This year’s Vancouver Folk Music Festival looks like six-string heaven for local guitar freaks

Paul Pigat with Big Lazy

By Steve Newton

This year’s Vancouver Folk Music Festival, running from July 19 to 21 at Jericho Beach Park, is offering a diverse selection of traditional and contemporary folk, world, and roots-music artists from around the world and our own backyard.

And fans of guitar-based music will be especially pleased by the array of outstanding pickers lined up for the 47th annual event.

Here’s a few highlighted events for guitar freaks to keep in mind:

Scott Smith’s Adventures in Pedal Steel

On Saturday (July 20) on the East Stage at 2:40 pm, Adventures in Pedal Steel will see local guitar great Scott Smith (Terminal Station, Just a Season) joined by guitarist Paul Pigat, bassist Jeremy Holmes, and drummer Liam MacDonald in performances of classic pedal-steel instrumentals that will feature an eclectic group of guest vocalists, both local and visiting.

The Evening Main Stage on Saturday kicks off at 6 pm with Highway 61 Revisited, a tribute to Bob Dylan led by former Vancouverite Steve Dawson, a world-class guitarist and producer now based in Nashville. He’ll be joined in concert by the likes of Barney Bentall, John Boutté, Jim Byrnes, Mick Flannery, Ndidi Onukwulu, Dawn Pemberton, Suzie Ungerleider, Pharis and Jason Romero, and Alvin Youngblood Hart. Bluesman Hart also joins host Dawson, Chris Smither, and Ndidi O at the West Stage on Saturday at 11:10 a.m. for Meet Me at the Crossroads.

Paul Pigat and Kevin Breit

On the West Stage on Saturday at 1:10 p.m. Canadian six-string superstars Paul Pigat and Kevin Breit host Guitar Mayhem, which also features Gordon Grdina, Stephen Ulrich of Big Lazy, and desert blues act Etran de L’Aïr.

And on Sunday (July 21) on the South Stage at 2:20 p.m. Big Lazy with Paul Pigat will see acclaimed guitarist Stephen Ulrich‘s New York City-based instrumental combo joining forces with Vancouver’s own fretmaster, Paul Pigat, for a masterclass in adventurous guitar playing.

Congrats to the folk fest’s artistic director Fiona Black for enlisting such stellar talent for us all to enjoy.

Fiona Black

“In a world that sometimes feels like it is being pulled apart,” says Black in a press release, “there’s comfort in knowing that we’ll again be gathering to feel the positive power of music and community, and their ability to change us all for the better.”

As well as artists from B.C. and across Canada, the festival is welcoming performers from the Ukraine, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, South Africa, New Zealand, South Korea, Ireland, Mexico, Jordan, Morocco, Brazil, the UK, Sweden, and the U.S.

Here’s the complete festival lineup, in alphabetical order (taken from the VFMF press release):

BCUC  – Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness (South Africa) The new Afro-futurist sound of Soweto

Barney Bentall (BC) Songwriter, rancher and one of Canada’s most beloved voices

Big Lazy with Paul Pigat (NY/BC) Guitar aces & outside-the-box musical minds join forces

John Boutté (LA) Timeless New Orleans soul

Kevin Breit & Cyro Baptista (ON/Brazil) Original, audacious continental compadres

BuenRostro (Mexico) Bringing captivating modernity and openness to a vast array of music

Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves (TN/NC) Traditional banjo & fiddle music as a way to interpret our uncertain times

Iris DeMent (IA) Powerhouse singer, songwriter and voice for social justice

Jeremy Dutcher (QC) Maliseet music and magic

Etran de L’Aïr (Niger) Raw, unfettered desert blues from the heart of the Sahara

Mick Flannery (Ireland) Beautifully rendered songs of impressive power & empathy

47Soul (Palestine/Jordan) Come hear “shamstep”:  infusing traditional dabke with 21^st C. sounds

Fränder (Sweden/Estonia) Modern acoustic, ancient Nordic, folk

Dobet Gnahoré (Côte d’Ivoire) One of Africa’s most exciting and enduring musical talents

Kym Gouchie Trio (BC) Celebrated for her musical talents and passion for her Indigenous heritage

Gordon Grdina’s The Marrow (BC) Middle Eastern/avant garde jazz

Alvin Youngblood Hart (MS) An absolute master of Mississippi country blues & more

Highway 61 Reimagined (BC/US) The genius of Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited travels to Jericho

KRUTb (Ukraine) Songs of tradition and resistance

Daniel Lapp & TMT (BC) A fiddle maestro and 3 of his brilliant students take trad music new places

Making Movies (CA/MO) Latin tinged Pan-American soul

James Vincent McMorrow (Ireland) A voice that goes straight to your heart

Wendy McNeill (AB) Splendidly original ‘folk noir’ for dark hearted dreamers

Māmā Mihirangi & The Māreikura (New Zealand) All-female Māori beats, bass & dance

The Milk Carton Kids (CA) Moving songs, spellbinding harmonies, perfect instrumentation – and stand-up.

Moontricks (BC) Vast, intimate, and dazzling electro-folk from the Kootenays

Ndidi O (BC) With a voice of nuance & power, this is blues with a whole lot more going on

Mel Parsons (New Zealand) Award-winning indi-folk singer-songwriter & deeply insightful storyteller

Dawn Pemberton (BC) From gospel and funk to hot jazz – a singer with a serious groove.

Grace Petrie (UK) Politics, Poetry and Passion

Chris Pierce (CA) A brilliant singer & songwriter in the folk soul tradition

PIQSIQ (NWT) Contemporary throat singing from under the Northern Lights

Pharis & Jason Romero (BC) “For old time country all roads lead to Romero” – Songlines

Second Moon (Korea) Traditional Pansori sounds fused with World, Western, Celtic & more

Scott Smith’s Adventures in Pedal Steel (BC) Achingly beautiful pedal steel takes on country, soul, indie-folk and gospel

Chris Smither (MA) With an “oracular…voice” & “heart-searing lyrics” – one of the most consistent and truthful artists of his time

Katie Tupper (SK) A warm neo-soul sound that offers “an escape and … a colourful moment of rest”

Suzie Ungerleider (BC) Soaring songstress returns to base

Leif Vollebekk (QC) A warm voice & intimate, poignant folk songs – one of Canada’s most appealing songwriters

Hayley Wallis (BC) Fast-rising Indigenous R&B-pop singer and passionate storyteller

The Wood Brothers (TN/BC) Roots music “played brilliantly by a trio that sounds like a band twice their size”

Zar Elektrik (Morocco/France) World trance from France

As well as live music, the festival offers a wide range of food vendors, licensed beverage services, an artisan market, and the Little Folks Village for family-friendly fun. The deadline to purchase earlybird weekend passes has been extended to June 17, and you can get them at www.thefestival.bc.ca

(The above article was made possible by the support of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival. For information on Ear of Newt’s sponsored content email steve@earofnewt.com.)