Martin C. Winer
I was fortunate to attend Winterfolk VIII’s kickoff party which was a “thank you in advance” to a small army of volunteers and organizers. Brian Gladstone, festival organizer was reluctantly drawn up on stage, complaining in his introduction that every year he writes a speech which he throws away. Speaking off the cuff with a wry sense of humour I have only recently become accustomed to expect in some folk music, Brian offers that: “having been rejected by over 200 folk festivals, I decided that the only way I’d be able to get on stage was to run my own.” Folk music has a built in humility to it: Brian neglected to mention that since those days he’d gone on to receive international acclaim as an artist.
However, at that time, he auditioned for the Mariposa festival he made it to a final 9 which were then cut to a final 6, with Brian not being one of them. Mariposa’s loss would turn out to be Toronto’s gain with this being the eighth consecutive festival running 4 days offering free entertainment at 6 venues, with over 100 paid artists, 75 volunteers and all with no staff or salaries. The numbers alone are awe inspiring and I was mid thought, asking myself “how do they do it?” when Brian spelled out his mantra, and answer to my question, ‘the 4 wins’.
Ironically, yet likely coincidental, ‘the 4 wins’ sounds eerily close to “Four Strong Winds”, the classic folk song written by Canadian songwriter Ian Tyson. The four wins that continue to bring Winterfolk perennial success are wins for the artists, commerce, community and the artform.
Artists:
The obvious win for the artists is that Winterfolk offers a paid gig in the dead of winter which is also a down season for Folk Music. Less obvious, but equally important is that Toronto is, unbeknownst to most Torontonians, a hub of sorts for Folk music. “Winterfolk offers a subway commute festival for travel weary musicians. If there’s any truth to the comedy in Wendell Ferguson’s performance of “Why does every Christmas song have so many chords” it would seem that many folk artists double as singing Santa’s during the winter months to make ends meet. As Ferguson grimaced while forming ever more stretching bridge chords he sang: “Have yourself a merry little Christmas, here’s another gem. / I can feel the carpal tunnel setting in.” As everyone laughed and commiserated over the sad state of gigs for folk artists in the winter, noting abundant number of grey bearded artists in the room, I began to wonder exactly what proportion of parody or reality was present in Wendell’s song?
Beyond the high proportion of beards in the room, most of the folk talent was local. I had heard that Toronto had been a hub for folk music during the 60’s and a lot of those musicians and their progeny remained here but I wasn’t sure how or why. Volunteer David Nitkin was able to explain to me that during the draft in the U.S. during the 60’s, Canada served as a haven for draft dodging, politically protesting folk singers. Describing Yorkville in the 60’s as “a semi industrial area that was quickly taken over by artists and students thanks to the affordable rent.” Yorkville, unlike it’s current posh state was a hub of activity in folk music and political protest. Toronto has a proud, yet poorly celebrated history in folk music. This free history lesson was my first win from Winterfolk and I had only been there for a half hour.
There was an artistic comradery present when Wendell Ferguson parodied Stan Rogers’ classic “Mary Ellen Carter” spoofing its famous refrain “rise again!” to a bemoaning of the plain food offered at folk festivals, “rice again!” Ferguson’s rapier wit was matched only by his lightening fast finger picking – truly a spectacle to behold. In contrast to so many other festivals, Winterfolk offers many artists a chance to have a home cooked meal, play a set and be home in time for tea and dessert.
Steve Briggs, a cowboy shirt bedecked artists hailing from Riverdale, offered a short story during his set of how he had taken his 10 year old son out for Greek food (an obvious choice on the Danforth) that same night and how his son noticed that the artist that had decorated the restaurant had signed the artwork with his phone number. His son wondered “what if the Mona Lisa was signed with a phone number?” It was clear that the festival was a family event for the audience as well as for the artists, offering it unique appeal to both. It has been said that Woodstock was a festival for the fans whereas The Festival Express – a town to town musical train tour across Canada – was a festival for the artists. Winterfolk it seems holds a special place in the hearts of the artists.
A win for the artists which wasn’t much discussed on opening night was the interaction of the generations, old and young producing and creating folk music. When I took in a set of the Max Woolaver Band I noticed that the band members appeared to be in their 60’s, 50’s, 40’s and 30’s. Since I’m not 100% sure on my ages, I won’t say who was who, but suffice it to say that with the Olympic Opening Ceremonies coinciding with the festival, one got the feeling of passing the torch, or at least passing the guitar pick from one generation to the next keeping the love for this music alive.
Commerce:
Gladstone addressed his next win: Commerce. “In order for any festival to be successful, money must change hands.” Gladstone accepts this reality while managing to keep the grass roots feel essential to its success. “Parking meters, bank machines, the Shoppers Drug Mart, and the venues all benefit from the 10,000 people we expect to bring into the neighbourhood.” The Shoppers Drug Mart? I heard several of the audience chuckle as we all imagined love induced by folk music leading to purchases at Shoppers Drug Mart. Winterfolk and Valentine’s Day, it turns out, intersect this year. Gladstone had no doubt only mentioned it because it was right next door to our current venue, but I was glad I wasn’t the only one who had made the implied connection. Indeed Gladstone had come up with a formula that satisfied commerce and allowed the festival to continue all without sacrificing the grass roots nature that make folk/blues music so unique.
Community:
Brian’s speech was only able to touch on the community involvement in Winterfolk. Only a small bit of digging revealed an elaborate network of roots throughout the community. Brian mentioned The Nashville Songwriter’s Association but there were several songwriting groups, jam groups and professional organizations were involved. Winterfolk embraces youth and schools as well with the Harris Institute, Seneca College and George Brown being involved.
Volunteer David Nitkin had an interesting role, distinct from the most common roles of M.C., Stage Manager, Door Greeters, Merchandise Table, Sound, or floaters. Nitkin’s role (in addition to doing sound for a set) was accreditation. He kept track of the volunteer hours put in at the festival because they are eligible for the Ontario High Schools’ Volunteering and Community Service requirement.
Volunteer coordinator Dianne Verity had an interesting story to share regarding community building during Winterfolk. A previous year’s Winterfolk needed a home to board a visiting artist from Boston. Dianne’s husband Peter Verity, a festival artist was so impressed with the artist that they all became fast friends and remain in touch, both artistically and socially to this day.
Artform:
The final of Brian’s wins is a win for the Artform. Brian quickly mentioned the development of connections such as the one between the Veritys’ and the artist from Boston. He asked for a show of hands of those who were now artists who had started out as volunteers. I was surprised to see such a healthy showing. Later that evening I spoke with Juanita Brandt who was had just moved to Toronto from Alberta and was hoping to get a feel for the folk movement here in Toronto. She, like so many there that night had her own CD, website, ‘myspace page’ and hopes for the future that seem to have a good chance of finding root at future Winterfolk festivals.
Brian also mentioned crossovers of artists between bands. I witnessed one such crossover for the first song of Digging Roots’ set. Digging Roots was set to play a mostly acoustic set but borrowed Michelle Josef from the Max Woolaver Band for an electrifying rendition of “Cut my Hair”. If there is an archetypal stereotype for a drummer, Michelle, is the exact opposite. When I think of the power rock blues bands of the 70’s like Led Zeppelin, I also don’t picture Digging Roots’ lead guitarist, Native Canadian, Raven wielding a electric lead-belly with a slide. Now these stereotypes I brought with me, and are my own personal baggage. I only mention them because I couldn’t otherwise express the deep smile that spread across my face as Michelle, Raven and the members of Digging Roots recreated for a moment the power I thought that died with the break up of Led Zeppelin. I could have sworn I was listening to a follow up album of Led Zeppelin which managed to follow up the power of “Since I’ve been loving you” with “Cut my Hair”, fresh for the 2010’s. This is the power of live music and Brian’s win for the Artform, spontaneous moments that could never be bottled in an iPod.
Folk/Roots music tends to lean towards acoustic stylings but when it comes to community, Winterfolk has embraced the electronic community and started accepting auditions over “sonicbids.com” Laura Fernandez, from 91.1 Jazz FM’s Cafe Latino, Brian and several other adjudicators reviewed thousands of applicants, electronic and otherwise to ensure that the talent at Winterfolk was top notch. Their hard work was evident when Mr. Rick and the Biscuits was unable to make their gig given that Rick was under the weather. The ‘replacements’ were Michael Brennan and Steve Briggs. They delivered a tight and polished performance that easily would find critical acclaim in Nashville. But there were no critics there that night, only an older couple that was taken to dance, to the delighted smiles of the performers and everyone there. That’s one more thing you can’t bottle in an iPod.
Perhaps the centerpiece of community benefits were the various workshops offered. I attended “Audience Participation Songwriting”. Lynn Harrison hosted Marianne Girard, Peter Verity, Shawn Sage, Kevin Bell, and Joan Crabtree. Each artist in turn offered a song emblematic of their style and approach to song writing. Then the audience was divided into groups, each group then assigned a song writer to guide the group through the process. Since I found it very brave of the artists to attempt to create music with random members of the general public, I found the courage to bring along my 2 year old daughter – it was after all family day. Some groups quickly congealed into music whereas other groups fractured just as quickly, producing different songs with different styles. Forgive me for thinking of a non-folk song at the time, but the scene reminded me of “if the band you’re in starts playing different tunes, I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon.” The artists did a great job of making sure we all came down to earth with something to present.
My group was asked to compose a song along the theme of Valentine’s Day. Our group came up with several diverging song ideas. Marianne Girard and Lynn Harrison were very gracious and patient as they helped my daughter and I muddle through:
“My excuses are weak / I’ve been late every day / came home to dry cold dinners / ’cause they’re are too many bills to pay.” This lead to the chorus: “I’ve got nothing to say / there’ll be hell to pay / because the stores are all closed / and tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day”
My daughter was invited up on stage to sing Old MacDonald which had her singing the rest of the day and I managed my way through the blues we had worked on, while bouncing my daughter on my knee. The price of the workshop was free, but for my 2 year old daughter, working with her father and talented artists in musical creation, the value was priceless.
Folk music has a tremendous power to mobilize. It’s been the music of choice of those politically active for just that reason. I witnessed so much talent come out of the woodwork in support of this festival. A general cheer rang out when it was announced that the festival had its programme printed in braille by a volunteer. The festival was going to be documented on video by yet another volunteer. The documentary videographer asked Brian if he had any pontifications to offer during the kickoff party. “Pontifications?” asked Brian. I clarified hoping to get a rise out of Brian: “Pontifications: broad inspiring comments like those made by the Pontif – the Pope”. “Pope?” asked Brian rhetorically. “I’m no Pope” he continued. “I work from the roots up.” Later that evening he was watching a procession of one volunteer after another introducing themselves and giving introductions for the various stages of the festival and the evening’s program. He turned to me and said softly: “this is the part I like best… if I’ve done my job all I need do is sit back and watch it work.” Hearkening back to his days as an electrical engineer, Brian knows that the joy of a designer is in watching something well orchestrated hum along as intended. Winterfolk VIII electrified audiences with acoustic soulful music warming all in attendance spiritually and physically in the otherwise ‘blah’ and frigid month of February.
