XPost: nf.general, rec.music.celtic, uk.music.folk
XPost: alt.music.bluegrass, rec.music.country.old-time

I’ve caught most of all three nights of the
Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival.

On Friday night I caught Ukrainian folk singer Maryna Krut, who
was well received, followed by Nico Paolo, who is originally
from Portugal but is now based here, and was a hit with
her dreamy original songs. Then came jazz/world music
fusion group Ouroboros, who got some kids dancing. Then
to close the night there was indigenous folk rock band
Digging Roots followed by headliner indigenous songwriter
William Prince with a full band.

Saturday night I caught the last couple of songs by Labrador
singer Richard Neville as I was walking in, followed by a
set from songwriter Mo Kenney, then some Hindi songs,
many influenced by Bollywood, from the Bageshree Vaze
Ensemble, then a mix of gypsy jazz and some celtic music
from Duane Andrews and The Hot Club of Conception Bay.
Then to close the night there was a solo set from Steve Earle,
joined by Emmylou Harris on one song, then a set from
Emmylou Harris Band, joined by Steve Earle in the encore.

My impressions overall after Friday and Saturday is that I was
a bit more impressed by Friday night’s performance from Digging
Roots and William Prince Band than by Steve Earle and
Emmylou Harris. Digging Roots and William Prince Band seemed
to have and draw on a connection to the land a little
better. Also I think that Steve and Emmylou were
treating it as a routine gig and weren’t very pumped
up for it, whereas the indigenous acts were. And
Steve may have been a tiny bit depressed to start,
which I tried to remedy. But don’t get me wrong, I
was still very impressed by Steve and Emmylou. And
they drew probably the largest crowd ever for the
folk festival, and at the highest ever ticket price.

On Sunday evening I didn’t get there until 5:05 p.m., so
I missed youth opener Katie Anne Colbourne and
Quebecois and French-Newfoundland power celtic
duo Port-Aux-Poutines, who I had been hoping to
hear since I have been impressed with what I have
heard from them on CHMR 93.5 FM ( https://www.chmr.ca/ ).

Then came Scottish and Newfoundland celtic supergroup
The Doug Dorward Collective, featuring three fiddlers
(Doug, his wife Emilia Batellas, and his sister Sarah)
and an accordion player (Sarah’s husband). Doug
is from Scotland but now lives here, and his sister
and brother-in-law are visiting for the first time.

Then came the fivesome called Portage, featuring
four fiddlers (though one also plays cello) and
a guitarist, doing a mix of celtic, old-time, and
native fiddle tunes. They featured local stalwarts
Christina Smith on fiddle and cello and Jean Hewson
on guitar.

Then there was a set of three songs from the Equinor
Newfound Talent contest winners, a young duo named
Charlie Rose and Sydney, who got a standing ovation.

Next came incredible fiddler Maria Cherwick and her
band Jockey Special, doing a mix of tunes composed
by Maria, some classical tunes arranged in a folk vein,
some traditional Newfoundland tunes, some tunes
composed by Dave Penny, and some Ukrainian tunes.

Then there was a set from Quebecois trio De Temps Antan,
who really rocked though they played just folk instruments
and stomping boots and vocals. They had the most
people dancing of any group in the night.

Finally local trio The Ennis Sisters, backed by keyboard
player Wade Tarling and fiddler Carole Bestvater, closed
the night with a long set, and they had the second largest
number of dancers for the night. They did a mix of
traditional songs and tunes and some original songs
by Maureen Ennis. Theresa Ennis has really improved
on bodhran and Karen Ennis has really improved on
tin whistle and button accordion since I heard them last.

So Sunday night was a night of some stellar celtic acts,
though I would have preferred if they had been spread
over the three nights. But it should make for some
good session(s) tonight. Speaking of that, I didn’t
try to get into the after party at The Ship Pub, since
that is reserved for volunteers, musicians, and staff,
though maybe as a lifetime member of the folk arts
society I could have talked my way in, but I have
other matters to attend to tonight, fuelled by all
the good music. Also it is currently in my non-drinking
period of 1--9 days before full moon.

--
David Dalton dalton@nfld.com https://www.nfld.com/~dalton (home page) https://www.nfld.com/~dalton/dtales.html Salmon on the Thorns (mystic page) “And the cart is on a wheel; And the wheel is on a hill; And the
hill is shifting sand; And inside these laws we stand" (Ferron)

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