Ben Fisher – Does the Land Remember Me

BEN FISHER

Does the Land Remember Me

benfisher.bandcamp.com 

(A version of this review was published in the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin.)

Ben Fisher is an American singer-songwriter who recently spent three years living in Israel – on the seam dividing East and West Jerusalem – where he worked as a writer and editor for the Jerusalem Post.

On Does the Land Remember Me, a collection of 17 songs – 16 original compositions and Anaïs Mitchell’s “Why We Build the Wall – Ben explores the history and people of the State of Israel and the Palestinian territories from a variety of points of view in what must be seen an effort to explain, to understand and to humanize.

Some songs, like “The Shell Lottery,” about the founding of Tel Aviv, or “Heavy Gates of Gaza,” based on a 1956 speech made by Moshe Dayan following the murder of a young kibbutznik by Palestinians from Gaza, are sung from Israeli perspectives. Others, like the title track and “Yallah to Abdullah,” are sung through a Palestinian lens reflecting on places Palestinians left or were expelled from.

Other songs bridge the divide. In “1948,” Ben shows that on purely personal levels, the hopes and dreams of parents and children on both sides of the War of Independence were more similar than different. And in “Day is Done,” a song about a terrorist bus bombing, he leaves us to ambiguously wonder if the mother mourning the death of her son in the last verse is the mother of a murdered Israeli or of the Palestinian bomber.

Among the most poignant songs is “For Petr and Ilan,” inspired by the 2003 death of Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut, in the Space Shuttle Columbia explosion, and by the death of a boy named Petr Ginz at Auschwitz during the Holocaust. Ramon, whose mother survived Auschwitz, carried a drawing by Petr with him into space.

Does the Land Remember Me is a well-researched set of songs in folk and folk-rock settings that offer much food for thought.

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–Mike Regenstreif

Ottawa Folk Festival – Sunday and wrap-up

Sunday in Ottawa was cloudy, very windy and unseasonably cool courtesy of the northwestern edge of Hurricane Irene. Unlike Montreal, just 120 miles to the east, we were spared Irene’s torrential rains – all we felt was an occasional isolated drop or two.

We started our Ottawa Folk Festival day at the Falls Stage watching the last half-hour or so of Ball & Chain and their band playing a fine set of Cajun music for dancing. Sylvie even got me up on the dance floor for a number.

We stayed put for a strong concert performance by Lynne Hanson, one of Ottawa’s finest singer-songwriters. Lynne’s songs are firmly rooted in the storytelling tradition and fiddler Lyndell Montgomery’s playing really helped bring out the best in them.

Then it was up to the workshop area where I hosted a round robin session called Southern Folk with two great Texas-based singer-songwriters, Kelly Willis and Hayes Carll, Lynne Hanson – who comes from southern Canada – and the David Wax Museum, a Boston-based band influenced by Mexican and Appalachian folk music. All of them played some great songs and I had a fine time hosting.

We then headed back to the Falls Stage to hear an excellent set by Anaïs Mitchell – who was in a songwriters’ workshop I hosted in 2006 at the Champlain Valley Folk Festival in Vermont – and the first half of a charming performance by Catherine MacLellan.

By then, the cold was really getting to us. As much as I wanted to stick around and hear concerts by Lynn Miles, Hayes Carll, Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison, and Levon Helm. It just wasn’t in the cards. It was “Goodnight Irene” for us.

As I mentioned, I really think there were two very different festivals happening at Hog’s Back Park this past weekend. A variation on Bluesfest, particularly at night and particularly on the main-stage; and a variation on the traditional Ottawa Folk Festival on the rest of the grounds, particularly during the daylight hours. The formula was successful in that it brought in bigger crowds than the Ottawa Folk Festival has seen in years.

If that’s what it takes to have a successful folk festival in Ottawa, then, I suppose, that’s what it takes. But, there are a few things that can be done to make the festival better.

The first, as Ian Robb suggested in a Maplepost message, is shut down the main-stage during the day. The overbearing sound from that stage just puts an unnecessary damper on several of the other stages and the jamming area. The daytime programming on the mainstage was unnecessary and the crowds drawn by some of the main-stage headliners (as opposed to the folkies who come for the festival experience) only show up at night anyway.

Second, the festival should be booked with an artistic vision that includes creative workshop programming. The Ottawa Folklore Centre did a great job with what they had to work with, but the workshop programming was an afterthought in the grand scheme of the festival when it should be at the forefront because that’s what makes a folk festival special.

Third, there were a few too many acts booked that had no connection to folk or roots music. While headliners like Steve Earle, Colin Hay and Levon Helm certainly do belong at folk festivals, there were some who just didn’t.

Fourth, include more traditional music and dance and more traditions. I’d have loved to have seen some klezmer music, some Celtic music, some traditional African music and so much more. There should always be room for traditional music and a diversity of traditions at a folk festival.

This was year one for the Ottawa Folk Festival under Bluesfest management. Despite such problems as sound bleed, I did think it was a more-than-worthy festival. I hope it will continue to evolve into the great festival it can be.

--Mike Regenstreif

Ottawa Folk Festival – Saturday

“I think there may be two Ottawa Folk Festivals happening this weekend: a variation on the Bluesfest scene at the main-stage and a variation on the traditional Ottawa Folk Festival scene at other stages,” I wrote in my previous post after Friday night’s offerings.

After Saturday and Sunday’s full day schedules, I’m convinced of that. During the weekend days, I felt like I was at a folk festival (in spite of the fact that the Falls and RavenLaw stages and the jamming areas still had to contend with overbearing sound bleed from the main-stage much of the time.

When we arrived on the grounds a little after noon, the Old Sod Band was playing for contra dancers at the Falls Stage and the workshop stages were all getting into gear. As I’ve mentioned before, the daytime workshops, for me, are the heart and soul of a good folk festival. Despite the challenges of a it being a festival that wasn’t booked with workshops in mind, Arthur McGregor and his team at the Ottawa Folklore Centre did a good job of putting together the workshop programming.

The first workshop we settled into was Storytelling and Mythology featuring Anaïs Mitchell, Garland Jeffreys and Gandalf Murphy. Although I didn’t warm up to the Gandalf Murphy band, I enjoyed Anaïs’ songs from Hadestown, her folk-opera about the Orpheus myth – which was perfect for the workshop’s theme – and Garland's great story songs about the New York City hew grew up in.

Then it was back to the Falls Stage to hear a set of accomplished acoustic pop songs by Ron “Doc” Weiss. Accompanied by a bassist and percussionist, the set was highlighted by Ron’s intricate acoustic guitar playing in a style not unlike Bruce Cockburn’s.

Then it was to the workshop area to hear an excellent session called Old Traditions, New Songs with Rick Fines, Vance Gilbert and Jayme Stone. Rick played songs he’d written based in the ragtime and jazz traditions, Vance did songs based on jazz – including singing in the voices of Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Tom Waits, Vance is a dead-on impressionist – and a cappella balladry, while Jayme’s banjo (and his fiddler accompanist) took us around the world and back to the classical era.

The workshop schedule included several on-stage interview sessions and I was tapped to conduct an interview with the Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter Colin Hay, who first came to prominence about three decades ago as lead singer, guitarist and principal songwriter of Men At Work, one of the most successful bands of the early-1980s. I had a great time chatting with Colin about his career and hearing him play a few of his excellent recent songs. (I left the festival grounds before his two-hour evening concert later that night, but I heard from several people that it was one of the finest concerts of the festival.)

We finished up the workshop day watching a nice Bluebird North songwriters’ round-robin featuring Rick Fines and two accomplished Ottawa artists, Ana Miura and Megan Jerome.

All in all, it was a great afternoon of folk festivaling and we decided to call it a day after the workshop area shut down for the evening. I really wanted to get some rest and be back on Sunday for a full day leading up to Levon Helm’s festival-closing concert.

--Mike Regenstreif

Festival Folk sur le canal June 19-20

Festival Folk sur le canal is back for year number three on the St. Ambroise Terrace, on the Lachine Canal, behind the McCauslin Brewery at 5080 St. Ambroise Street. For the first time, it’ll be a two-day fest on Saturday and Sunday June 19 and 20.

The festival has an impressive line-up this year that includes some of the best and most interesting artists from the Montreal roots scene including Lake of Stew, Katie Moore, Notre Dame de Grass, the Kitchen Shakers, Dave Gossage, and the What 4, a group that includes Jane McGarrigle.

Among the out-of-towners I’m looking forward to hearing are Old Man Luedecke, Jenny Whiteley, Kathleen Edwards, Jon Brooks and Anaïs Mitchell (who was part of a songwriters’ workshop I hosted a few years ago at the Champlain Valley Folk Festival in Vermont).

And like any good festival, there are some performers – including Peter Katz and Craig Cardiff – who are new to me that I’m looking forward to hearing for the first time.

I’m very happy to see that this year’s edition of the festival will include several workshop sessions. Coming from the Mariposa of the ‘70s generation, I’ve always felt that workshops are the heart and soul of folk festivals. They’re also promising some great music and other activities for kids.

And I’ll be back for my third year as one of the MCs. Look for me from mid-late Sunday afternoon.

The festival has grown nicely over its three years. Congratulations to Matt Large and Rebecca Anderson of Hello Darlin’ Productions and Carl Comeau of Hyperbole Music for for a great job of putting it together and making it happen.

Lots more info at montrealfolkfest.com.

--Mike Regenstreif