Learning the True Art of Folk

What's a folker to do in the hours before their favourite musician hits the stage? See some amazing group performances, and learn some quirky tips and tricks from the experts of course!

Saturday may have been a little soggy, but that didn't keep any of the musicians and presenters away from the Ottawa Folk Festival presented by TELUS. The line-up was out in full-force, and I’m not just talking about the performances at our main stages.

From hands-on instructional workshops, to laid back interviews and musical mash-ups, there’s a lot more than meets the eye at this year’s festival.

If you're not musically inclined, or prefer to sit back and watch the pros do it, you could check out the amazing jam sessions with some of our headlining artists at the Slackwater Stage.

Sincerely Yours opened the stage on Saturday, a group made of four artists from near and far. John K. Samson played host, introducing himself as well as Melissa McClelland of the band Whitehorse, local Kelly Sloan, and John Gorka of Red Horse. With just their voices and acoustic guitars, the music sounded wonderful, even from under an umbrella.

But really, what's more folky than sitting in on some of your favourite musicians' jam sessions with other amazing artists?

There were also several hands-on workshops, including a seminar on storytelling by Ruthanne Edward at the Legacy Stage. There were seats set up under the tent and she started off the talk by artfully explaining the best way to solve a draught is, obviously, to wash your car. Of course, she wove a much better tale than I could ever recall.

More importantly, she reminded each and every one of the audience members that they were storytellers too. From "How are you?" you casually answer, to describing how your day went, you tell stories every single day. So you may not be the next beatboxing champion, or a world-class harmonica player, but at least you can still have fun doing it, or at least learn a good party trick.

On that note, I’ll see you all at the yodeling workshop Sunday at 4 p.m. on the Legacy Stage.

 - Natasha