The Calgary Folk Festival
July 22-25, 2004

(analogue photos once again proving that my camera sucks rocks. Please donate to the "Buy Jeff a Digital Camera" fundraiser, on now)

Every good road trip needs a good mascot, and this trip could ask for no finer than Beaker. He came along for some wisdom, knowledge, and all around fun. Here he is with a folk fest attendee's best friend, the festival program.

There were a ton of people worth going to see in Calgary, but only a few that we had never seen before. One of the people I was most looking forward to was Caitlin Cary. She used to be in Whiskeytown with Ryan Adams before going solo and putting out a couple of great solo records. She's now in a band called Tres Chicas. Haven't heard much from them yet, but I like Caitlin's CDs. Being the true hounds that we are, Terry and I couldn't help but stalk poor Caitlin for some autographs and photos.

Po' Girl, performing live on CKUA radio. As soon as I hit the Alberta border, my radio goes straight for CKUA and stays there. If you're not familiar, they're a great roots based community station that relies on volunteers and public support, not advertising. The amazing thing is that the station is very highly rated and produces excellent programming. They broadcast live from the great Alberta festivals, and this weekend, were set up in Calgary with live performances and interviews with the festival's finest, including Po' Girl, seen here. For those of us who grew up on Much Music, it's neat to see what became of Terry David Mulligan, who now hosts Mulligan Stew, on CKUA. As much as I always respected Mulligan, I found his interviews to be a but uninformed and unrevealing. Perhaps he was just having a bad weekend, or perhaps I'm just getting too high and mighty about my own interviewing skills.

Po' Girl, live on stage. I liked their first CD, but after seeing them live and hearing their great new CD, Vagabond Lullabies, I'm a HUGE fan of this band. And, they're super nice people, too. Check them out!

Beaker knows that every good folk festival addict needs a good festival chair. And, if you spend too much time at the beer tent or out in the sun, you're likely to need some Aspirin, too. Don't worry, he's got plenty of sunscreen in his backpack.

One of the few "new" discoveries that I made in Calgary was the talented Rae Spoon. She's only 22 (although looks much younger) but she's got a great rough around the edges country/folk sound that sounds like she's been at it for decades. Definitely someone I look forward to seeing again. She's got a bright future ahead.

Great shot of Scott Merritt, there, isn't it? Well, I was really looking forward to seeing Scott for the first time. I know of him primarily through his great work producing Fred Eaglesmith's best records. I've found a couple of his albums over the years, but haven't loved them as much as I would like. I had hoped that the live presentation would sell me on him, and I'd say that it did. A nice guy and a good performer. He performed with the multi-talented David Woodhead.

A large crowd gathered at one of the workshop stages. Sure, I'd love to tell you who was performing or even what stage this is, but, after all I've seen and heard at my age, you'll have to forgive me for forgetting a thing or two, including when, where, or why I took this photo. Nice park, though, isn't it?

Beaker's a big fan of Winnipeg's Nathan (aren't we all?), so he wanted his picture taken with Keri, Shelly, Devin, and Daniel. This was as close as the restraining order would allow. That is indeed them, on stage, trust me.

See! There's Nathan!

(I do have some pictures where you can actually see Nathan, taken on a digital camera, from the Times Change(d) benefit night I organized in November, 2003.)

If you thought the Nathan shot was bad:

Look! It's Blair Packham! (again, I take the time to scan this and put it on the web, just to show you how badly I need a digital camera. I'm convinced that will solve all of my problems. Honest, it will.)

That there's the amazing Martyn Joseph, as seen at the odd gospel workshop on Sunday morning.

Better Martyn photos can be found at the Winnipeg Folk Fest page and on a page of photos from his concert at the West End Cultural Centre.

Somewhere in that photo is Australia's Paul Kelly, who was one of the biggest highlights of the festival, especially with his show ending and awe inspiring end of set version of "How to Make Gravy." I include this photo only to remind you how much I really, really need a digital camera.

Beaker is positively glowing after an awesome performance at the Field Law stage.

When in Calgary, Beaker always takes time to enjoy the giant fries and shakes at Peter's Drive In.

Here's a photo that slipped in from Beaker's trip to Egypt. 

Actually, this is him going to the movies at the Chinook Centre on Saturday night. Once he saw the price of movies in Calgary ($10.95) he had second thoughts and tried to put the moves on this lovely lady, instead.

A great crowd and a great ovation for one of the world's finest singer/songwriters, Steve Earle, on the main stage, Sunday afternoon.

"Spirit of the Village" workshop, featuring Spirit of the West and the Warsaw Village Band. SOTW like to make things  interesting and turn these workshops into jam sessions, which led to some magic, and perhaps a bit of trepidation on the part of the Polish musicians. 

I can almost guarantee that this is the closest Beaker will ever come to being onstage with Steve Earle, Caitlin Cary, and Corb Lund, but here he is in all of his glory at the "Gonna Shine Up My Boots" workshop on Sunday afternoon.

After long hard days in the long hot sun (and perhaps a few trips to the beer tent) Beaker ends up face down, passed out on the lawn.

Beaker (bottom right) had such a good time at the Calgary Folk Fest, that he's decided to hop on the bus and go on tour.

Thanks to Kristen (and Beaker, of course) for coming along to Calgary and making it such a wonderful trip.