The 2011 summer festival season has been an interesting and varied one. We headed as far North as Iqaluit, and as South as California’s World Music Festival. We braved our first tornado in Salina, Kansas at the Smoky Hill River Festival. We played in Ontario – a soggy but spirited weekend at Summerfolk in Owen Sound and a beautiful opening night at Peterborough Folk Festival. We sang amidst the mountains of Canmore, Alberta and landed (after much delay!) in foggy St. John’s for the Newfoundland Folk Festival. And in between: a beautiful sunny weekend in Michigan at Blissfest.
Here's a caricature of the GLs on the mainstage of Blissfest:
One of my favourite experiences this summer was driving from San Diego to Grass Valley, CA (just north of Sacramento) to play the California World Music festival. The drive itself, about 10 hours, was spectacular. We moved through the lush green of the South, stood still in L.A. gridlock, climbed through desert mountains up into the B.C. reminiscent landscape of Northern California.
Along the way, we passed giant trucks filled with tomatoes and onions. Sue’s Dad joked with us later that a catastrophic pile-up must have been the birth of salsa. You could literally taste the tomatoes as we overtook the trucks.
On that drive up hwy 5, we also passed the largest cattle farms I have ever seen - AND SMELLED. The fields of cows were endless, about 2 kilometres wide, and absolutely devastating. There were thousands of cattle lined up and squished together on dusty fields. I am not vegetarian, but the sight of those cattle farms put me off meat for awhile. This is modern farming, and it’s very scary.
The California World Music Fest had us on the main stage right before Saturday night’s headliner, India Arie. I remember when India’s hit “Video” came out in the early 2000’s. It is an anthem for women – untraditional and independent. I loved that song then, but love it so much more after seeing her play live.
India gave one of the most honest and heartfelt performances I’ve seen in a long time. She sang beautifully and danced around the stage in a flowing traditional African dress. Kerri, Sue and I stood side stage for the whole show, eating it up. I had to pick my jaw up off the floor several times. This is a woman you want your daughters looking up to - she takes her role as peace maker and goodness purveyor very seriously. If you don’t know her, you should. Check her out at: www.indiaarie.com
One of the best parts of playing festivals is collaborating. In Canmore, we had Oliver Craven from the Steel Wheels (check them out: www.thesteelwheels.com) join us on the main stage at Canmore Folk Festival on fiddle. He played Old Highway with us, strings bouncing off mountains and back again. In the bright sunlight of that stage we also had Steve Pitkin of Elliott Brood (our musical brothers - check out www.elliottbrood.com) join us on drums for Crabbuckit and Lie Down. It felt like magic in a bowl of mountains!
September feels more like the start of a new year than January. I think it’s all of those years starting school – fall, for me, is about new beginnings. We have a very busy year ahead indeed. It starts this month with the Fall Showcases in Seattle, Minneapolis and Baton Rouge. 20 minutes to strut our stuff for music presenters and festival bookers. If all goes well, we’ll be playing a lot more in the U.S. over the next couple of years.
This fall will have us on tour in the United States (we have a bunch of shows in North & South Carolina this October), Northern Ontario, Alberta. Dates are posted on our website. We hope to see you at a show!
Thanks always, for the support. It’s been a great summer.
xo Caroline for Good Lovelies
