The new face of folk

The Dust Poets put a unique and quirky twist on traditional folk music.

Not every band can say a cowboy poetry reading in Brandon, Man. brought them together, but the Dust Poets can.

About eight years ago, the cowboy poetry organizer called up songwriter Murray D. Evans looking for musical entertainment. Evans contacted folk-loving University of Brandon classical voice student Karla Ferguson, and assembled the duo that evolved into the Dust Poets not long after.

Joining Ferguson and Evans are Sean McManus on percussion and wind, Gord Mowat on acoustic and electric bass, and Corey Ticknor on mandolin and brass.
However, the Poets are not merely a folk group.

In an interview, McManus explained that they draw on many styles of music.

“We’ve used ‘folk-pop’ as a description… We’ve used ‘chamber-folk.’ The last one we used was ‘irreverent Canadian folk-pop.’”

The Dust Poets are strongly influenced by bluegrass and country, and in their early years they covered a lot of Dan Hicks and Tom Waits. Also Evans’ frank and beautiful lyrics attest to his love of Elvis Costello.

“We are an arrangement-heavy band,” said McManus, adding all the members have a part in the final product; “[We are] not just a band backing up a singer.”

Now, with four albums under their belt (the most recent, World At Large, was just released on May 26), The Dust Poets are excited to come to Winnipeg’s Folk Fest, and their love of eclectic instrumentation and new folk style makes them a must see.

– AF

Diversity and experience take the Young Performers stage

You might want to take the word “young” with a grain of salt. It may sound like a contradiction in terms, but there are some real veterans at the Young Performers stage this year at Folk Fest.

It’s Carly Dow’s fourth year as a performer at the stage, and Dave Barchyn’s third. The two play together in the local folk/bluegrass band, Prairie Wind Roots Jam, but will be performing as solo artists at Folk Fest.

On top of shows with the band, Dow and Barchyn play at various coffee shops around Winnipeg including Roca Jack’s. However, despite all similarities, they categorize their music very differently.

“I’m influenced a lot by folk and country music,” said Dow. “You could call [my style] contemporary or roots folk.”

“I have a harder edge to my sound,” said Barchyn. “I like to think I give a very energetic performance. I like to keep people on their feet.”

The Young Performers stage runs all day on Friday. Each group runs as a round robin to keep the musical styles dynamic.

“The organizers are pretty good at picking diverse talent,” said Dow. “There’s a lot of different music to appeal to a lot of different people.”

– SS

Friendly, if not altogether folk

There are no guitars and no vocals in Bell Orchestre, only a drum kit surrounded by what one might interpret as a traditional baroque quintet.

Rest assured though, this is nothing like those Bach pieces your piano teacher used to drone into your head.

The group, which can be called an instrumental chamber rock ensemble, hails from Montreal. They feed French horn, double bass, violin, trumpet, melodica, clarinet and saxophone through a host of quirky effects to get their unique breed of music. This opens the audience to a spacey atmosphere covered in hard drum grooves. It’s like Tchaikovsky with an indie rock edge.

Bell Orchestre’s music is born from improvisation and is known to transform and change depending on the setting the group plays. For example, industry driven cities like Toronto might bring out harsher and darker aspects of the bands compositions.

When asked if the band has any predictions regarding the Winnipeg Folk Festival’s influence on their music, they simply replied, “It’ll become better than ever before.”

“Glad to see that our band is considered ’folk.’ We are folks, after all.”

Bell Orchestre has just finished recording their seconded studio album, As Seen Through Windows.

– CH

Not bad for a village gal

Alana Levandoski, a native of Kelwood village in Manitoba, has been busy the last few years, touring the world and playing folk music – not too bad for a small town gal.

Levandoski will be back back to visit her home province and entertain Manitobans at this year’s Folk Fest.

Think of folk music leaning towards old-school Johnny Cash-style country, and you’re in the world of Alana Levandoski.

Her music ranges from very mellow, lyrical acoustic-centered folk music to upbeat tunes that question the genre distinction between rock ’n’ roll and country.

Levandoski’s performance shouldn’t show any signs of rust. She’s been very busy performing.

“I toured the UK six times in the last two and a half years, and some other countries. Spain, Netherlands, France.”

Levandoski’s influences include Amy Lou Harris, U2 and Radiohead.

She’s looking forward to taking the stage at Folk Fest.

“I’ll be rocking out!”

– SS

Published in Volume 63, Number 28 of The Uniter (June 18, 2009)