The Jasper Folk Music Festival is finally here. Friday, Sept. 13 the rockinâ weekend of good tunes will kick off, beginning with a set by Battle Royale winner Emma Acorn. The music will pick up again Saturday with Some Irish Piratesâthe other Battle Royale winners.
Click on each headline to get acquainted with this weekendâs musicians.
(Profiles are listed in order of performance date and time.)
For more folk fest info, check out the or pick up your copy at the festival!
Emma Acorn: Battle Royale winner
When Emma Acorn first moved to Jasper from Prince Edward Island in 1997, it was love at first sight. âI felt like I came home when I came to Jasper,â she recalled.
That sense of place factors heavily in her music. âI used to play at the Downstream a lot,â she said. âThatâs where I played some of my first open mics. And I write a lot of songs about Jasper.â
Currently sheâs working for Parks Canada as an interpreter, but sheâs also had stints in Jasper bands like Delosis, and the Rough Waters Band. Still, going out for the Battle Royale contest in May was a last-minute decision. âIt was kind of spur of the moment,â she recalled.
Much of Acornâs inspiration comes from Jasperâs natural environment, but what often connects her with her audience is her take on social conventions and the lifestyle in the mountains.
âEverybody knows âThe Hula Girl Song,ââ she said of her original song. âPeople buy me hula girls all the time. I have quite a collection going.â At last count, she had about a dozen, but she has yet to buy one herself.
Another favourite is âHighway 16.â âLocals will get the references in that song.â
Despite the comfort and happiness in her life, Acorn isnât concerned about that conversely affecting her artistic expression. âNo, because I usually get stressed out at different times of yearâmiddle of summer,â she said, for example. â[And] lots of good songs come out of the deep dark of January.â
In other words, Acornâs experience is quintessential Jasperâexactly what she loves to portray in her music.
[accordion title="Michael Rault brings rock ânâ roll"]
Even though he now lives in Toronto, Michael Rault can still rock out like heâs playing an Edmonton house party.
âWe would just pack people in,â Rault remembers of his earliest shows in his hometown. âWeâd be standing in this corner and people would be packed in all the way down the hallway and up the stairs.â
Those sweaty, surging, fire-hazard shows were âmy intro into rock and roll,â he said.
Rault plans to bring that same energy when he crashes into Jasper next weekend.
âIâm excited,â he said. âI always really enjoy playing western folk festivals. Thereâs a certain vibe you donât get back Eastâitâs more organic, and a little bit crazier.â
Rault will test that craziness with a deep-reaching set in Centennial Park on Sept. 13.
He plans to bust out his best tunes, spanning all the way back to his first EP.
Heâs pumped about it, too, because he thinks heâs got the perfect mix to get people out of their seats and grooving to his gritty, rock-and-roll jams.
âI really prefer when people get into it,â he said, âwhen theyâre out of their seats dancing.â
Raultâs even included a few tracks from his new record, Living Daylight, which he hopes will drop in January.
The new record is more psychedelic and a little more mellow than his previous efforts. He calls it âthe highest leap forwardâ in his musical career.
Even though heâs giving fans a different sound, Rault doesnât seem worried. Maybe some people wonât respond well to it, but, he admits with a good-humoured chuckle, âitâs kind of cool to alienate your fans sometimes.â
Perhaps thatâs true, but if Rault puts on the kind of show heâs capable of, he could easily leave Jasper with a whole new set of fan.
[accordion title="Samson's Delilah: funky Valley beats"]
Samson's Delilah: Friday, 8:30â9:30 p.m.
It may not be the mighty wall of sound Mamaguroove is known for, but Samsonâs Delilah still gets pretty funky.
Shara Gustafson and Seth Macdonald, better known for their performances with their rip-roarinâ band out of Dunster, B.C., have branched out on their own. Playing together as Samsonâs Delilah, theyâve brought down the volume but kept much of their energy.
Itâs a tight, funky sound, with whiffs of reggae and Latin beats snaking through it.
Gustafsonâs high, clear voice soars over funky guitar riffs and groovy bass and drum rhythms, sometimes joined by Macdonaldâs chill baritone.
They split off on their own, Gustafson said, not because of a dramatic incident or a burning desire to fly solo, but because of simple practicality.
âMost of [Mamaguroove] lives in other places,â she said, âso we just started making our own music.â
Whether itâs with the band or with Macdonald, Gustafson just loves to perform, especially at a festival.
âFestivals bring an awesome sense of community,â she said. And she would know. When she and Macdonald arenât playing in festivals, theyâre busy running their own. The two founded and still run the Robson Valley Folk Festival, which takes place each August on the coupleâs front lawn.
[accordion title="Five Alarm Funk: shredding the gnar"]
Ever been punched in the face by a trumpet blast? Kicked in the shins by a snare hit? Picked up and shaken by a guitar riff? No? Then youâve never been to a Five Alarm Funk show.
The eleven-piece sound explosion is always ready to blast audiences with what drummer and vocalist Tayo Branston calls âextremely aggressive, super high-energy gypsy death-funk.â
And if heâs even half the electric ball of energy onstage that he is in conversation, his bandâs show may just bring down the mountains.
âWhen weâre on stage weâre basically having the time of our lives,â he said, practically crackling with excitement.
The group has been together for over a decade, and Branston said heâs still blown away by âthe amount of awesomeness that comes outâ when they play together.
Anyone can enjoy a Five Alarm Funk show, he said, as long as theyâre prepared to âget wet and dance and smile.â
Watching the insanity that is a Five Alarm Funk performance unfold onstage, itâs hard to imagine a gloomyâor dryâperson in the house.
[accordion title="Some Irish Pirates: Battle Royal winner"]
The last year has been a wild ride for Some Irish Pirates. It began one fateful summer evening in 2012 when the initial three band membersâguitarist Tyson Watt, singer Danny Bates and guitarist Brent Bestâwere hanging out with Jamie McCardell (drummer from Sonance).
After listening to a few originals, McCardell asked whether they had considered trying a heavier sound. âWe came up here to jam, â said Bates, âand he punkified us.â
From their humble beginnings playing acoustic shanties in their apartment, they were soon churning out their pirate-themed Celtic punk on the regional stage. âIt completely changed everything,â said Watt. âWe said, âwhy werenât we doing this from the beginning?ââ
Rounding out the band, McCardell introduced the Pirates to drummer Sean âGooseâ Gosling at the Whistle Stop and later bassist Dean Harasymiw hopped aboard after an impromptu jam on Canada Day in 2012.
Before long, the Pirates were landing gigs playing the Rockinâ in the Rockies festival in Hinton, and opening for the Mahones. âThat was the first time we had to try out,â recalled Goose. âWe had to come up here and record.â
â[It was a] shitty cell phone recording,â chipped in Watt. âWe wrapped the phone in blankets so it wouldnât sound too rough.â
The band recently recorded a more polished demo CD theyâre excited to debut at the festival. But not too polished, stressed Goose. âOur songs are drinking tunes, weâre bar music. Just get ready to party. And have a beer ready.â
[accordion title="Randal Scott Band: country with a splash of tuba"]
What happens when the long-time drummer/bass player of a blues-rock band picks up a guitar and gets inspired?
He takes over the band.
Eleven years ago Randal Riddell turned down a promotion at his factory job in Manitoba to come to Jasper and play music.
âIt got a little too real,â he remembers of his former job, âand I always wanted to live in the mountains.â
He played for a decade with local blues band the Link-O-Matics, until a year and a half ago he steered the band in a new direction.
âOn the side I was writing these other songs, you know, that werenât blues-rock,â said Riddell.
When he asked the band to try out his material, it didnât take them long to get on board. One fiddle, one tuba and one name change later, the Randal Scott Band was born.
With his wife Lisa sawing away on the fiddle, Dale Diduck banging the drums and Tony Mastrianni rocking the upright bass (and occasional tuba), the band lays down foot-stomping tunes that, while diverse, all feel rooted in the prairies.
The band is in the middle of recording a new album, which Riddell, who runs a sound company on the side, is mixing himself.
âItâs fun to have all these songs that are coming from such different places and make them all fit together,â he said.
He especially loves bringing his songs to the band and hearing them change as everyone works out their own parts.
âThatâs the fun part of the band for everyone,â he said.
The Randall Scott Bandâs mission in Jasper is to âfire it up and get everyone on their feet.â
Riddell said shows are most rewarding when people are having a good time and itâs a âdance party all night long.â
[accordion title="Bronwynne Brent puts nerves aside to perform"]
âI guess itâs just important to be yourself.â Itâs a clichĂ© thatâs been wrung dry, but Brownynne Brent said it with such sincerity it sounded profound.
The Austin nativeâs Mississippi-Delta upbringing shines through in the gentle twang of her voice. Itâs a twang often accompanied by her endearing, nervous laugh.
The self-proclaimed recluse is making the long trek up to Jasper for the folk music festival, where audiences will get their first taste of the smoky-voiced singer-songwriter.
âItâs just me and a guitar up there,â Brent said with a nervous chuckle.
She explained that she would like to find a band to back her but, since she doesnât go out that much, it can be difficult to find someone.
Although she struggles with anxiety on stage, often bringing a music stand up with her in case she forgets the lyrics, her music has a dreamy confidence about it.
Itâs hard to pin down, but her melancholy voice and drifting guitar feel rooted in Americana. But thereâs something more to themâsomething hard to pinpoint.
Even Brent has a hard time categorizing her own music.
âI donât really know what kind of music I do,â she said, adding that she prefers it that way. âI really hate being pigeon-holed.â
She was aware of that as she recorded her new album, which is still untitled and has no firm release date.
âI thought about calling it âShe Came From Another World,ââ she said, bursting into laughter as if embarrassed by the thought, âbut I donât know if thatâs a good name or not.â
Brent said sheâs shooting for something different with her new album, a mix between desert noir and spaghetti western.
As her album sits nameless, Brent is practising for the folk festival and anxiously awaiting her visit to the mountains.
[accordion title="Ray Elliot comes full circle"]
Twenty-two years ago, a teenaged Ray Elliot played his first festival: the Jasper Heritage Folk Festival.
He remembers how excited he was to play on the same bill as David Lindley.
As a tree planter he had listened to a cassette of Lindleyâs so much that he âpretty much burned it up.â
Elliot said Lindleyâs performance at the folk festival âreally opened my eyes. It made me realize this was something Iâd really like to do.â
This weekend he will be back in the town he grew up in, playing the festival once again with the Ray Elliot Band.
But this time, Elliot said, it will be âhugely different.â
âI think Iâve grown as a musician and a songwriter,â he said.
For Elliot, songwriting is about telling a complete story in two to four minutes.
He talks about a song he wrote after finding a picture while hiking with his kids. The photo had been left by the child of a man who had lost his life in that canyon.
âHow do you explain that to your kids?â he asked.
He turned that struggle into âJoshuaâs Canyonâ: a song that, like most of Elliotâs, is a personal and heartfelt tidbit of Canadian life.
[accordion title="Tim Vaughn: a guitar named Penner"]
For a guy whoâs played with or opened for acts including Johnny Lang, Buddy Guy, The Roots and Johnny Winter, you wouldnât guess that Tim Vaughnâs first guitar was named âPennerâ after the famous Canadian childrenâs musician.
But then he was only four at the time.
âWatching Fred Penner, I was just in awe of the guitar,â he recalls.
Unfortunately, Penner the guitar met a tragic fate. âIt was just one of those things that happened, running around being kids in the basement and the guitar happened to be leaning against the couch and it got knocked over and jumped on.â
Undeterred, Vaughn continued to pursue music. By 13, he was performing in clubs and being mentored by the likes of Stepchild, Big Dave McLean, Jack Semple and Wide Mouth Mason. âšNow, Vaughn draws on that experience as inspiration for his own trio, which is currently touring behind their 2011 release, Read Between the Lines. At the festival the trio also plans to debut material from a new album they are working on, slated for release in spring 2014.
[accordion title="James Lamb: in like a lamb, out like a lion"]
Be careful listeners: James Lambâs rolling, introspective songs are so hypnotic they may leave you in a trance.
Itâs something about his soft voice and mellow guitar riffs, usually accented by quiet harmony or soft violin. They whistle by you like an evening breeze, then twist around and seep into your chest.
He ambles along, but never quite crosses, the âtoo chillâ line, and every once in a while he doles out some surprising but welcome energy.
âI love things to go all the way up, then come all the way down to silence,â he explains, his hushed voice distorted through the phone.
Lately heâs been âopening the envelope of the dynamic rangeâ in his songwriting, with heavier loud songs and gentler soft songs.
That confidence as a songwriter shows through in his performance. While he used to take comfort in a backing band, as heâs become a better songwriter heâs become more comfortable on stage alone.
âIf your songs are strong, you donât need all that extra stuff. Anything extra is just extra,â he said of performing with a band. âPlus, when you perform solo you get to kind of do whatever you want.â
[accordion title="Rachelle Van Zanten: going for both head and gut"]
While on a frantic, illness inducing tour of India with her band in 2008, Rachelle Van Zantenâs life changed forever.
âI had a slight nervous breakdown,â she recalled.
Upon returning home, she retreated to a cabin she and her father built in northwestern B.C. where she and her partner now live with their two-year-old daughter, Charlie. âWe grow our own food, we catch our own fish, we shoot our own moose, we live off the land as much as we can and itâs a wonderful existence.â
As two-year-old Charlie babbled melodically in the background, Van Zanten explained how being a mother has changed her music. âOnce you become a parent, you get filled with this grizzly power,â she said. âYouâll do anything to protect this being.â
As she saw âmega-projectsâ creeping into the region, her concerns for the environment and her daughterâs future naturally crept into the theme of her latest album, Oh, Mother.
âIâve found that music is such an incredible weapon. Itâs peaceful and it can reach thousands of people.â
Van Zantenâs commanding slide-guitar and powerful vocals certainly make a statementâone she likes to send home to both head and gut.
âI want to make peopleâs intestines vibrate in the key of G.â
[accordion title="Alex Cuba lives in the present"]
When Alex Cuba walks on stage, his mind is blank. He leaves behind all his past performances, all the venues and crowds and set lists: everything.
He wants to start fresh, to bring something new to the stage every time he plays.
âA big part of what Iâve accomplished in my career is because of the way I think: my innovation,â he explains, his Cuban heritage evident in his bouncing accent and hair-trigger laughter.
âThe past doesnât exist, really, itâs only the present.â
Cuba, who plays a mixture of rock and roll, pop and traditional Latin sounds, left his home country over a decade ago after marrying a Canadian woman. While many would have held tightly to their former culture, he was quick to adopt this country as his own.
âI didnât have a hard time adjusting to the country. It just kind of happened,â he said. âI saw it through the eyes of the woman I fell in love with, and that made everything beautiful and easy.
âCanada has grown inside me,â he said, but he admits heâll always carry a little bit of Cuba with him.
That fact is reflected in his music, which Cuba said is âlike an apple seed and a mango seed fused together and grown up in both countries.â
[accordion title="Oscar Lopez: a passionate tiger unleashed"]
The underlying theme of Oscar Lopezâs musicâand indeed, his lifeâis passion, and he plans to bring both to Jasper this September.
âMake sure the people in Jasper have their seat belts on,â Lopez said. âI have in my left hand a tiger, and in my right hand is my heart.â
If he sounds cocky, Lopez explained, heâs notâit is borne out of honesty and experience. The expressive guitarist has won multiple Junos in a career spanning over 40 years. He began playing guitar at nine years of age, and by 17 he was performing professionally in his native Santiago, Chile. In 1979, he moved to Canada and began building his career here.
But the journey hasnât always been easy. Lopez struggled with depression for many years. Coming to Canada, learning a new language and adapting to a new culture were all challenges he had to come to terms with.
He eventually found a way to cope through music. âWhen Iâm struggling, the demons are everywhere,â he said. âBut when I play, I let the tiger out of the cage.â
At 60 years old (he celebrated his birthday on September 2), he is about to release his first solo album in 10 years. Thatâs not to suggest he hasnât been busyâthose 10 years have been filled with touring, musical collaborations and two moves, from Calgary, to Naramata, BC, and then back.
Those travels inspired some of the music on his new album, Apasionado, scheduled for release this coming October.
âIt is the best recording of my entire life,â he said, mentioning that he may decide to share some of that material with the Jasper audience when he takes the stage Saturday night at the festival.
âIâm extremely excited,â he said. âItâs a beautiful place and Iâm honoured that you have invited me.â Known for pouring out his soul in performances, Lopezâ approach is high energy. âIâm preparing to blow my own socks off. If I do that I will blow everyone else away.â
Stories by Trevor Nichols and Jeremy Derksen
