Art in the Park

I will be participating in this year's Art in the Park hosted by the Portage Avenue Church at Omand's Creek Park this Sunday the 22nd. Several artists will be participating, and there will be several local bands playing. Start time is at 6:30. Come by for some music, some art and a general good time. Art in the park is always an enjoyable evening. I will have some items for sale along with the other artists. Omand's Creek Park is located at the end of Wolseley's west side, just before the portage street underpass if you are heading west.

Winnipeg Folk Fest

Another Folk Fest is over. It was a great weekend filled with music, semi-hippies, tarp squatting, friends, and good food. This year I was lucky enough to be accepted as an artist for the Prairie Outdoor Exhibit. I painted some lockboxes for one of the stages prior to the festival starting. This got me a backstage pass for the weekend, so I got to join all the other festival volunteers in some of the perks of volunteering.

Here are a few highlights related specifically to the music:
Andrew Bird playing the closing night, and as was expected, made wonderful,beautiful music, and continues to amaze me.
Ghostkeeper played a nice set and really reminded me of an acoustic version of Bahamas. It was just a solo act, the rest of the band wasn't there which disapointed me-and may be why he reminded me of Bahamas, because with the whole band they don't really have that sound.
Greg MacPherson played with a lot of heart, and really sticks out in my mind.
Luluc-I didn't get to their concert, but saw them play a workshop with Devon Sproule and Romi Mayes, and also they played a Tweener act one night. They have a gentle, lovely sound.

And there are many others....

Winnipeg Folk Fest-Night Photos

Here are a couple of pics from this weekend at the Winnipeg Folk Fest. I'm just posting a few night shots I took of the vendors. I liked the glow they gave off. There is something interesting about Food vendors and the lights they give off, (especially on the edge of a field) I will write more once the weekend is over!

Daytrotter Website

I thought I'd share with everyone a site that I love for music. www.Daytrotter.com.
Daytrotter gets great musical artists, gets them to record some of their songs, and then shares it with viewers via free downloads and radio. As Daytrotter states:
"We are going to contribute to the musical landscape, not just toss it around like a used book or a stolen pick-up line. We’re going to give you something that you truly have never heard. We are not giving you songs from someone you love’s record album, thereby stealing from someone you love. We’re giving you exclusive, re-worked, alternate versions of old songs and unreleased tracks by some of your favorite bands and by a lot of your next favorite bands."
Their site is easily navigated, provides great write-ups on bands and musicians, as well everything is illustrated portrait-style in a loose ink and marker/paint form by artist Ryan Flynn (examples are shown above).

Folksters

I attended the Winnipeg Folk Festival this past weekend. Five days filled with music, outdoor venues, and a whole lot of people. I thought I would actually be visually inspired more than I was, but I did come away with a host of new music that I need to purchase to make art to. The alien creature in my drawing above was on stage at one point playing the drums and violin. He was a part of a group called From the Moon. Other great musicians to check out include The Bahamas, Patrick Watson, Socalled, and Joel Fafard to name just a few.