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2014 Canadian Festival Report Card
In 2014, we made out first (of, hopefully, many) attempts to capture the data behind how many women are appearing on festival stages in Canada. We asked for volunteers to submit stats for festivals, looking primarily for how many bands played each festival, and how many of those bands were fronted by women. Here are the results: A 45% – 50%+ (2 festivals) Home County ON – 55.56% Wavelength ON – 50% B 35% – 44% (3 festivals) Summerfolk ON – 40.48% Montreal Folk Festival PQ – 40.91% Winnipeg Folk Festival MB – 40.48% C 25% – 34% (2 festivals) Sappyfest NS – 25.81% Wintergreen Concert…
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My Rules
I’ve been a music booker for a while now, ((People have even paid me to do it at places like The Montreal House, The Peterborough Folk Festival, Harbourfront Centre, and The Distillery Historic District.)) and over the years I’ve developed some guiding practices that govern most of what I do – something I think of as my rules for booking. I tend to stick to these rules because they work, and because whenever I’m unsure, I’ve got them to point to true north. Other bookers are their own people, and I neither expect that they’d adhere to this exact set of ideas nor do I think any of these are…
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Fuck Instrument Thieves
A lot of my friends and acquaintances are musicians, and so fairly regularly I see notices crop up on forums and social media about stolen musical instruments. Every damn time, it makes my blood boil. Any performance-level instrument is worth a few hundred dollars, at the very least – most a lot more than that. Depending on quality, age, and customization, they can be worth much more – easily thousands of dollars. So I understand why it’s tempting for the sticky-fingered, desperate, or unethical person to grab a guitar and go, heading to Craigslist or shady pawnshops to offload their ill-gotten beauties. ((I’ll admit sympathy for some thieves, based purely…
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Artist Spotlight: Raging Asian Women
This weekend I headed down to Yonge-Dundas Square to catch a little of the Small World Music Festival. They had a terrific lineup, and one of my favourite live acts was playing – Raging Asian Women. Taiko drumming is a traditional Japanese form of performance where musicality and showmanship are both important, and RAW have it down. The first time I saw them was years ago, at a conference, and I’d had no idea what to expect. I’d seen and loved Taiko performances before, but nothing prepared me for the power of RAW. By the end of their performance, I had tears streaming down my face – not from sadness, but…
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Artist Spotlight: Maracatu Mar Aberto
This past weekend was the Cabbagetown Festival, a community event with street vendors, a craft fair, lots of yard sales, food vendors, and music. ((Almost entirely awful cover bands, much to my dismay. But there were a couple of good acts – read on!)) Luckily enough for me, the whole thing took place right outside my door, so I spent most the two days strolling around, noshing on murtabek and roti, and meeting some of my neighbours. ((I even met a guy who has a bee hive in his back yard, who sold me a jar of Cabbagetown Gold – illegal bees make the best honey!)) Things were winding down…
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Artist Spotlight: Unbuttoned
Saturday was a beautiful day in Ol’Toronto, and I’d spent most of the afternoon in Riverside, catching an historical tour of the neighbourhood. ((Local history and old architecture are some of my favourite things.)) I decided to grab some Thai take-out on the way home, and explore some areas of town I hadn’t been through yet, and I meandered along, across the Don River Valley and into Regent Park. I’m endlessly curious about anything that looks like a free festival, so when I saw tents selling food and jewelry, I ducked down that street to check it out. I got a very friendly greeting at all of the booths I…
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Artist Spotlight: The 24th Street Wailers
The lineup for the Peterborough Folk Festival was released this past week, and for the first time in seven years, I didn’t do all of the booking. And for the first time in more than a decade, I won’t be working on the festival or even attending, because I’ve got another festival to run here in Toronto. ((Taiwanfest!)) It’s a weird feeling to see things roll along without you, but Nick’s ((PFF’s new Artistic Director!)) doing a great job, and so is Ashley ((PFF’s Executive Director!)) and the rest of the team. One of the bands that I booked in this year’s lineup is The 24th Street Wailers; ((Full disclosure:…
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Artist Spotlight: Aqua Alta / Jenn Grant
I know I already did one this week, but then this new stuff slid across my dashboard and it stopped me in my eternal scroll and I had to share it, so here we are. Two in one week. Except that this is actually two in one post, so three. Well, I make the rules, such as they are, so I guess I can break them. Aqua Alta is a new project by Jenn Grant, Charles Austin, and Graeme Campbell. So far, it’s barely more than a tease – a name, a one-pager website with no info or photos, and just three songs. The first two got my attention, but…
