Canadian Folk Music Awards nominations

The nominations were announced today for the Seventh Annual Canadian Folk MusicAwards. The award ceremony takes place Sunday, December 4 at the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto.

Here are the nominations.

TRADITIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Dave Gunning - A Tribute to John Allan Cameron

Finest Kind - For Honour & For Gain

De Temps Antan - Les Habits de Papier

La Volée d’Castors - Le Retour

Genticorum - Nagez Rameurs

CONTEMPORARY ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Twilight Hotel - When the Wolves Go Blind

Les Charbonniers de l'Enfer - Nouvelles fréquentations

Lynn Miles - Fall for Beauty

Bruce Cockburn - Small Source of Comfort

Good Lovelies - Let The Rain Fall

CHILDREN’S ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Kathy Reid-Naiman - I Love to Hear the Sounds

Benoît Archambault - Les pourquoi

Marky Weinstock - Songs For Dreamers

Colleen Power with Crooked Stovepipe - For Little Ones

Will Stroet - Walk & Roll

TRADITIONAL SINGER OF THE YEAR

Enoch Kent - Take A Trip With Me

Dave Gunning – a tribute to John Allan Cameron

Lizzy Hoyt - Home

Eileen McGann - Pocketful Of Rhymes

Joel Fafard - Cluck Old Hen

CONTEMPORARY SINGER OF THE YEAR

David Myles - Live at the Carleton

Suzie Vinnick - Me 'n' Mabel

Cat Jahnke - The Stories are Taking Their Toll

Bruce Cockburn - Small Source of Comfort

Matthew Barber - Matthew Barber

INSTRUMENTAL SOLO ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Jayme Stone - Room of Wonders

Jaron Freeman-Fox - Manic Almanac : Slow Möbius

Anne Lindsay - Hurry On Home

April Verch - That's How We Run

Don Ross - Breakfast for Dogs

INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

The Creaking Tree String Quartet - Sundogs

Qristina & Quinn Bachand - Family

MAZ - Télescope

Eh?! - Eh?!

RAZ-DE-MARÉE/TIDAL WAVE - Marche du St-Laurent

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

Finest Kind - For Honour & For Gain

Les Charbonniers de l'Enfer - Nouvelles fréquentations

The Wailin' Jennys - Bright Morning Stars

Good Lovelies - Let The Rain Fall

Genticorum - Nagez Rameurs

ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR

The Creaking Tree String Quartet - Sundogs

MAZ - Télescope

The Wailin' Jennys - Bright Morning Stars

Harry Manx & Kevin Breit - Strictly Whatever

Genticorum - Nagez Rameurs

SOLO ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Ken Whiteley - Another Day's Journey

Mae Moore - Folklore

David Francey - Late Edition

Bruce Cockburn - Small Source of Comfort

Ruth Moody - The Garden

ENGLISH SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

Ron Hynes - Stealing Genius

David Francey - Late Edition

Mae Moore - Folklore

Lynn Miles - Fall for Beauty

Bruce Cockburn - Small Source of Comfort

AUTEUR-COMPOSITEUR FRANCOPHONE DE L’ANNÉE

Jean-François Lessard - Jean-François Lessard

Alexandre Poulin - Une lumière allumée

Claude Cormier - Acoustique

Les Surveillantes - La racine carrée du coeur

ABORIGINAL SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

Vince Fontaine - Songs For Turtle Island

Robert Davidson & Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson - New Journeys

janet panic - Samples

Don Amero - The Long Way Home

Kristi Lane Sinclair - I Love You

WORLD ARTIST OF THE YEAR - SOLO

Lenka Lichtenberg - Fray

Massiel Yanira - Una Voz

Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson - New Journeys

Zekuhl - I BOLO

Kiran Ahluwalia - aam zameen : common ground

WORLD ARTIST OF THE YEAR – GROUP

Ouzo Power - Greatest Hits (Volume 1)

Nizar Tabcharani & The Backstrings - Bayati Ana

Trio Bembe - Oh My Soul

MAZ - Télescope

Minor Empire - Second Nature

NEW/EMERGING ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Dave Gunning - a tribute to John Allan Cameron

Andrea Ramolo - The Shadows and the Cracks

Ruth Moody - The Garden

Ashley Condon - Come In From The Cold

Joe Nolan - Goodbye Cinderella

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

Dave Gunning w/ Allie Bennett & John Meir - a tribute to John Allan Cameron (Dave Gunning)

Paul Mills - Stealing Genius (Ron Hynes)

Steve Bell, Dave Zeglinski, Murray Pulver - Kindness (Steve Bell)

David Travers-Smith - Soon The Birds (Oh Susanna)

Mark Howard, David Travers-Smith - Bright Morning Stars (The Wailin' Jennys)

PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES

New Country Rehab - New Country Rehab

Twilight Hotel - When the Wolves Go Blind

Jaron Freeman-Fox - Manic Almanac : Slow Möbius

Ruth Moody - The Garden

Evalyn Parry - SPIN

Geoff Berner - Victory Party

YOUNG PERFORMER OF THE YEAR

Qristina & Quinn Bachand - Family

Olivia Korkola - Playing in Traffic

Rebecca Lappa - Not in Neverland

Molly Thomason - Beauty Queen

The Doll Sisters - The Road - EP

 --Mike Regenstreif

Mae Moore – Folklore

MAE MOORE
Folklore
Poetical License
maemoore.com

Mae Moore started out as a young singer-songwriter on the folk scene and went on to achieve some significant commercial success – both as a recording and performing artist in her own right and as a songwriter for others – in the 1990s. She retreated from the pop circuit years ago and now makes music on her own terms from her home base on the Gulf Islands in B.C. where she also paints and does organic farming. Several of Mae’s paintings are featured in the CD Digipak and booklet and she has recently released a companion art book also called Folklore.

When Mae mentioned to me a few months ago that she had a new album called Folklore in the works, I imagined that it would be a collection of traditional folksongs that she would put her personal stamp on. But, as it turns out, when she refers to folklore, it is to her own, personal folklore – or that of the other people who inhabit her songs. “You’re the author of your own folklore,” she sings to the protagonist in the title song.

While Folkore is certainly rooted in a contemporary folk approach, it’s also equally rooted in jazz. The acoustic guitar or dulcimer she plays signals the folk base while the musical exploration and some of the instrumental colouring suggest jazz. Several tracks feature Daniel Lapp playing Flumpet, a recent hybrid horn that blends elements of a flugelhorn and trumpet. His playing on “Tom Thomson’s Mandolin” is kind of bluesy in a Davisonian kind of way. Other jazz musicians featured on several tracks each include Scott Sheerin on soprano sax and Marc Atkinson on guitar. Producer Joby Baker is heard on various instruments on most songs.

While I generally avoid comparisons with other artists, there are several obvious parallels here with Joni Mitchell. Mae and Mitchell both use open tunings on the guitar and dulcimer, both blend folk and jazz influences, and both integrate music and painting in their personal art. Which is not to say that Mae’s music is derivative of Mitchell’s; it’s just that the parallels are interesting.

Among my favourite songs is “Tom Thomson’s Mandolin,” which describes the Group of Seven artist’s devotion to his art and to the natural wilderness beauty of Algonquin Park, where he died in unknown circumstances in 1917 at the age of 39. I’m not sure if the references to his mandolin playing are true or based on if they’re Mae’s poetic license, but, if true, I guess that makes him a musical and artistic ancestor to Mae and Mitchell.

Another favourite is the dulcimer-based “Oh, Canada,” a heartfelt tribute to the landscape of this vast country of ours (although, to avoid confusion, I wish it didn’t have the same title as our national anthem).

--Mike Regenstreif

This week in Folk Roots/Folk Branches history (August 17-23)

Folk Roots/Folk Branches with Mike Regenstreif was a Thursday tradition on CKUT in Montreal for nearly 14 years from February 3, 1994 until August 30, 2007 (and around the world via the web for most of those years). Folk Roots/Folk Branches continued for some time as occasional features on CKUT, and is now a blog. Here’s the 51st instalment of “This week in Folk Roots/Folk Branches,” a weekly look back, continuing through the end of this month, at some of the most notable guests, features and moments in Folk Roots/Folk Branches history.

August 18, 1994: Show theme- A tribute to Woody Guthrie.
August 17, 1995: Extended feature- Brother acts.
August 20, 1998: Guests- Doug McArthur & Jeffra.
August 19, 1999: Guest- Spider John Koerner.
August 17, 2000: Extended feature- Songs of Malvina Reynolds.
August 22, 2002: Guest- Mae Moore.
August 18, 2005: Extended feature- Tribute to the late Vassar Clements.

August 17, 2006: Guest- Tom Lewis.
August 23, 2007: Guest- Noah Zacharin.
August 21, 2008 (Folk Roots/Folk Branches feature): Tribute to the late Artie Traum.

Pictured:  (Top) Artie Traum and Mike Regenstreif on October 12, 2006; (Bottom)  Tom Lewis and Mike Regenstreif at CKUT during Folk Roots/Folk Branches on August 17, 2006.

--Mike Regenstreif