We got back from the festival at about 1:30 AM this morning. Tired. And I've got a cold - sore throat, running nose, etc. Poooor baby. I'm trying all sorts of remedies: chicken soup bouillon (a hard chemically cube in foil), real chicken soup broth, mint tea, lemon herb tea (herbs from the garden), and, well, it's just not making much of a difference. So I don't have a lot of energy to do this.
Since I spend the weekend on one stage, my Folk Fest recommendations come from that experience and the main stage stuff. Here are the artists from whom I bought, or will buy, a cd or two:
Andrew Bird closed the festival on the main stage. I'd never heard of him. It's hard to categorize his music. He's an accomplished musician (mostly violin) who uses looping technology to fill it out. His work is significantly more developed than "Final Fantasy." The music is atmospheric and the lyrics are philosophical. So what's not to like?
Depedro played a concert on our stage, and then one on the main stage. If you like Calexico and Alex Cuba, you'll like Jairo Zavala (that's his real name). And he's a pretty cool guy to boot (lives in a small village in Spain and is a father of two!). Great burns!
Moondoggies, from Seattle, meld great three-part harmonies with a loud, rasping guitar sound (through a Vox AC 30) and a Rhodes piano. Grunge pop? The melodies are catchy and the songs are about love and broken hearts. The best!
The Wilders play like they know what they're doing. And they do. This was probably the most together and pro-sounding foursome I saw this year. Every one of them were confident and controlled players, and they played together with the energy of abandonment. If you like straight up Americana country, it does not get better than this!
Their song,
Hey Little Darlin' won Best Americana Song in the Vox Populi poll of the 8th annual Independent Music Awards.
There were a lot of great moments. That's the way it is with live music, and it's a bit harder to make your picks for cds. These are the four I'm betting on. The girls bought The Swell Season, who put on a pretty good main stage show. I really liked Del Barber and Shane Ghostkeeper too, and may buy those cds too. Misses? (ie. acts I'd have liked to see and missed): Sam Baker (although we talked backstage about books and engineers and english teachers and Mennonites), Gordon Downie, Bo Ramsey, Greg Brown, Tao Seeger, Delhi 2 Dublin.
Anyway, there it is, in a, as they say, "nutshell".
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