Monday, November 28, 2011

First Bookings Announced for Mariposa Folk Festival 2012

     
      The first seven bookings for the renowned Mariposa Folk Festival have been announced. This initial group of performers indicates that an eclectic festival line-up is coming together.
“We are pulling together a diverse artistic presentation with plenty of surprises for our audience this year. The performers announced today are a good indication of the scope of line-up that is coming together” said Mike Hill, Artistic Director.

Performers unveiled today include Old Man Luedecke (Nova Scotia), Julian Fauth (Ontario), Danny Michel (Ontario), The Once (Newfoundland & Labrador), Gandalf Murphy & The Slambovian Circus of Dreams (New York), Florent Vollant (Québec), and The Arrogant Worms (Ontario).



Festival tickets are on sale now at the lowest available price. Prices go up January 1st.

 
Mariposa Folk Festival takes place July 6-8, 2012, in Orillia, Ontario, Canada.

Here are the performer bios



Old Man Luedecke

An auditioned Mariposa Showcase performer at the 2005 festival, Old Man Luedecke went on to become one of Canada’s best loved and most intriguing roots singer-songwriters. He has earned a 2011 Juno Award for My Hands Are On Fire And Other Love Songs and a 2009 Juno Award for Proof of Love. His performances are exciting and totally entertaining, and his un-clinched banjo playing style sparkles. He’s a young man with an old soul who doesn’t sugar coat his fears, and this lets his songs breathe with bittersweet hopefulness. It’s almost as though Luedecke channels Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, with maybe a hint of Loudon Wainwright III, and the result is modern old-time originality that is pleasing to the ears and the soul.

 
Julian Fauth


With a performer as driven as Julian Fauth, you get the distinct impression he shares his body with an old spirit from the beyond. There’s just no other way to explain his grasp of the pre-war piano blues he so loves to share. Seemingly possessed by his muse, Julian’s mystical and enchanting performance style is beyond bewitching. His enthusiastic and vigorous stage presence rejuvenates his beloved music like few before him ever could. While some musicians wear their influences casually on their sleeves, Julian’s influences are hard-wired into his biological makeup. The result is a joyful musical experience only a fool would miss.

 
Danny Michel


Performer and producer, Danny Michel, slips into any genre with ease, spontaneity and disarming sincerity. A true innovator, he is proof that creativity in the digital age can still build a rich, successful and intimate relationship with fans. For his 2011 album, Sunset Sea, Danny challenged fans from around the world to submit their own tracks, and a few of his own parts were replaced by what he considered "better ones". One of the tracks features a global chorus of fans. In 2008, he made his single, Feather, Fur & Fin, available for his fans to remix, and posted their versions on his website.

 
The Once


From their beginnings as three actors who loved to sing together, The Once has embraced a different vision of Newfoundland music. Their sounds do not come from the noisy pubs and dockside taverns that fuel so much of the Island’s energy. Instead, their music comes from a quieter and more thoughtful place. Geraldine Hollett’s voice is an instrument of rare power. She can still a noisy room and tell a moving story with just a few words. Accompanied by Phil Churchill and Andrew Dale on guitar, mandolin, fiddle and bouzouki, together they create a perfect, beautiful blend of voice and melody.

 
Gandalf Murphy & The Slambovian Circus of Dreams


This crowd pleasing troupe of gifted musicians, armed with great songs and a unique stage gravitas, has affectionately been called "the hillbilly Pink Floyd". This is a particularly apt description, especially if you throw in elements of Incredible String Band, Neil Young, The Band, Dylan, and maybe even a little Frank Zappa. Formed in the late 90's when the ‘Slambovians’ were still in art school, they have toured extensively in North America and abroad, building an ever growing and devoted fan base with their electrifying live performances and strong original music. Something in the water along the Hudson River continues to inspire creative souls, and we believe this thoroughly entertaining act will quench the thirst of even the most musically adventurous folkie.

 
Florent Vollant

 
This Innu writer-composer-performer was half of the duo, Kashtin, one of the most commercially successful musical groups in First Nations history. Kashtin’s three albums earned Florent Vollant 4 Félix Awards, and would take him across Canada and to France, Belgium, South Korea, USA and Bolivia. Florent has collaborated on many musical projects since Kashtin including Robbie Robertson’s The Native Americans album. His serene Christmas album, Nipaiamianan, sung in Innu, earned him his first Juno Award as well as an apostolic blessing from Pope John Paul II. He was also the driving force behind a recording studio that doubles as a training and production centre for young native musicians.

 
The Arrogant Worms


Three quarters of a quarter of a century ago, something magnificent happened in Kingston, Ontario. Out of a desperate need for musical comedy, The Arrogant Worms was formed. They began by making fun of a big dumb world, and the world is still dumb so they have plenty to sing about. Their show is fast and furious, the satire is biting and the musicianship is second to none. Their appeal has earned fans from kids to parents to grandparents to Princess Leia. Their songs are in school lesson plans, textbooks, and were even played on the Space Shuttle. On earth or in space, everyone digs these Worms.



Joe Cornelisse-SSGS

Saturday, November 26, 2011

PRINCE Funks Out Toronto on his Welcome 2 Canada Tour Stop Air Canada Center November the 25th 2011

         
     Finding things wrong with a PRINCE concert is like finding a needle in a haystack, all most impossible…well with last night's first show of a two-night stand at The Air Canada Center in Toronto Prince's Welcome 2 Canada Tour left me and 99.9% of the others that were in attendance with little to complain about..except maybe not playing that certain song, but that's just a fact of life at every show I go to.

   Funky, Sexy, Cool….we got it all and more last night, from D.M.S.R. (Dance, Music, Sex, Romance) through to Take Me with U , onward we were graced with cover versions of The Cars "Let's Go"  to Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" …the hits were fired off left right and center like nobody's business..Let's Go Crazy, Delirious, Little Red Corvette, U Got That Look, and Purple Rain, during which confetti cannons were shot off showered us all in purple and gold.

   "His Royal Badness" treated us to no less than six...yes six encores, he was on fire, just when you thought it was over he was back for more and the audience ate every little bit of it up.

  The first time I experienced Prince live was 27 years ago while he was touring for the album/movie Purple Rain and the 53 year old guy who stood in front of me last night worked longer and harder than his 26 year old self…..the kid was back and badder than ever.


Joe Cornelisse-SSGS

Below are pictures that I took of the show last night..enjoy















Friday, November 4, 2011

Is Fucked Up Over? The Waiting Game Begins

    
This is from Damian's Twitter account:

Hey everyone: I'M NOT QUITTING FUCKED UP.
web • 11/7/11 2:21 PM


   So according to an interview Melody Lau did with Damian Abraham of Fucked Up on Spinner  the band is taking a long break after  they finish up the gigs that round out this year (They do have a "Bruise Cruise Festival" in the Bahamas in Feb though) …Damian is quoted in the article saying 

  "I can't tour anymore," Abraham says. "I don't want to take that away from them, so I would love to find a way to basically make it into a constantly evolving thing where sometimes F---ed Up can go on tour and other times, it's another band involved with us."

He goes on to say

"I have no idea how it's all going to work out," Abraham says. "I know we're going to take this long break and hopefully we can think about it and figure it out a little more.

Damian speaks about the effect of touring on himself

   "I can be weirdly lonely even though you're surrounded by these five other people," Abraham adds. "But we've been together now 10 years and there's not a lot left to talk about.
"It messes with your head after a while, and I think that's why we need this break. Me especially though, I'm the one losing it the most by far."

      After reading the Spinner article, what I take away from it is Damian is a guy who loves his son and wife more than anything, and if you know anything of the bands touring schedule they just don't play a few shows across the province or a some shows in the U.S., in the last year they have been all over the world and personally speaking I don't know how he does it, I can barely be away from my son for a few days but not seeing him for weeks at a time, that must be torture. 

    But this is also a guy who understands that him picking up and leaving does not only affect him but the other  five members of the band, it all comes back to Damian being one of the nicest guys in music today (Sorry D, you must be sick of reading that by now). 

   So the speculation begins now…is this the end of Fucked Up? Well in numerous interviews over the years Damian has said how far can a band with the name Fucked Up really go? I guess we will soon find out.

Joe Cornelisse-SSGS


***Below is a video for "Running On Nothing" from the record David Comes To Life..it was put together by Sandy Miranda***






Fucked Up "Running on Nothing" from Sandy Miranda on Vimeo.