Well, I gotta admit, after last year's
stellar lineup, I was a bit worried that
my pal Devin would be able to do it
again. Last
year, he booked just about everybody
that I really love (thanks again to
Hayes Carll for making it possible for
me to see NQ Arbuckle!), and put
together a lineup that was fresh,
exciting, and a lot of fun. The
pressure must have been on this year. I
wouldn't dare to say that he outdid last
year (I've been to festivals across the
country that couldn't compete with last
year's Trout lineup), but I'd say he did
a fine, fine job of lining up a diverse,
interesting, and entertaining lineup
once again. It's all part of the charm
of this festival.
I'll go on public record and say that
this is, by far, the best little
festival in Canada. There's no star
power like you'd see at Winnipeg,
Calgary, Edmonton, etc., but that's part
of what gives this festival its charm.
It presents hard-working, talented young
up-and-comers, and some of the best
names in the business who somehow fly
below the radar. You take a lineup like
that, throw it together in a totally
relaxed and easy-going atmosphere and
there's bound to be some magic. And
Trout has no shortage of magic. The
ticket prices (and the various other
expenses that go along with travelling
to a festival) are so reasonable that
this is the best bang-for-your-buck that
I've seen in years. It's got everything
that you need and love in a festival,
yet it's so small and relaxed that it's
truly enjoyable and stress-free.
Years ago, my friend Oly tried to
convince me to go to Trout Forest. I'm
not much of a camper and the idea of a
tiny festival in the woods hadn't quite
convinced me. Instead, I started going
to the Regina Folk Festival, which is
held on the same weekend. At the time,
Regina had everything that I now love
about Trout: the prices were really
good, the lineup was great, the
workshops were intriguing, the setting
was kind of cool, and it had a great
vibe. I actually managed to convince Oly
to give up Trout for a while and he
started going to Regina instead. Maybe I
have more power than I thought, because
as soon as I started raving about
Regina, more and more people started to
show up, and I started to lose interest.
As prices went up, the lineup and vibe
changed, and I started to look
elsewhere. I found Trout, which is
cheaper, closer to home, full of people
and performers I know, and a really
relaxed and fun time, and I realized
that if I was looking for a fun, small
festival, this was it. This year Oly &
Laura came back to Trout, and hopefully
they're as glad as I was to make it
back.
I'm a little worried that if I keep
going on about it, Trout will grow and
lose its intimacy and appeal too, but
I'm going to risk telling folks how
great it is anyway. Just don't tell your
noisy friends about it, ok?
FRIDAY
We pulled up a little late, as usual,
but just in time to see one of the most
anticipated workshops of the weekend,
"Music in Your Eyes." It was scheduled
to feature, among others, Brock Zeman
& Dan Walsh, and Fred Eaglesmith.
The title of the workshop was a tip of
the hat to the late, great Willie P
Bennett, and a couple of his former
bandmates were on hand. Fred and Dan
toured with Willie for years, so they
seemed like logical picks for the
workshop, although I don't know if the
others in the session had any idea or
connection to Willie, so I doubt that it
was really a Willie workshop or
anything. I was curious to see Fred &
Dan on stage together again, because as
far as I know they haven't played
together in years, but Dan was a huge
part of Fred's band for a long time.
Alas, it was not to be, as Fred decided
that he wasn't going to do the workshop.
I heard a rumour that it was because of
the Willie connection (although one
would think that would be all the more
reason for Fred to do it), but in
reality, I think it was just Fred being
Fred. Nevertheless, it was a good
session and a good way to kick off the
weekend for me.
I've known Dan Walsh for a number of
years, and I trust his taste and
judgment without question. So when he
first asked me if he could bring a young
kid named Brock Zeman on my radio show a
couple of years ago, I said yes but
didn't really know what to expect. Brock
came in and wowed me with a set of songs
that would impress just about any fan or
writer. He came back a short time later
and had an even better batch of songs.
Somehow, at the age of 27, the kid's got
6 albums out already, and they're all
jam-packed with stellar songs. I don't
know how he does it, and I really don't
know how more people haven't picked up
on him yet, but they will. They will.
He's got a rough around the edges vibe
and a raspy voice that's tinged with too
much whiskey & cigarettes, and it suits
his great songs. You throw in Dan Walsh,
one of Canada's greatest guitar players,
and bassist/vocalist Blair Hogan and
you've got one heck of a show.
Brock, Dan, & Blair were one of the only
acts at Trout not to get their own
concert set (what's up with that,
Devin?), but instead, they were thrown
into just about every second workshop
(and even a late-night firepit jam),
which worked out great for me, because
they livened up whatever set they were
in. I don't recall seeing Brock do the
same song twice, and he played a lot of
songs, and all were great.
Keri Latimer was on hand supporting
Devin and just having a great time with
her parents and her kids, although
Nathan wasn't scheduled. I know that
Devin doesn't want to seem like he's
booking his own band every year, but
seriously, who on earth would complain
about that? I say, make Nathan a part of
every year's festival! In fact, Nathan
should be a part of every festival. When
Fred opted not to do the workshop, Keri
was gracious enough to step in. She told
about how she got to know Willie on one
of the Roots on the Rails train trips,
and she played a fine version of
Willie's song "Caney Fork River."
After the workshop we had just enough
time to do our best of setting up camp.
This reminded me that I am not an
outdoorsman, and never will be, but with
some much appreciated help from Dom &
Grant, we managed to get the tent and
air mattress set up and things set up
well enough for us to survive for a
couple of nights.
This meant that we had to miss the set
by Barley Wik, a young bluegrass band
that sounded pretty good from across the
road. That's the brilliance of this
festival. You can sit at your campsite
or lay in the tent and still hear the
music. You can even swim or float in the
lake and see and hear main stage. Where
else can you do that?
At 10 came a fun workshop with a cast of
characters usually spotted at the
venerable Times Change(d) High &
Lonesome Club in Winnipeg. It's the home
of great roots, blues, country, and just
all around good music in Winnipeg. One
of the mainstays there is Righteous
Ike (above), who proved over the
course of the weekend why he's held in
such high regard by so many in Winnipeg.
You can never go wrong with a
performance by Scott Nolan, but
backed by an all-star band featuring of
course his longtime partner Joanna
Miller, Ryan Menard of the Perpetrators,
Grant Siemans, and Damon Mitchell, the
show was all that much more enjoyable.
The session was hosted of course by
Times Change(d) janitor/president John
Scoles, who dressed up for the occasion,
but failed to bring the famous chicken
megaphone.
A Times Change(d) session wouldn't be
complete without a set by one of
Winnipeg's best live bands, and a house
band at the club, The Perpetrators.
Their energetic rockin' blues always
ensures a good time.
As is often the case at the club, the
show ended with just about everyone
joining in on the action.
The headliner (and a late addition to
the lineup) was Fred Eaglesmith.
I've been following Fred around for
about 10 years or so. I've seen Fred in
all kinds of places, playing different
styles, with all kinds of people. I had
seen Fred the night before in Winnipeg,
so this was only the second time I'd
seen him since Willie P Bennett quit the
band (more
on that on the rants page). I was
definitely missing his presence, but the
new band is energetic & enjoyable, so
I'm sure I'll adjust.
In Winnipeg, Fred seemed to be on top of
his game. He was really funny and the
show seemed to go exactly as planned.
The set at Trout was a little different.
Now Fred's schtick is that he's grouchy
and loves to complain and insult people,
but this time he seemed a little extra
crusty and miserable. He started off
early on angry that someone had
forgotten to put the batteries in his
megaphone (causing a look of panic on
young guitarist Matt's face. He quickly
fixed the megaphone so that it would be
ready later on,) and continued on. Now,
I've seen Fred dozens of times, and
until now, I don't think I've ever seen
the same show twice. There was a time
when I could go see Fred one night and
see an entirely different setlist and
hear different jokes the next night. It
seems that those days are gone, because
the set at Trout was a shortened version
of the set in Winnipeg the night before.
There wasn't a single song on Friday
that wasn't played on Thursday. (Luckily
the Thursday show was a lot longer.) To
me, it seemed like Fred didn't really
want to be at the festival and didn't
much care. He wasn't nearly as
interesting or engaging as the night
before. The songs were still tight, but
the stories sometimes wandered off and
didn't make much sense, and there just
seemed to be a little more of that
awkward humour that I sometimes think is
mean-spirited instead of funny.
After an hour or so, Fred got the signal
that his time was almost up. I got the
feeling that he thought that since he
was the last act of the night, he could
play for as long as he wanted, because
he seemed somewhat thrown by having to
shorten his set and get off. He made
some joke about not bothering the owls
all night or something, played a couple
of songs, and then left. The crowd
clapped and cheered, and a volunteer
came up and encouraged us to call Fred
back for an encore.
At many shows lately, and at the show in
Winnipeg the previous night, Fred has
been doing a cover of Willie P Bennett's
"Country Squall." I really admire him
for that, because Fred has never, ever
done covers in his set. For me it was a
true high point of the previous night's
show, and I would have loved to see him
do it again. Instead, Fred came out and
started noodling around on "Stairway to
Heaven" and making jokes about the
lyrics, etc. He usually starts off with
something silly like that and then gets
to a touching solo number, but that
never materialized. Almost without
warning, Stairway ended and Fred walked
off again. No real encore, and to me,
just a joke that didn't really go
anywhere.
I am still and likely always will be a
Fred Eaglesmith fan (so don't start
jumping all over me for being a
Fred-hater), but from this long-time
fan's perspective, this wasn't a classic
live show, and I think I'll be a bit
nervous next time I go see Fred again
(and I surely will.)
Although the days are really hot, it
sure gets cold in Ear Falls at night, so
by this time we were plenty chilly and
ready to go crawl into the sleeping bags
and get some rest. Our spot was a little
close to the bonfire, so it was pretty
noisy most of the night, but due to the
fatigue, we managed to get some sleep.
SATURDAY
Saturday & Sunday the main stage fires
up, making for only two real stages to
choose from, which makes for a lot less
running around, and a lot less of the
dramatic, "what to do" moments. You can
park yourself at either of the stages
and be assured that you'll see pretty
much everybody sooner or later.
As much as I would have loved more
shade, main stage was a pretty good
place to be much of the time. It started
off on Saturday with a set called "Wake
Up with the Blues," featuring Dave
Jonasson, The Perpetrators, and Ray
Bonneville.
As mentioned before, The Perpetrators
are a rockin' blues combo that rarely
disappoints. They had just enough blues
to start the day off slowly, and just
enough rock to get us going.
Ray Bonneville is brilliant. If
anyone can explain to me why he's not a
bigger star, I'm waiting to hear from
you. I guess it's a good thing that he's
not the huge star he probably deserves
to be, because it means that we get to
see him in intimate surroundings like at
Trout Forest. We would get many
opportunities to see him, and each was
wonderful.
Next up was the concert set by Scott
Nolan and Joanna Miller. I've seen
Scott with big bands and by himself, but
in the past year or two he's primarily
been playing as a duo with Joanna
Miller, and I think this is where they
are at their best. Joanna brings just
enough to the show to really fill up the
songs, but it's stripped down enough to
really let Scott's words and music shine
through. Scott's last studio album
receiver/reflector was produced by the
legendary Gurf Morlix, and he's got a
new live bootleg CD called Canadian
Amplifier. They show the many sides of
Scott Nolan, and hopefully will go a
long way toward getting him better known
and more widely recognized.
Time to catch some shade under Frank's
Tavern tent after that where Brock, Dan,
and Blair were taking part in "Concerts
in the Round II," which is a clever way
for an artistic director to have a
workshop without coming up with a theme.
The thing about workshops is that they
don't usually work as planned anyway.
You come up with a neat theme and put
something together that you think will
work, but the artists often don't have
anything to suit the theme, don't care
about the theme, or don't seem to know
what the theme is, so they end up doing
what they want anyway. My point is that
you don't always need a theme to have a
good show, so Concerts in the Round is
fine with me. Let the artists do what
they want and let them play what they
think people will enjoy. Seems simple.
Last year a listener pointed out that
Jaxon from the D Rangers looked a lot
like David Suzuki.
This year, I respectfully suggest that
my good friend Dan Walsh (who surely has
a good sense of humour)... closely
resembles...
Uncle Fester from the Addams Family. See
the resemblance?
Twilight Hotel (Dave Quanbury & Brandy
Zdan)
Following that, "Things I Thought I Knew
All About and still Don't," featured
Ray
Bonneville, Twilight Hotel, and a
couple of the new/young performers who
get a chance to play at the festival,
Cal & Luke Hamilton, and a guy I'd heard
of but had never seen/heard before, Don Amero.
It's interesting to see Brandy taking
the lead guitar and Dave playing
acoustic. Both are really coming into
their own and developing into
multi-talented musicians for sure.
There are so many cool things to love
about this festival. Above is the
daytime beer garden. Not exactly
jam-packed, is it? You can go in and get
a spot and relax pretty much any time,
and still see & hear what's going on
under the tent.
Even more interesting, that's John
Scoles & Righteous Ike enjoying a
beer and a smoke. Why is that so
notable? Well, because they're
participating in a workshop at the same
time! Between songs, they can run over,
have a drink, and then be back on stage
before their turn comes up again. Again
I ask, where else can you do that?
Hey look, it's Brock & Dan, in another
workshop!
This workshop, "A Trip to the Country"
was my first real chance to check out a
band I'd heard bits of and liked,
Deep Dark Woods. They've got a great
sound, great songs, and great potential.
I'll definitely be paying more attention
next time I hear them and would
definitely like to see them live again
soon.
Over to Frank's tavern for "Take It on
the Road," featuring The New Meanies,
Steve Schellenberg, Eric Bleich, and The
MizFitz.
The real draw here for me was The New
Meanies, one of my favourite local
bands. Unfortunately for him, the band
didn't show up in time, so lead singer
Damon Mitchell had to go solo. That was
fine by me because it was a bit
different than what I normally see, and
it allowed him to do some songs that
were a bit different. I'll still take
the band, but I always wondered why
Damon never did any solo stuff. I still
think he's got enough talent & songs to
do pretty much anything he wants, so I'd
love to see him do more on his own (of
course, I'd be happy with pretty much
anything: solo, Meanies, Nathan,
Flamewhip, whatever, it's all great.)
Trout Forest offers the audience,
performers, and volunteers a much
appreciated dinner break from 5-6 before
things heat up for the evening, and I
took full advantage of the opportunity
to get some tasty food. There aren't a
lot of food vendors on site, but the
ones that are there are pretty darned
good (although the stuff Jaine got from
the bannock place looked and smelled
pretty nasty on Friday night, so we
stayed clear of there, but lots of other
people seemed to disagree.)
The first session of the evening on
mainstage featured the evening's
hostesses, The Good Lovelies, Carrie
Catherine, The Crooked Brothers
(above) and, what do you know, Brock &
Dan again.
The Crooked Brothers are from Winnipeg,
and I know I've seen them around, but I
didn't realize they were good. They got
a great reaction from the folks I talked
to, and I enjoyed their old timey
country/folk sounds.
Any band that features a musical hammer
and anvil is ok by me.
Carrie Catherine is a lovely soulful
folk singer from Saskatchewan. She
appeared on Steel Belted Radio one time
but I couldn't make it into the studio
that night. She also has played at my
friend Terry's house a number of times,
but for whatever reason I've missed
those too, so I wasn't all that familiar
with her. Now I know why T-Bar is such a
fan, because she's got a powerful voice,
a great sound, and interesting songs.
She also is accompanied by Sam Mitchell
on flute, vocals, and more, and he adds
a lot to her show. Really enjoyable.
The Good Lovelies lived up to their name
as they were both good and definitely
lovely. Their harmonies and humorous
interactions are the highlights of their
show, but they're talented players as
well. They made good hosts for the
evening.
After some walking around and a set by
Righteous Ike, Yukon based bluegrass
combo Hungry Hill took the main
stage for a fun show.
Then it was time for Ray Bonneville.
Ray has just about everything you need
to do really well, but somehow, he's
managed to be somewhat unknown by many
people for many years. He's primarily a
blues player I guess, but his style is
so smooth, melodic, and rhythmic that
it's easily accessible. He has a great
voice and is an absolute master on
guitar and harmonica (and he stomps his
foot pretty well too. He's providing his
own percussion these days.)
Deep Dark Woods put on a great
concert set of their own.
And then it was time for the New Meanies
to end off the night. I've been watching
these guys since we were all in high
school, and they've never disappointed
me live. I'm sure glad they still do the
occasional show, but can't help but
wonder whether they'll ever record/tour
again and hopefully gain back some of
the fans they made across the country
when they toured like mad in their
heyday.
Perhaps their brand of hard
rock/blues/funk/whatever wasn't what
some would expect (or want) at a "folk"
festival, but I thought it was a great
way to end off a really great day. It
sure is louder and more energetic than
you would get at most festivals, but
that's part of the magic of a little
festival that can do whatever it wants
to stay different and stay interesting.
During and after the Meanies set, just
behind us there was the most dazzling
display of northern lights that I've
seen in a long time. Perfect weather,
great music, and nothern lights. Can't
get much better than that.
SUNDAY
I opted to miss the traditional gospel
workshop in favour of more Concerts in
the Round at Frank's. I hope my soul
recovers, but I wanted to hear more from
all three of the acts in this one,
Ray Bonneville, Don Amero, and The
Crooked Brothers.
Don Amero has a soulful/poppy
kind of a vibe that reminds me a lot of
JP Hoe, but he's a bit different. I
think he'll mature as a writer and come
into his own as a fine performer. He
told me that he normally plays with a
band, so I'd be very curious to hear
what he sounds like with accompaniment,
but I was impressed enough on his own.
Hopefully he'll stop by the studio one
of these days so I can find out more
about him.
After this set it was time to pack up
the tent so I couldn't watch Twilight
Hotel's main stage concert, but I could
hear all of it as we packed, and it
sounded pretty good.
All of the packing was done in time for
a great workshop called "Get the Funk
Outta Here" (which is what we would
sadly have to do soon enough), featuring
Carrie Catherine, a band called Big
Boogaloo, The New Meanies, and Cal and
Luke Hamilton. I mentioned before that
part of the charm of the festival is
that it gives an opportunity for young
artists who are just starting out to get
some experience playing with some
veterans. In truth, they're not always
stellar to listen to at this stage in
their career, but it sure is fun to
watch them eager to hold their own. Cal
& Luke probably didn't fit in too well
on the big band funk workshop, but they
did an admirable job of leading a couple
of numbers. I'm sure they learned a lot
and enjoyed themselves, and I sure am
glad that there's a festival like this
who can give them and many others an
opportunity to learn, grow, and
participate early on.
This was by far the most interactive
workshop I saw all weekend, with
everyone jamming along on everyone
else's selections. It made for a really
lively, interesting session that was as
fun and interesting as anything you'd
see at a bigger festival, if not more
so. I've often said that a smaller
festival with hungrier acts makes for a
much more interesting atmosphere, and
this workshop showed it. Too often at
the big festivals everyone wants to do
their own thing and get their own best
song across, but at something like this,
there are so many opportunities to do
that, so when you get a chance to just
jam with some friends and play old
covers or whatever, you can really let
loose and have some fun, and that's
exactly what the artists in this session
did.
That's about the extent of the main
stage area on Sunday afternoon. Now
that's an intimate festival for you.
Jaine (and baby) checked out some of the
goodies at one of the most diverse and
interesting food vendors I've seen at
any festival. The highlight of this
particular vendor was the big slabs of
fudge, 2 for $5. I talked Jaine into
eating more fudge than she'd normally
eat in a year. I always thought that if
she got pregnant she'd want to eat junk
all the time for a change, but instead,
it's still me being the bad influence.
What can I say, I'm eating for 3 now
(me, baby, and I eat Jaine's share
because she's got more self-control than
anyone I know.)
A session called "Wait... Baby, Please
Don't Go" (if only we didn't have to!),
featuring Steve Schellenberg, Jacob &
Lily, The Good Lovelies, and Ray
Bonneville.
Ray Bonneville invited up Winnipeg's
Scott Nolan to join him. I'm no musician
or expert, but I'm thinking that if
someone of Ray's caliber asks you to
come up and play guitar, it's a
compliment. And Scott deserves it. Like
Ray, he should be much better known than
he is, but time will surely change that.
The festival came to a rockin' close
with a concert by The Perpetrators.
Unfortunately drummer Chris "Mama" Bauer
was a bit late (I can't imagine how far
you could go or where you could hide) so
once again Keri Latimer played the good
sport and jumped in behind the kit to
start off the set. Luckily Mama wasn't
too far away, so I think his job is safe
for now.
And that's it from the serene beauty of
Ear Falls for another year. More good
times, great music, and wonderful
memories, so I'll be back.
Until then, thanks for reading.
