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2004 Calgary Blues & Roots Festival - Review Aug. 14
Sunday, August 15, 2004
Original Article on Calgary Sun website.
Blues brothers
Two for the price of one isn't always a good thing. On Aug. 14, it certainly wasn't a welcome turn of events to unintentionally get two music festivals for the price of one.
As the Blues and Roots Festival played in McMahon Stadium, the first Calgary International Reggae Festival was underway next door within whispering distance at Burns Stadium.
Since no one was whispering - in fact, exactly the opposite - the bleed between the two musical events was incredibly noticeable and, at times, incredibly distracting. Hopefully next year, the two fests can work out their schedules to avoid a similiar conflict.
The event I - along with what was pegged at 6,000 fans - spent my day at was the third day of the Blues and Roots.
Locals the Craig Korth and Julie Kerr Band kicked things off at noon. The husband and wife bluegrass duo make beautiful music together - her vocals, his fine pickin', the result is something worth stopping and smelling.
Calgary's bad boy of roots Ralph Boyd Johnson filled in the gaps on the side stage between afternoon acts. Just watching makes you want to drink lots of rye and run afoul of the law. In a good way.
In the evening the between-sets honour went to Cam Penner and the Gravel Road, who, like Johnson, continued the parade of brilliant local talent established in the previous days with Kris Demeanor, Tim Williams and Jane Hawley.
Penner and his tight, tight band play blue-collar country that’s been dragged around the prairie backroads by its boots, and cooled in the long grass growing in the hills.
Back on the main stage, the afternoon progressed with a pair of great songwriters - Louisiana boy Kevin Gordon and Nashville-based artist Greg Trooper, who both turned in sets of terrific roots rock accompanied by some just-as-engaging storytelling.
Then came Saskatoon native Kyle Riabko, who, because of his smoking guitar and songwriting prowess as well as his 16 years of age, has drawn comparisons to Friday nighter Jonny Lang. Musically, though, Riabko comes off more like a cross between Hanson and Prince, mixing blues in with funk, pop, jazz and soul.
Edmonton's Old Reliable are alt country at its finest, taming - just barely - their indie rock instincts with sure-footed western.
Wilson Pickett opened with one of his most memorable songs, In the Midnight Hour.
The legend still sounds incredible, with time giving his voice a little extra midnight, a little extra cool. Sure, it came across, at times, like a hotel lounge R&B revue mainly because the material, such as Mustang Sally, is so well known and well covered.
But Pickett, a showman to the end, and his band were also so genuinely entertaining and hell-bent on getting the crowd into things that all you could do was give in and enjoy.
Closing the evening off was Texas roots supergroup The Flatlanders and Motown session legends The Funk Brothers, who were accompanied by singers Sam Moore and Joan Osborne.