Flying the folk flag

Dig the roots at the first annual
Folk Festival on the Canal

FINGER-PICKIN’ GOOD:
Matthew Large (c) and Notre Dame de Grass

By LORRAINE CARPENTER

Some of Montreal’s best and brightest roots music players, traditional bands and singer-songwriters gather under the banner of folk this Saturday as Hello Darlin’ Productions, Hyperbole Music and the Centre St-Ambroise present the inaugural edition of Folk Festival on the Canal, behind St-Henri’s McAuslan brewery. On a new, covered, outdoor stage, and an Emerging Artists stage inside the Centre St-Ambroise, 12 acts are due to play this all-day, rain-or-shine event.

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The bill features the winners of the Mirror’s 2008 Best of Montreal poll in the Folk/Country category, United Steel Workers of Montreal, as well as former Wailin’ Jenny Annabelle Chvostek, who recently released a great solo album, Resilience, and Rob Lutes, star of the North American folk circuit for his smart, soulful approach to traditional Americana. And from out of town come Niagara Region folk rocker Scott Normandy, top-shelf Toronto folkies the Good Lovelies and Quebec City “freak folk” duo Perhaps Because, who bring an electropop edge to the festival (“Judas!”).

As well as being a member of local bluegrass band Notre Dame de Grass, who will also play this weekend, the festival’s co-curator Matthew Large produces shows year ’round via Hello Darlin’, with his wife Rebecca Anderson.

“Rebecca has been involved in [Nova Scotia’s] Lunenberg Folk Harbour Festival her whole life,” says large. “Her dad was a pioneer there, and we’ve watched it grow from a regional event to a world-class stop on the Canadian folk-music circuit. So we’ve been wanting to organize a folk festival in Montreal for a long time.”

Hello Darlin’ jumped at the chance to realize their goal when Dave Cool began booking folk acts at the Centre St-Ambroise last winter. “We have a great space, it’s perfect for this type of thing, so it all came together quite nicely,” says Cool.

“I love the venue,” says Large. “I think it’s really cool, juxtaposed against huge industrial settling tanks, with the beauty of the canal and the grounds.”

There are plenty of homegrown acts to discover this weekend, including the sultry strains of NDG songstress Maica (with her electric band, the Suitors) and the Appalachian stylings of francophone East-Enders Caloon Saloon.

“The idea for this year was to showcase predominantly local talent,” says Cool, a longstanding supporter of independent musicians and director of the 2005 documentary What Is Indie? “But maybe next year, we’ll get some bigger names as well,” to which Large adds, “I anticipate big things for the future.”

At the St-Ambroise terrasse, accessible
from the banks of the Lachine Canal,
or through the Centre St-Ambroise (5080
St-Ambroise) on Saturday, June 21,
noon – 11 p.m., $20, free for kids under 12