Special Events

Jun. 7, 2012 : Music@Noon with Folk Boot Camp

Tue, 15 May 2012 15:14:18 -0500

Join NMC and the Calgary Folk Music Festival for a lunch hour presentation all about Boot Camp with special guest Shakura S'Aida. Find out all the things that Folk Boot Camp@NMC has to offer and enjoy a small sampling of what to expect from Shakura's vocal workshop when we dial her in and enjoy a sing-along by Skype.

And bring your appetite! Casual Catering by Sylvia will be bringing a fabulous multi-cultural dinner for the low price of $8.00 for you to enjoy.

Jul. 24 - 26, 2012 : Folk Boot Camp at NMC

Wed, 09 May 2012 11:55:40 -0500

The 7th Annual Folk Boot Camp at NMC is a three day workshop series running in conjunction with the Calgary Folk Music Festival that runs Tuesday July 24 to Thurdsay July 26, 2012 at the National Music Centre (134 11 Ave SE). www.nmc.ca

Folk Boot Camp at NMC offers a unique chance to learn from the festival’s favourite guitar heroes and songsmiths. Festival artists teach a dozen of the willing for three hours, three days in a row, among the Centre’s collections of rare and curious keyboards, organs, Theremins, and instruments played by the Rolling Stones.

Folk Boot Camp at NMC is geared towards musicians that have a basic grasp of their craft and want to supplement their own studies with guidance from some of the world’s finest musicians.

Workshop instructors include Sam Baker, Jon Langford, Luke Doucet, Shakura S'Aida, Donna Grantis and Mark Berube.

More, including full descriptions of workshops, here.

Jul. 25, 2012 : Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus

Wed, 09 May 2012 11:48:44 -0500

A screening of Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus with its narrator, gonzo folk troubadour and existential anti-folk artist Jim White in attendance for an acoustic performance and Q & A.

The film is a thought-provoking road trip through the American south; a world of churches, prisons, coalmines, truck stops, juke joints, swamps and mountains. Along the way, Jim encounters musicians Johnny Dowd, 16 Horsepower and the Handsome Family and novelist Harry Crews. It’s a collage of stories and testimonies, seen through Jim’s eyes.

“An amazing piece of work. As Jim White deals with his own and the South’s demons, we are given a musical tour of another planet. Beautiful dark and weird stuff.’

-David Byrne

Sep. 26, 2012 : Buddy Guy and Jonny Lang

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:12:00 -0500

The benevolent king of the Chicago Blues, Buddy Guy has built a diverse discography in his 50+ year career. His original singles on Cobra Records reflect the influences of his early idols, Guitar Slim, Freddy King, and his mentor Muddy Waters. During the 1960s. backed by Chess Records, Guy solidified his own sound, with a fiery, tortured, slow blues brilliantly showcasing Guy’s whammy-bar-enriched guitar and shrieking, hellhound-on-his-trail vocals. Over the past four decades Guy has continued to explore the dynamic history of the blues, including raw juke-joint style tracks, Grammy-award winning acoustic stylings, and polished albums loaded with guest stars. Live, expect high-energy guitar histrionics and a vocal style that’s nearly as distinctive as his incendiary rapid-fire fretwork.

Jonny Lang started playing the guitar at the age of twelve, joining, and then quickly becoming the lead, in the Bad Medicine Blues Band, one of the few blues bands in his hometown of Fargo ND. Lang was fourteen when the album Smokin’ was independently released, and it was a quick step to signing with A&M and releasing the multi-platinum Lie to Me in ’97. The rest, as they say, is history. Grammy nominations and wins now under his belt, and a decade of road-touring behind him, Lang has shed his identification as a blues wunderkind and now enjoys a critically acclaimed reputation based on his smoking guitar solos and voice that belies his years.