PLAIN FOLK

by Les Pearson
Festival Highlights: Those Magic Moments….

Summer festivals afford opportunities for hardcore folkies to indulge two distinct pleasures. The first involves trading esoteric information about favourite performers. The more arcane, the richer its caloric value for folk fan appetites. Rare and juicy tidbits are top grade sirloin for the gossip-hungry hordes. Let me illustrate.

Millions of people know that Angelina Jolie, star of Laura Croft adventure movies, is the daughter of Jon Voight. You remember Jon. He played opposite Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy and makes a cameo appearance—as Laura’s Dad no less—in Tomb Raider.

But how many people know that Chip Taylor, famed for memorable hits like “Wild Thing” and “Angel of the Morning”—two of my mid-teen favourites—is actually Jon Voight’s younger brother? Not many, I’m guessing. Chip was born James Wesley Voight. He probably took the stage name to avoid Jon’s shadow.

Until the Canmore Folk Festival, I was one of the ignorant, hungering, multitude. Chip now appears with Carrie Rodriguez. Together they are a gritty Tex-Mex duo. He is four decades her senior. But the young woman’s freshness and clear adoration have inspired an end to this songwriter’s gambling addiction, long silence, and depression. Juicy enough for you?

If you are not salivating for more, or if “Who cares?” was a thought forming vaguely in your mind, your membership in the folk family can be questioned. You may come to the Canmore festival only for the scenery.

Trivial knowledge is black magic. It is the insiders’ secret. White magic is open to everyone. It is plainly seen and heard by all who witness. And it is instantly shared.

I’m referring to workshop magic. No, this is not Harry Potter wizardry. It is the spell cast when two or more divergent groups or performers forge moments of synchronicity. Individual performers drop their unique identities and, momentarily, become one. Canmore had more than a few of these magic moments this year.

Again, let me illustrate.

I eagerly waited for Monday’s afternoon workshop entitled “Coal Miners’ Tribute.” This one featured two singers I know relatively well, John Wort Hannam and Nathan Rogers, as well as the two unfamiliar faces of Tom Wilson and Bill Werthmann. Each singer sang his own songs. No magic. None, that is, until Hannam involved the audience in singing a rousing, scab-busting, union song.

But magic truly happened when Manitoba’s harmonious sextet, Madrigaia, welcomed the Zimbabwean trio, Insing’izi, to their shared workshop with an elaborately choreographed rubber boot stomp. Insing’izi was to conduct a Monday workshop on South African miners’ gumboot dancing. Their broad smiles welcomed the Winnipeg Wellingtons. After a brief departure to tug on their own boots, Insing’izi returned and both groups tromped happily through the remaining minutes, each learning the others’ steps. Good fun. Pure magic!

It keeps me coming back to folk festivals. In these special moments, egos are forgotten and I believe in our common humanity. Humankind can work harmoniously for the common good.