Rising stars and icons set for Vancouver Folk Music Festival

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      The Vancouver Folk Music Festival continues to carve a unique place in our city’s cultural landscape, with indie rockers from Williamsburg and beyond sharing the roster with expertly curated choices from the world-music and roots community.

      This year is no different. Heading up the just-announced lineup for 2015, Taj Mahal and Richard Thompson are easily two of the most impressive legacy artists that artistic managing director Linda Tanaka has scored over the years, and both have been conspicuous for widening the scope of their respective genres and winning new generations of fans.

      “Younger folks should know both of these artists are icons, legends in the world of music,” Tanaka told the Straight. “Both, first, are incredible musicians. Beyond that, they have both broken new ground in their long careers, and moved music forward.”

      Their respective influence is certainly felt elsewhere in the fest’s schedule. Highly touted ANTI- recording artist Son Little has run with the challenge originally set by Taj Mahal, staking his ground somewhere between Charles Bradley and Danger Mouse.

      On the harder blues edge, Tanaka is also bringing in guitarist-vocalist Lurrie Bell, a former sideman to Willie Dixon, while a slew of performers offer heady stylistic mashups—whether it’s the Senegalese-Swedish couple Sousou and Maher Cissoko, or the funk-infused (and politically charged) Angolan semba artist Paulo Flores.

      Sousou and Maher Cissoko.
      Yohanna Troell

      From Richard Thompson’s fertile British-folk ground, Scotland’s Breabach hews to the older sounds of pipe, whistle, and Gaelic lyricism, all presented in a slick new package. Visit the VFMF website, meanwhile, and you’ll find a video of Scotland’s Ross and Jarlath covering AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” on pipes—enough said?

      On the bleeding edge of the fest’s 21st-century vision, and with his Mounties fling behind him, Hawksley Workman is coming to stump for his forthcoming solo album, Old Cheetah. “I just like his wit, his voice, his style, his depth,” remarked Tanaka. “I think he will fit right into the festival. There’s a great connection to be made here.”

      In that same vast grey zone between folk and indie rock, Edmonton’s 100 Mile House makes its Vancouver debut, while Ellen DeGeneres’s favourite band, Blind Pilot, makes a return visit from Portlandia. Toronto’s Basia Bulat, meanwhile, needs no introduction, and neither do Halifax’s Jenn Grant and our own Said the Whale.

      Hot on the heels of his breakthrough We Go Home album, Adam Cohen also heads our way again, while rising Australian star Mama Kin brings the kind of superior and slightly eccentric singer-songwriter material that should grab the ears of any Regina Spektor or Amanda Palmer fans. Alex Lifeson’s friends the Wilderness of Manitoba fall into the same brainy-pop category, as does New Zealand’s Marlon Williams, who’s been memorably described as “the impossible love child of Elvis, Roy Orbison and Townes Van Zandt”.

      Basia Bulat.

      Americana? It doesn’t get much more antique than the close harmonies of the Appalachian-inspired Annie Lou, New York string band the Down Hill Strugglers, or ragtime screwballs like Pokey LaFarge. Rounding out a typically strong roots bill are Frazey Ford, Lindi Ortega, the Sadies, and hard-boiled country-rocker Mary Gauthier.

      There’s much more—did we mention that Jill and Matthew Barber are teaming up for a set?—and Tanaka is at a loss to name one artist she’s particularly excited about (although South Africa’s Bongeziwe Mabandla gets a shout-out). You’ll be equally dazed by the full roster over at the Folk Festival website.

      The Vancouver Folk Music Festival takes place at Jericho Beach Park from July 17 to 19.

      Follow Adrian Mack on Twitter @AdrianMacked.

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