Montreal Folk Fest on the Canal – June 14-18, 2017

Back in the mid-1980s – 30-something years ago – when I was running the Golem, a highly regarded folk concert venue in Montreal, I formed a committee with several like-minded people and attempted to launch a folk festival in Montreal. Despite our best efforts, it never happened.

Jump ahead more than a couple of decades to 2008 and Matt Large and Rebecca Anderson of Hello Darlin’ Productions – by then well-established as Montreal’s major producer of folk-rooted and folk-branched concerts – joined forces with Carl Comeau of Hyperbole Music and launched the Montreal Folk Fest on the Canal. Matt, Rebecca and Carl made a folk festival happen in Montreal – and it has developed into a terrific summer festival.

The festival started modestly with its main site for the first four years at the St. Ambroise Terrace behind the McCauslin Brewery beside the Lachine Canal. By 2012, the folk fest had outgrown the terrace and moved a mile or so east on the Lachine Canal to a bigger site at Ilot Charlevoix. And, by 2015, they’d also outgrown that site and moved further west on the banks of the canal to the more expansive Centennial Esplanade near the corner of Saint Patrick and Pitt Streets in the Lachine Canal Park. The festival returns there in a couple of weeks for its 10th annual edition.

Before getting to the park, though, the Montreal Folk Fest on the Canal launches with three indoor events in venues close to the canal.

First up is an opening party on Wednesday, June 14, 7 pm, at Bar de Courcelle (4685 Notre Dame West). The free event features music by the Off-Whites.

Then, on Thursday, June 15, 8 pm, there are two simultaneous multi-artist tribute concerts.

At Maison de la culture Marie-Uguay (6052 Monk) there will be “Ain’t Life Sweet: A Tribute to Penny Lang,” the late doyenne of the Montreal folk scene who passed away last year. The amazing line-up of artists paying tribute to Penny will include Annabelle Chvostek, Eve Goldberg, the Durham County Poets, Michael Jerome Browne, Jason Lang & Scudfux, Bobby Dove, Connie Kaldor, Bill Garrett & Sue Lothrop & Roma Baran, and Dana Whittle & Béatrix Méthé. I have to be in Ottawa that night, but it’s an evening I would not miss if I could be in Montreal. Tickets are available at this link.

Meanwhile, at Théâtre Pardoxe, there will be a concert called “Always On My Mind: The Songs of Willie Nelson” with Joe Grass, Jim Bryson, Li’l Andy, Katie Moore, Andrew Horton, Sin and Swoon, Thus Owls and more. Tickets are available at this link.

Then on Friday, June 16 (beginning at 5 pm), Saturday, June 17 (beginning at 2 pm) and Sunday, June 18 (beginning at 2 pm), the music will be in high gear on three stages at the main festival site where general admission is free of charge (tickets are available for the shaded, perk-filled, VIP section at the main stage at this link).

I won’t list the entire lineup here (check out who is performing and the schedule on the festival website at this link) but among Friday’s highlights on the main stage will be Steve Poltz, Birds of Chicago and Donovan Woods. Saturday’s highlights on the main stage will include Beyond the Pale, William Prince, James Keelaghan, and Michael Jerome Browne. And, Sunday’s highlights on the main stage will include Amanda Rheaume, Les Tireux d’Roches and Sarah Harmer.

I’ve been one of the main stage MCs at the Montreal Folk Fest on the Canal almost every year (I couldn’t be there in 2012) and I’m looking forward to be back again this year on Saturday, June 17. Please say hi if you’re around.

Congratulations to Matt, Rebecca, Carl, and the great crew of volunteers, for 10 years of the Montreal Folk Fest on the Canal – now, by far, my favorite annual event in Montreal.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Montreal Folk Fest on the Canal – June 15-19, 2016

Folk Fest Sur le Canal, by now my favorite summertime event in Montreal, returns for its ninth year with lineup that includes several interesting indoor concerts in venues near the Lachine Canal and three days of outdoor concerts along its banks featuring many performers I’ve enjoyed for years and others I’ve not heard before.

For a second year the outdoor events are taking place at Lachine Canal Park’s Centennial Esplanade near the corner of Saint Patrick and Pitt Streets.

The festival traditionally opens with a gala concert featuring a legendary folk artist. This year it will be John McEuen, a mainstay for a half-century with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and a solo performer and collaborator-extraordinaire known for his virtuosity on banjo, fiddle, mandolin and guitar. John performs Wednesday, June 15, 8:00 pm, at the George Vanier Cultural Centre (2450 Workman).

John McEuen

On Thursday, June 16, 8:00 pm, the festival presents a concert called The Future is Bright: A Glimpse in the Next Era of Montreal Folk featuring three young performers – Stefanie Parnell, Alexander Brown and Tamara Weber-Fillion – the festival says “are poised to achieve great things.” The concert takes place at Maison de la culture Marie-Uguay (6052 Monk).

On Friday, June 17, 9:00 pm, the festival is presenting A Long Strange Trip: The Songs of the Grateful Dead, a one-time-only event featuring Joe Grass, Andrew Barr, Brad Barr, Steve Hill, Katie Moore, Li’l Andy, Peter Mika, Colin Perry, Notre Dame de Grass and others. With so much great material to draw on this should be a great evening at the Paradoxe Theatre (5959 Monk).

Also on Friday, June 17, from 5:00 pm and again Saturday and Sunday, June 18 and 19, the festival shifts to Centennial Esplanade (corner of St. Patrick and Pitt) for lots of concerts and other activities – all free of charge – featuring a diverse selection of artists.

Sheesham and Lotus and Son

Highlights of the Friday schedule at Centennial Esplanade includes concerts by Sussex, a terrific new Montreal band fronted by Rob Lutes that combines roots and jazz influences and instrumentation, and Sheesham and Lotus and Son, whose music is rooted in old-time folk, blues, country and traditional jazz.

Among the Saturday highlights are concerts with children’s music legends Sharon and Bram; Montreal’s Notre Dame de Grass, one of the best bluegrass bands in Canada; and Joel Plaskett, who moves easily and naturally between roots and pop music.

Lizzy Hoyt

Sunday’s highlights includes concerts with Shtreiml, perhaps Canada’s most creative klezmer ensemble; acclaimed Montreal songwriter Katie Moore; Calgary-based Lizzy Hoyt, who moves easily between traditional folksongs and her own contemporary material; Richard Shindell, a superb American singer-songwriter (now living in Argentina), whose recordings I often featured on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches radio show; and a collaboration between Socalled, who has creatively combined hip hop and Jewish music, and Yves Lambert, a legend of Quebec traditional music and the former front man of La Bottine Souriante.

Ticket information for the indoor concerts and VIP section in the park, the complete schedule and all the other information you might need are on the festival website.

Congratulations again to Matt Large and Rebecca Anderson of Hello Darlin’ Productions and Carl Comeau of Hyperbole Music for founding the Montreal Folk Fest on the Canal and developing it into the great event it has become.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Montreal Folk Fest on the Canal – June 17-21

Growing slowly-but-surely over the past eight years, Montreal’s Folk Fest on the Canal, has matured into my favorite summertime event in Montreal. Staged on a much smaller and much more human scale than massive events like the jazz festival, this year’s edition of the Folk Fest on the Canal promises to be among its best yet.

Montreal’s Folk Festival on the Canal will include several indoor concerts in venues near the Lachine Canal and a weekend of free music on its banks. This year’s free events are taking place at a new location in the Lachine Canal Park – the Centennial Esplanade near the corner of Saint Patrick and Pitt Streets, about 1.5 km west of the old site.

Tom Rush

The festival opens with legendary folksinger Tom Rush in concert on Wednesday, June 17, 8:00 pm, at the George Vanier Cultural Centre (2450 Workman).

As I noted in my review of Tom Rush Celebrates 50 Years of Music, Tom’s early Prestige and Elektra albums were among the first albums I bought when I was getting heavily into folk music in the late-1960s. So, while I’m a little young to have picked up on Tom right at the beginning of his career, I have been listening to Tom for a very long time. I still listen to those early recordings and to all the rest he’s made over the years.

Tom’s concerts are legendary and are always a great event. I’ve seen him a bunch of times at folk festivals over the years and I still vividly remember a series of four concerts I got to see him do at the Bottom Line in New York, circa 1978. And this will apparently be Tom's first Montreal performance since a concert for the Folk Music Club at Sir George Williams University in the mid-1960s  – so this concert will be a rare event.

That same night, Montreal’s Echo Hunters will perform at Victor Studio (1050 Lacasse) at 8:00 pm.

On Thursday, June 18, 8:00 pm, Alex Cuba, will bring his rootsy Cuban songs and outstanding guitar playing to the Corona Theatre (2490 Notre Dame West).

Bruce Cockburn

On Friday, June 19, 9:00 pm, legendary Canadian singer-songwriter-guitarist Bruce Cockburn will perform at the Paradoxe Theatre (5959 Monk).

As I noted, in my review of Small Source of Comfort, Bruce’s music has also been a major part of my musical life for a very long time. I first saw him live in Montreal at the short-lived Back Door Coffee House in 1970 or ’71, right around the time his first LP came out. I’ve seen Bruce play dozens of times since then in venues small and large and every concert has been a compelling experience.

Also on Friday, June 19, from 4:00 pm and again Saturday and Sunday, June 20 and 21, the festival shifts to Centennial Esplanade (corner of St. Patrick and Pitt) for lots of concerts and other activities – all free of charge – featuring a diverse selection of artists, many of whom are new to me.

Highlights of the Friday schedule at Centennial Esplanade includes a concert by the terrific Acadian band Vishten and their contemporary approach to traditional music.

Among the Saturday highlights are concerts with The Bombardils, Sin and Swoon, The Stray Birds, and Basia Bulat. The Saturday concert I’m most looking forward to is with Michael Hurley, an obscure but legendary figure from the 1960s and ‘70s folk scene.

Sunday’s highlights includes concerts with The Slocan Ramblers, Sarah Jane Scouten, Peter Katz, and Jim Bryson.

The complete schedule is available at this link.

Congratulations to Matt Large and Rebecca Anderson of Hello Darlin’ Productions and Carl Comeau of Hyperbole Music for founding the Montreal Folk Fest on the Canal and developing it into the great event it has become.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif