjo (she usually plays guitar) and she said she was going to play a love song. Garnet Rogers said "Is it about your uncle?" , which started a funny conversation about hillbillies and incest. Then Rachel Davis said "fuck". Garnet said "can you say fuck here?". To which Rachel Davis replied, "I just said it, fuck, fuck, fuck". Then Garnet Rogers went into a story of a crazy stalker he once had who followed him from town to town showing up at his shows. She would only speak to him via a puppet that looked just like her. Then one day she presented him with a puppet that looked like him and said "now we can talk".

After that I was on shift until 4:00. Then I caught a concert by Fred Eaglesmith, which was awesome. After the concert I bought his CD and got it signed.

First up on the mainstage was Wanda Jackson. I wasn't really into her all that much. She's known as the first lady of Rockability, and sang with people like Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Next was Lhasa. She's from Quebec but spent much of her childhood in Mexico. She's got a really nice voice and sings in both French and Spanish, and she did one song in English.

Ani Difranco was up next. (middle picture) I was really looking forward to seeing her, and she put on a great show. She got a huge reaction from the crowd when she first came on stage.

The last artist of the night was David Byrne (the former lead singer of Talking Heads). He was great, and did everything from old Talking Heads hits like Psycho Killer and Once in a Lifetime, to Opera. He was accompanied by a great string band called the Tosca Strings.

After David Byrne, I headed back to the Hotel for the party, where The Paperboys and Spirit of the West (bottom picture) played.

Folk Fest - Day 3

My Saturday started with a session at 11:00 featuring Dick Gaughan, Susan Crow, the Handsome Family, and Laura Smith. I really like Dick Gaughan, he's an excellent Scottish singer/songwriter. And I wanted to check out Susan Crow, because a friend of mine writes reviews for The Canadian Folk Music Bulletin, and she wrote a glowing review of Susan Crow's latest CD. She was good, but Dick Gaughan was my favorite singer in this session. The Handsome Family was interesting, quite a contrast from the others on the stage. They sang songs about suicide and drinking too much and ending up in the hospital.

Then I volunteered for 4 hours. I missed Blue Rodeo on the mainstage, but I've seen them several times before anyway.

At 4:00 a caught a bit of a session with Martin Simpson, Jerry Douglas, David Lindley. Then at 4:30 I saw half of a Celli with Ron Kavana, Paddy Keenan and Tommy Sulliven, Spirit of the West, and Four Men and a Dog. Then I caught a concert by O Susanna whom I really like.

I skipped the first evening mainstage performer, Jerry Douglas, so I could check out the craft tent, record tent, etc.

Next up was Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir, a gospel group who have been to the festival many times and are quite good.

Next was Earl Scruggs. Not bad, but no really my bag.

After Earl Scruggs was Natalie Merchant, who was incredible. I was looking forward to her more than anyone else, and was not disapointed.

Last was Four Men and a Dog, an awesome Celtic Band From Ireland (pictured above.)

Edmonton Folk Fest 2004 - Day 2

Again for the 2nd day of the festival, I finished my volunteer shift before the gates open. There were sessions from 6:00 - 9:00, then the main stage performances.

At 6:00 I caught a session featuring Spirit of the West, Paddy Keenan and Tommy O'Sullivan, and Hagaard and Hoirup. Mostly I wanted to see Spirit of the West, as I would be working during their mainstage show on Sunday afternoon, so I wanted to be sure to catch them at least one session.

Then I wandered around a bit before seeing a session with Fred Eaglesmith, Arlene Bishop and Rachel Davis. I'm a big fan of Fred Eaglesmith, I got to see him a couple times during the festival, and also bought a CD and had him sign it.

First up on the mainstage was Lucky Dube. I've been a fan of his since he played the festival in 1997 and he blew me away. He's a reggae singer from South Africa. He was supposed to be here last year but was a last minute cancelation. He was excellent.

Next up was Great Big Sea. This was the fourth time I've seen them live, and they've been excellent each time. I also got to listen to them play a few songs during their soundcheck earlier in the day (top picture)

Finishing up the evening was Michael Franti and Spearhead. Every year I always discover at least one band that I was previously unfamiliar with who I end up becoming a big fan of. This is the case with Michael Franti - he was incredible. He's sort of a mix of funk, reggae, and even hip hop. He is also very political and recently made a trip to Iraq, and he had some things to say about what is happening there.

After the show I headed back to the Hotel for the volunteer party, where Lucky Dube played, and it was even better than his mainstage perfomance. (bottom picture)

Folk Fest 2004 - Day 1

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Just got back a little while ago from the first night of the 2004 Edmonton Folk Music Festival. I got my volunteer duties out of the way before the music even started, so I didn't have to miss anything.

First up was a band from Madagascar called Jaojoby. The type of music they play is called salegy, which contains a mixture of traditional and modern instruments.

Next the Dixie Hummingbirds (top picture), a great gospel band that's been together for 70 years. The oldest current member has been in the band for 66 years! I first discovered the Dixie Hummingbirds when they did a cover of Bob Dylan's "City of Gold" for the movie Masked and Anonymous. I'm not religious, but I certainly don't mind listening to a good live Gospel Band.

After the Dixie Hummingbirds was Hawksley Worksman (bottom picture). This was an interesting set. Pretty good, but a lot different than what I was expected, having heard about 3 of his songs before. He's a pretty talented guy, a great singer and he played both guitar and drums.

Next came Garnet Rogers. He writes great lyrics, and he really impressed me with his guitar playing, I didn't realize he was such a good guitar player.

The last act of the night was Rodney Crowell. I liked him a lot more than I thought I would. Unfortunately the weather started getting nasty towards the end of the set. The rain held off until the end of the show but it started pouring within minutes of the end of the last song.

One year of blogging

My blog has been active(well ok, not very active) for one year today. I guess not a lot interesting has happened in that year, maybe in the next year I'll have some more interesting things to write about.