PLAIN FOLK

by Les Pearson
Blooming Folk Music Means May Bouquets!

“April showers bring May flowers,” or I think that’s how it goes. This past week was full of folk music buds competing for my attention. The outcome? If any flowers survived Mother’s Day, I now know where to send four bouquets!

The first bouquet is for Ron Mason. Ron’s song, Side Effects of Living, was nominated in the Newcomers category for this year’s Calgary Folk Festival song writing contest! (John Wort Hannam’s career turned skyward after he won Best Over-all Song in last year’s contest for his Church of the Long Grass.)

More than 170 songs were entered this year and Ron was a finalist in the Newcomer category. Ron deserved this recognition. His first CD has attracted a swarm of radio buzz, not just in Alberta, but as far east as Ontario. Congratulations, Ron! Keep writing and we’ll keep listening. (We’re also watching…for that second CD.)

The second bouquet goes to Ralph’s Texas Bar and Steak House. On May 5, Ralph’s hosted the Sonny Rhodes blues concert. Sonny and his band played the tightest blues this side of Texas. Mr. Rhodes is not only a blues legend, but a gentleman to the bone. It was 2:10 a.m.—long past my usual bedtime—when he sat down for our interview. What he had to say was sincere and significant. Watch for the highlights in this column on May 19. But Ralph gets the booty for booking this kind of talent.

The third bouquet bunch goes to the rose and thorn of Medicine Hat’s Live Music Club. Of course I’m referring to Betty Bischke and Bill desBarres. These two will ride herd on 39 local acts with an estimated 350 musicians at this year’s spectacular Spectrum on June 3, 4, and 5.

These two deserve flowers for insisting that home-grown talent can ably provide three full days of quality entertainment and then actually booking the acts! A new act will appear on stage every 40 minutes for Spectrum’s three-day run. The performers are doing this gig for little more than pride. Now that’s a Spring tradition to honour!

My final bouquet goes to all the fine Alberta artists who entertained the vaguely interested in Ottawa earlier this month. Rae Spoon was one. If I had a special wild rose tribute, this artist would get it. You may have heard Rae’s interviews on CKUA and CBC over the past two weeks.

Rae’s style is self-described as “new skool folk music” or “new old-timey.” Rae deserves flowers for booking a house concert in Medicine Hat on June 10. Forty tickets are available on a “first come” basis at Customer Service (the Mall), Zucchini Blossom Café, Mike’s Meats, and The Framing & Art Centre. Cost is a mere $10.

Spring flowers are always a surprise. But I find equal amazement in blooming folk talents who care more about the music than money. They make me want to garden!