Calgary Folk Music Festival, presented by ATB, with additional support from Big Rock and ENMAX, will broadcast live-streamed concerts plus memorable archival footage and interviews at the re-imagined 41st Calgary Folk Music Festival, July 23 - 26. From Calgary’s backyard to the world and back, artists perform live from their homes and studios for a magical, grassroots experiential global gathering.
Supergroup Our Native Daughters’ Amythyst Kiah brings hypnotic old-time country and blues. Multi-instrumentalist Toronto singer-songwriter Angelique Francis fronts a dynamic blues/jazz trio. ‘Secular gospel’ duo Birds of Chicago mesmerize with sparse, unadorned songs. Expect soulful, groove-fueled and gritty R&B from Montreal’s Bobby Bazini. Calgary’s Copperhead immerses audiences in ambient, expansive soundscapes and dreamlike narratives. Alberta’s own outlaw balladeer Corb Lund spins image-laden yarns with abandon and reverence and punk-country legends Jr. Gone Wild conjure a smoky pedal steel-filled roots party. Haiti’s powerhouse roots revival collective Lakou Mizik brings a mystical, soulful dance party. Witness minimalist instrumentation, haunting vocals and spooky lyrics from Lightning Dust. Indie rock icon and one-third of boygenius, Lucy Dacus’s songs are witty and emotionally luminous. Moontricks marry organic acoustic instruments with beats and samples. The dreamscapes of Montreal’s Patrick Watson are built from classical music, cabaret, creepy lullabies and indie rock anthems. Get acquainted with multi-instrumentalist R&B and hip hop Tataskweyak Cree singer-songwriter Sebastian Gaskin. From Canada’s east coast comes the melodic folk-rock of Villages. Conscious hip-hop and Afrobeat meet tradition through Haitian-born Montrealer Vox Sambou. Be mesmerized by deep velvety-voiced exquisite, poignant spiller of guts William Prince. Bahia-based Xenia França’s sound blends Afro-Brazilian traditional percussion with electronica, jazz, and R&B.
Digital programming will be broadcast at local celebratory grassroots gatherings plus an engaged online global community. The weekend will have a distinct Folk Festival vibe with small, outdoor acoustic performances in backyards and neighbourhoods as friends and families gather, their spaces decked in Folk Fest fashion with tarps, markers and picnic baskets featuring local sponsors and businesses’ items. Listen to CKUA and CJSW Radio over the weekend as they broadcast current and archival CFMF music, interviews and concerts.