Peterborough Folk Festival

AD's Notes:�
I first came across Elliott Brood 'way back in 2004, when I was slipped a copy of their EP 'Tin Type' at a conference.� The packaging was beautiful, but the music & recording wasn't quite there for me except for one track, 'Oh Alberta!'� I kept the disc, and their next album lived up to the initial promise I heard and more.� One of my favourite bands, it's a real treat to be able to bring them to PFF 2009.

Bio:
Stalking shadows on the prairies with a compass and set of matches, shaking the mountains loose with howls and footstomps and, settled in meadows, while whispering tales under darkening skies, obsessed with history or historically obsessed, either way, Elliott BROOD have a penchant for stories they just can�t shake.
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Since their beginnings with their EP, Tin Type, home of the cult hit, �Oh, Alberta!�, to their Juno-nominated, debut full length Ambassador, Elliott BROOD have earned the praise of connoisseurs and critics alike. They�ve won over legions of fans with their raw and energetic live shows and their atmospheric, richly crafted records, making a name for themselves worldwide. They�ve carried their tune through seven cross Canada marathons, including the headlining spot on the Exclaim! Magazine sponsored Wood, Wires & Whiskey tour and opening shows for Wilco, Blue Rodeo, Corb Lund and The Sadies. They have completed three European tours, playing Festivals throughout Europe, Great Britian and Scandinavia, including an opening spot in Paris with Broken Social Scene. The BROOD have toured through the USA with Do, Make, Say Think and early this year, they made their debut in Australia with the release of Ambassador on ABC Records in the spring of 2008.
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Alongside the Juno nomination, Ambassador earned The BROOD a Galaxy Rising Star award for Best New Artist 2006, landing them on Best of Lists from The Globe & Mail to CBC Radio 3, a four-star review from British music mag heavy, UNCUT, and kept them on the college radio charts for over 17 weeks.
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With the release of their new record, Mountain Meadows, comes a new chapter. It marks the evolution of Elliott BROOD from a backwoods character into a timeless figure. Recorded in Town halls, front rooms, back rooms and good old recording studios, the album�s wandering melodies are driven by rusty guitars and aching vocals that waltz around charming piano lines while ukuleles and banjos sway to and fro between a chorus of horns. It�s sunnier the higher you climb the Mountain, but in the Meadows below lay darker themes each with their own lore.

Festival Stage, 9:00pm

AD's Notes:
I first came across RAW at a conference in Spring 2008, where I was captivated by their power, their strength, and the overall philosophy of the group.� RAW represent to me a very 21st century way of approaching the world, using a decades-old tradition and an instrument that goes back millenia to express a very modern sensibility.

�Bio:
"Every woman has a well-stocked arsenal of anger potentially useful against those oppressions, personal and institutional, which brought that anger into being. Focused with precision it can become a powerful source of energy serving progress and change." –Audre Lorde

Raging Asian Women will set your heart pounding. RAW is a diverse collective of East and South-East Asian women carrying on the North American taiko drumming tradition and promoting social justice while making music. We are activists, cultural workers, dancers, writers, teachers, rock climbers, artists, mothers, community workers, and academics. We integrate rhythm and movement to show a powerful expression of our unique experiences as Asian-Canadian women. We believe in the power of collective creation and collaboration, and are continually working to develop innovative artistic ideas.

RAW was formed in 1998 as an all-women group by three former members of the defunct Wasabi Daiko.

Festival Stage, 8:00pm

AD's Notes:
Infectious, poppy, brilliant, and featuring Ptbo's own Kelly McMichaels (Emerging Artist 2007) on keys, Gentleman Reg is going to set the festival crowd on fire.� I've pretty much been listening to Jet Black non-stop for months.

Bio:
Gentleman Reg has been performing in Canada since the turn of the millennium, garnering attention for his two acclaimed full-lengths, 2002's Make Me Pretty and 2004's Darby & Joan. With a voice from the heavens and an unforgettable look, Gentleman Reg is set to make his U.S. debut in early 2009 on Arts & Crafts with the release of Jet Black. Gentleman Reg has made fans of some of Canada's best talent, performing and touring with such acts as Tegan and Sara, Broken Social Scene, Stars and The Hidden Cameras. In the U.S., Gentleman Reg is best known for being featured in the 2006 John Cameron Mitchell movie, "Short Bus", in which he made a brief cameo and contributed to the films soundtrack. Little Buildings is an official introduction to the music from Gentleman Reg with a collection of some of his finest work from his previously released full-lengths, as well as one never before released track, entitled 'Something To Live For,' from the Darby & Joan recordings.

Festival Stage Hosts

Festival Stage Set, 7:00pm

AD's Notes:
I go 'way back with these guys, and they need little introduction to the Ptbo crowd.� Lotus played a regular gig at the MoHo back in the days when I was booker there, and it's been a real pleasure to see him and Sheesham gain more success and notoriety in the North American music scene over the past couple of years.�

Bio:
Sheesham Crowe and Lotus Wight (in real-lifeSam Allison and Teilhard Frost) met in Alabama, settled in Canada as musicians playing for old-time dances and gatherings. They kept running in to each other at almost every concert venue in North America, so they decided to combine firces and spread the joy of old-time rag-time, high steppin� mountain music. They even give workshops in all instruments they play, plus hand pat percussion and �flat foot clogging�. They play their high energy music on almost anything you can blow, strum or tap. Sheesham let�s �er rip with fiddle, bones, harmonica, footstepping, vocals, gourd banjo and jaw-harp hambone. Lotus is brilliant on banjo, bass harmonica, jaw harp, vocals, ukelele, gourd banjo, guitar, hambone. Once they start playing, you won�t be able to stay in your seats!

Friday, Aug 28: Ian Tamblyn at the Canadian Canoe Museum with special guests David Simard and the Canoe House Band.� Hosted by David Newland.

AD's Notes:
Ian is a hometown boy, in some respects – not only did he graduate from Trent University, but he also played the very first PFF in 1989.� Twenty years later, he's returning to kick off the festival with a Gala at the Canadian Canoe Museum!

Bio:
Ian Tamblyn began writing songs, short stories and plays at the age of seventeen. Since that time he has recorded twenty- nine albums, cassettes, and CDs and written over 1500 songs. Many of these songs have been recorded by other artists and he has received and been nominated for� several awards, most recently a nomination for Best Artist by the Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2007 as well� as being honoured with the Distinguished Alumni Award from Trent University. Since 2004 Ian has conducted numerous songwriting workshops and was instrumental in beginning Writer�s Bloc , an ongoing writer�s workshop that has bee meeting since the late 1980�s in Ottawa.

Currently Ian is working on a new CD of songs and has just returned from a teaching and guiding position in Antarctica with a group called Students on Ice. He has just finished producing a double CD celebrating the songwriting of William Hawkins. This September, Ian will be guiding on the ice breaker Polar Star from Iceland to Newfoundland. In August of 2008 Ian released the second of his Four Coast project CD – Raincoast� set on the Northwest coast of B.C. and Alaska.

Friday Aug 28: Host, PFF Gala opening concert – Ian Tamblyn with special guests David Simard and the Canoe House Band

Saturday Aug 29:� Host, Solar Stage 11:00am – 5:00pm

Sunday Aug 30: Ukelele Workshop, Sadlier House

AD's Notes:
David is an old friend; we've spent many nights 'round a campfire or meeting table or bottle of spirits, and I find wherever he goes he carries the spirit of Canada with him.� Despite his penchant for puns, he's a well-loved host and musician, and the perfect guy to hold down the Solar Stage for us this year.

Bio:
Born in Ottawa in 1969, David Newland grew up on the shores of Georgian Bay near Parry Sound, Ontario. His earliest influences were water and the woods, books and the radio, trains and the highway. He lived a "classic Canadian rural life" until the age of seventeen, when he began a series of globe-trotting adventures.

A scholarship to Lester B. Pearson College set David on his unusual path of working and learning, which has taken him from the Pacific shore of Vancouver Island, to the clearcuts of Northern Ontario, around the world and back to the woods of Nova Scotia's North Mountain and finally to his father's family home in Toronto.

David studied literature at McGill, earned a degree in Fine Arts from Concordia University, worked as a writer, performer and photographer, instructed at community college and ultimately built a career as a web content specialist. David currently works as Editor-in-Chief at Canoe.ca, a leading Canadian web portal.

An avid musician with a particular fondness for ukulele, David is the founder of The McFlies. David is also an active singer songwriter, host, and performer.

David is the father of an extraordinary thirteen year old daughter, an avid canoeist, gardener, cyclist and an occasional meditator with lots of good intentions.

Saturday Aug 29: 3:00pm, Generation Solar Stage

AD's Notes:
The Weather Station were a new discovery for me this year; combing through a massive pile of submissions, I came upon their songs and was instantly charmed.� I'm glad to be able to present them this year, and hope you'll check out these great young artists.

Bio:
Music is, in essence, a revolt against silence.� Tamara Lindeman was not a musician when she decided to make music.� But, reeling from a personal loss, she found the usual avenues of expression insufficient.� In the absence of talk, she found herself curiously drawn to sound.� On a whim, she borrowed her roommates recording equipment.� What poured forth was nothing less than a cri de couer.� A "post traumatic dreamscape", in the words of Simon Borer, a band member.� Alone in her room, she marshalled banjo, guitar, scissors, pots, pans – whatever she could find to give voice to the lunar landscape of loss.

The story of The Weather Station, though, is not just that of someone alone in her bedroom.� Coming from vastly different musical backgrounds, Jack Donovan, Simon Borer, and Dwight Schenk joined forces with Lindeman to re-invent The Weather Station as a powerful live band.� In the past year, this band has come into its own, appearing on CBC's DNTO, playing showcases at NXNE, CMW, and Pop Montreal, touring,� releasing an EP, and holding down a wildly successful residency in Toronto's legendary Tranzac Club with guest performers including $100, Sandro Perri, Eric Chenaux, and Ohbijou's Casey Mecija.

With the success of the live band, Lindeman turned her attention to live performance.� But her recordings continued to grow and evolve.� Through trial and error, Lindeman schooled herself in sound and composition, software and effects. Using a single microphone and playing most of the instruments herself, she painstakingly assembled the music which would form the critically acclaimed EP East, and finally grow into the full-length album The Line.
The Line is an album of surprising beauty. Lindeman's crystalline voice floats over dense forests of banjo, cello, and percussion; folk songs of the utmost simplicity nestle next to urgent, multi-layered instrumentals.� It is a meditation on grief that plays itself out not in the real world, but in the fevered imagination of the mind. The album delves deep into loss, regret, memory, anger, and love.� In other words; all the things that nobody warns you about.

Saturday Aug 29: Generation Solar Stage, 12:00 noon

AD's Notes:
Local group Unity work together in the community to keep life flowing in traditions that once were outlawed; their songs express the courage and compassion which is at the heart of their tradition.

Unity is the collective talents of Barb Rivett, Brenda Maracle O'Toole, Heather Shpuniarsky, Paula Sherman and Joeann Argue. We are an Aboriginal a cappella women's group who perform both traditional songs and contemporary songs within the traditional genre. The group has performed at numerous venues: from education conferences to music festivals – both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal. We work in local public schools, offering Aboriginal awareness workshops for elementary students and their teachers. In these workshops we teach the songs and their meaning, and we often bring Elders as storytellers and Indigenous knowledge holders. At Trent University, where we all work and/or study in the Indigenous Studies Department, we are known as the "Trent University House Band".
It is important to us as Aboriginal educators to reach out into the communities and share with them the knowledge we have been given through song and story. Each of us, in addition to our public work, participates in traditional ceremonies and cultural life. We are working, albeit slowly, to regain our traditional languages as part of our own growth as Anishnaabe Kweg and to pass on to others what knowledge we have gained.

Saturday Aug 29: Generation Solar Stage, 1:00pm

AD's Notes:
Dana is another new artist I discovered through the massive pile of submissions; she has a northern sensibility that really draws you in.� Hailing from the North West Territories, we're really lucky to have Dana journeying down to the southlands to join us this year!

Bio:
Described as a "lyrical satirical poet," Dana Sipos sews a compelling sound. Likened to the folk minstrels of yesteryear, she's part politics, part poetry, part hip, part pop, with a dash of blues, hints of soul and a whole lot of heart.

In the fall of 2007, Dana had the fun and luckjoy of representing the NWT in the CBC True North concert series, held in Iqaluit, Nunavut, joined by a host of wonderful musicians from all across the north and the Vancouver Symphony orchestra. It snowed that september on the shores of Frobisher Bay and was a lovely sight to behold.�

Written under the influence of the northern moon, with a generous helping of moonshine on the side, Dana's debut CD, �The Moonshine Brigade� is that fine moment where cabin fever is finally introduced to her long lost sweetheart, the spring thaw. It�s a glorious reunion. Recorded with Bob Hamilton in the summer of 2008 in a magical little studio, tucked in the woods off the Alaska Highway in Whitehorse, Yukon. Accompanied by mountains and the Yukon River.

Close yer eyes and listen.

Saturday Aug 29: Publican Pavilion Stage, 3:00pm

AD's Notes:
Once again, and act that needs little introduction to Ptbo audiences; the fabulous harmonies and old-timey sensibility of The County Boys pleases people from 2 to 92.

Bio:
The County Boys, Chris and Benj, were born in a barn just outside of Peterborough and spent their youth playing music in piles of hay. Growing up, Benj became the fastest banjo picker in the county and Chris was even faster on the guitar. Soon they met a chap named Diamond Dave from Peterborough County who was known as the fastest bass fiddler around, known for playing with the fastest washboard player in the world, WASHBOARD HANK!!! Benj and Chris challenged him to a duel at the Peterborough Farmer's Market and people were in awe as the duel progressed, erupting sounds of boom boom boom, ting ting ting and chuck chuck chuck. As the hours went by it appeared as though no one would win the duel. Chris and Benj had finally met their match and until this day they play together as the County Boys.

Since the County Boys are no longer dueling, they have accomplished many feats in the year that they have been together. Their original and high energy music has spawned many nights of dancing, foot stompin' and drinking in the many venues of Southern Ontario. Such highlights have been sharing the stage with Willie P. Bennet, Washboard Hank and playing the Peterborough Folk Festival. They have made the Montreal House in Peterborough their watering hole, playing regular Thursdays and creating a loyal home town following. They just finished there first CD of 13 original songs, which include three part harmonies, guitar, banjo, and upright Bass. The performance was captured live off the floor from the local pub the Rusty Snail and was a collective effort among the three musicians who shared both the song writing and singing.

The music is the experiences and stories of the County Boys. It could be called bluegrass or roots music but Diamond Dave prefers to call it Pure Love. It is music that tells a story and is from the heart, just like the time when someone stole Dave's beer and he heartbrokenly wrote a song about it.

The County Boys now live together in the County of Peterborough and share a three story bunk bed. They rehearse all day and then play all night. When they get tired of working on songs they work on astral projection. This makes the County Boys appropriate for almost any venue or function.

The D�oh See Dough Boyz are well into their second decade of providing the perfect square dance party.� These festive occasions have included weddings, birthday parties, anniversaries, school functions, and even a theological convention.� The classic old time square dance, now as in the pioneer past, brings together friends, neighbours and complete strangers alike, and is completely cross generational in appeal, not to mention that it�s fun and easy to learn.�

Ben Wolfe, square dance caller extraordinaire, has not yet been able to make the lame walk but he can make a whoopin� square dancer out of your most bashful and clumsy cousin.�

Ken Brown, fiddler, provides the swirling jigs and reels.�

Curtis Driedger, guitarist, lays down the quintessential square dance groove.�

Put on yer dancin� shoes (or kick �em off, for that matter) and join the D�oh See Dough Boyz for forty-five minutes of hoe down hoofin� and hilarity!

PFF 2010 kicks off with a gala evening at the Canadian Canoe Museum!

Free-for-all, day-long celebration with music, food, arts, crafts, a Children's Village and much more!� Nicholls Oval/Rotary Park.

Workshops presented in partnership with Sadleir House; focused workshops with professional musicians.� Details TBA.

Workshop cost: $10/session

Emerging Artist Award Winner 2009 Missy Knott is a 20-year-old aspiring artist breaking out of Peterborough, Ontario’s extraordinary music scene. Widely known for her soulful, angelic voice and her music genre diversity, Missy is on her way to the top. Alan Greyeyes, co-chair of Manito Ahbee Festival Inc says “Missy’s dope! She’s got the talent [...]

Emerging Artist Award Winner 2008 Sean Conway is a young Peterborough-based musician who claims Final Fantasy, Evening Hymns and Tom Waits as some of his biggest influences. Sean utilizes a BOSS RC-2 Loop Station to capture and create his unique sonic orchestra. His music carries itself with grace and rage along intricate loops and beats hammered out [...]

Emerging Artist Award Winner 2007 (with Kelly McMichael) Born at the foot of the mountains on the North Western coast of Canada, David Simard has taken a young but rich lifetime and woven a remarkable canvas of sweeping, avant-garde folk. Cut from the same cloth as Tom Waits and Nina Simone, rooted in cabaret and [...]

Emerging Artist Award Winner 2007 (with David Simard) Kelly McMichael has an immense love for pianos, cats and dancing. She dibble-dabbles here and there, trying out jazz, pop, rock, folk and even techno, on occasion. Her quirky small-town cushions of Peterborough and Guelph have left her with a unique but still developing musical base to [...]

Emerging Artist Award Winner 2006 Drea Nasager from Peterborough, Ontario, Canada is a 29-year-old singer songwriter with national and international performance experience, eight solo albums and a new EP with Drea and The Four Letter Words that reinvents her Folk You sound, songs and performance. Some of Drea’s solo performances include: the Deerlycke and Paulusfeesten [...]

Emerging Artist Award Winner 2005 The Avenues (featuring Benj Rowland)  are a high energy, foot stompin’ three piece band, from Peterborough Ontario. Drums, bass pedals, banjo, guitar and vocal harmonies. They formed in the winter of 2009 and have already started their plans to take over the world. They can sound like a balls to [...]

Emerging Artist Award Winner 2004 “To understand the talent that is Beau Dixon is to see him  as well as hear him.  As a singer, he is bigger-than-life, aided by a tall frame and a soul-searing voice that reaches the far side of the room and threatens to blow out the doors on exiting.  As an actor, he [...]

Emerging Artist Award winner 2003 “The Staveley Project; a fierce, heartfelt and technically superb performance. Staveley’s incomparably expressive vocal work is backed by one of the tightest and passionate rhythm sections I have heard. Her songwriting is raw like road rash and hits you just as hard. Don’t underestimate this player, nor what she has [...]

Emerging Artist Award Winner 2002 James McKenty is the guitarist/vocalist of The Spades. Looking at today and working back, it’s easy to see how The Spades have built such a strong fan base; good old fashioned hard work. They’ve just completed a new album, “Subatomic” set to be released on March 23, 2010 through the [...]

Emerging Artist Award Winner 2010 Bio: Returning to Canada from a long sojourn in the state of Utah, Kate Le Deuce is bringing something unique to the alternative country scene. Channeling 1970s country music, when men lived hard, drank hard, and drove hard, she sing songs for truck drivers, drunks and sad bastards. On subjects [...]

  Emerging from the sleepy river town of Peterborough, Ontario, The Avenues make real country music; not country music that requires the pre-fix “alt” or “new,” but the pure, honest, and unadorned kind. Forming in the winter of 2009, The Avenues sound the way Nashville might have without the glitz and glamour, as their banjo [...]

2011 has been a landmark year for Brazilian-born singer/percussionist/composer Aline Morales. The launch of her debut solo album Flores, Tambores e Amores was met with widespread critical acclaim. David Dacks writes in the Grid, “Simply put, Aline Morales’ self-released Flores, Tambores e Amores may be the finest Brazilian album ever produced in Canada.”  An ambitious and eclectic record, Flores defies easy [...]