2016 Vancouver Folk Festival
An Unforgettable Experience, Featuring Interviews with Mandolin Orange and Lisa Leblanc
By Haley Nagasaki
Three wonderful days, sixty international artists, seven separate stages, and a range of artistic expression unencompassable by the perceptions of one individual. Yet still I tried! I spent the first day familiarizing myself with my surroundings, and getting to know the schedules. Walking into Jericho Park Friday afternoon, I was met by stages One and Two, while others stayed hidden behind Willow and Arbutus trees, later beckoning you with flowing tunes engulfing your awareness. I walked through the pathways of artisan vendors, and was called out to by the beautiful displays of handcrafted woodwork, sacred geometry, and crystal formations in clusters, wands and palm stones. Over the small bridge and atop the moving stream, I was then greeted by the main stage. Hundreds of varying textiles blanketed the ground, with picnic baskets, fold-up chairs, and tents of all sorts resting on top, reserving space for the evening show; a reflection of the blanket warriors crusading towards the stage that morning when the gates of the festival opened. I met with a girl friend of mine and we ventured around the festival sipping pints of Kombucha while basking in the sun. That evening we sat near the back of the festival grounds, furthest west near the blazing sunset, and turned our attention to the stage.
*****
Lee Fields and the Expressions played an incredible set, lifting the mood of the park with their exuberant energy and contagious joyfulness. Followed by Lisa O’Neill, an Irish folk musician whose music was deeply moving. I’d never heard M Ward play live before, and was impressed not only by his irrefutable talent, but also by the intricacies of his accompaniment. The marrying of sounds from his band elevated his performance to a highly sensorial experience that was entirely enjoyable.
While we awaited the final set of the evening, the crowd experienced the first performance of the weekend by Canadian artist Lisa LeBlanc. Defying definitive classification through expressions of various cultures, stylistic methods, and a range of voices, Lisa surprised the hell out of all of us with her dynamic energy and raw talent. At this point I was not within sight of the stage, but heard her introduce herself in an Acadian accent. Immediately I was intrigued: having French Canadian roots of my own and a natural affinity for the culture. I drew nearer the stage as she played her short set, which she concluded with an explosive cover of Motörhead’s Ace of Spades. Did I mention she rocked it on the Banjo? A girl after my own heart I thought: unbridled and unpredictable.
Lisa LeBlanc: http:// https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxFdNn0XHP8
The final set that evening was The New Pornographers, a massively prolific band formed in 1999, returning to their Vancouver roots. They played Brill Bruisers as their opening number – the title of their 2014 record, which flooded me with wonderful memories from the time of its release. Now the sun had set and the first night of the festival was upon us. The crowd was spotted with glow sticks and whirling lights from incandescent hoops in motion. The evening was warm, and it was electric. My friend Veronicka and I drew nearer still to the stage, as moths to a flame, sourcing out the boundless energy spilling into Jericho Park. Paper lanterns began to appear amidst the people, snaking through the crowd, as animals of all sorts, suspended from bamboo posts, paraded seven feet in the air. They were a gorgeous display of artistic talent, reflecting the luminescence of their respective creators. Soon it was time to depart for the evening, as we made plans to meet the next morning. Boarding a city bus and riding off into the night smiling; our pockets were full of treasures collected throughout the day; our hearts brimming with that special kind of love found only through the experience of soul-full live music.
*****
Saturday began somewhat overcast, but cleared up around midday. I caught a couple workshops that afternoon, as collections of different artists gathered, jamming both together and apart. After raving about Miss LeBlanc to another friend of mine, we went and checked out her afternoon workshop, which she played with Les Hay Babies: a group of three young women, also from New Brunswick, as well as The Americans: a great, west coast male-dominant string band from Los Angeles.
The Americans opened the workshop, called “Roots ‘n Roll”. This denim and plaid wearing string band channeled some classic western-sounding tunes. Lead singer Pattrick Ferris’, deep, raspy, at times even Cash-like, voice, backed by guitar and bass, had the crowd swaying and smiling. Later in the set, they played a beautiful song called I’ll Be Yours; the chorus of which I caught myself singing more than once that weekend. Les Hay Babies played next. Something about them had me thinking of The Runaways, the folksy French-Canadian version, of course. Maybe it was the high-waisted jeans and suede leather jackets. Whatever it was, these chicks, with their voices and amazing harmonies, had incredible presence and a sweet compelling sound. This time Lisa’s entire band played with her; composed of a guitarist, a bass player, and a drummer. The melding of the bands sound was so impressive that all my preconceived notions of the talent of this Canadian band were reaffirmed. The three bands played in joyful rotation for about an hour, at which point my companion and I wandered over to Stage One for the “Pickathon” workshop.
The Americans: http:// https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pVKxbjNPdg
Les Hay Babies: http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4762CXgMyY
Lisa LeBlanc: http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr8pPJMbP2g&index=1&list=RDfr8pPJMbP2g
There we saw three bands: a female Canadian musician named Sarah Jane Scouten, a band from Ireland called I Draw Slow, and a duo from North Carolina, Mandolin Orange. We sprawled out on top of our sarong, took off our shoes and nestled our toes into the grass as the sun came shining down on the small stage. While each of these bands were talented and unique in their own way, when they all came together to jam, it was taken to another level of ecstasy. I had listened to Mandolin Orange before attending the festival, and had requested an interview with them, as I’ve always had a soft spot for the mandolin. After the workshop, where they played a variety of their own songs as well as a cover of Pearl Jam’s Last Kiss, I made my way to the Media Tent for a chat with this awesome couple.
Mandolin Orange: http:// https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7PvgY65OxA
Mandolin Orange Interview
After a busy weekend playing concerts and workshops at Vancouver Folk Festival, I was fortunate to catch Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz following their final set Saturday evening. We sat behind the Media Tent, beneath an enormous, flowing Willow tree, shading us from the hot sun and providing a degree of privacy, as though we were in our own tent made by the hands of the Earth herself.
Andrew and Emily met back home in North Carolina in 2009, and have been creating music together ever since. Their sound is very Southern; “because we live there,” says Andrew laughing, and so it’s hard to take it out of the music. Other forms that influence their sound include: Folk, Old Time, and Bluegrass as well, although not exclusively. Andrew writes the majority of their music and shared with me some of his current influences, such as Foghorn Stringband, and Caleb Klauder – a fellow mandolin player.
This was Mandolin Orange’s first time playing the Vancouver Folk Festival. While they had previously encountered a couple of bands who also played that weekend, including Trad.Attack! and I Draw Slow, it was their first time meeting, and playing with many of the artists. I asked what it was about the festival they found to be specifically significant:
“I feel like it’s such a rare opportunity, these Canadian Folk Fests, to do these workshops and be on stage with these other artists”, says Andrew.
“’Cause they don’t do that at festivals in the states; people strictly play their own sets. They might jam together off stage, but never on stage,” Emily added.
Saturday afternoon they played their own concert with mostly original music, however it was the two workshops that day which really elevated the tone of their weekend. “That’s what’s so great about the mandolin and the fiddle,” says Emily, “it’s really easy to jump in”. Which is exactly what they do with their friends and family whenever they return home to North Carolina; because it’s communal, it’s lively, and it feels good. I got the sense that perhaps this is why the couple shared such an affinity for the festival workshops that weekend; this being confirmed when Andrew shared with me an interesting perspective about the humbling nature of this experience:
“I think too, that doing these workshops kind of brings a little bit of humility to what you’re doing here, you know? It kind of brings you back down to a human level, because I feel like you can get so wrapped up in what you’re doing that you almost forget to be human. You feel like you have to take on this whole persona of what you want to put out into the world. And I feel like these workshops bring you back down to that human level of interacting, not taking yourself too seriously, and just having fun.”
Mandolin Orange played an incredible set with Ten Strings and a Goatskin, an Irish-sounding band from Prince Edward Island, and Ajinai, a band from Mongolia, that elicited a scenario, Emily says, “I could never even have imagined”. They thought everyone would be playing their own songs, but it turned into “the most epic, energetic, interactive… everybody was playing on each other’s songs, we were playing Irish fiddle tunes, and the guys were doing the Mongolian throat singing. I mean it was so cool”.
Having put out four records since 2010, Mandolin Orange has had an immensely engaging few years launching their musical career. I asked if they could share with me any visions for the future, and what might be next for the American duo. Mostly they have been setting short-term goals, as it’s “hard to think about what’s going to be happening in five or ten years time”, yet they are “always looking ahead, and thinking about what’s the next step, and two steps ahead of that”. “We like making records” says Emily, “but touring is probably the biggest piece of the puzzle for us right now”.
With their fifth album “Blindfaller” scheduled for release next month, the couple will continue touring for the remainder of the year, and likely well into the New Year. Surely this American couple is one to keep an eye, or ear, out for, as their extensive repertoire continues to expand every year – each time with the additions of new sounds and influences, born out of dynamic expression and inevitable growth. Thanks so much to Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz of Mandolin Orange, for sharing your gifts with us this year at the Vancouver Folk Festival. I hope you enjoyed yourselves just as much as we did!
*****
The remainder of Saturday evening was spent touring the grounds, and checking out other stages, before returning to the Main Stage at sunset for performances by Nahko and the Medicine for People. My friends and I caught Canadian artist Terra Lightfoot on Stage Five Saturday evening around twilight. Her booming voice, electric guitar and organ accompaniment was a perfect synergy of Canadian rock that ignited the crowd in an intensely powerful way. At nightfall we made our way back to the Main Stage. Veronicka took off for the front row, to stand before Nahko Bear; the area later billowing smoke from smudge-sticks, illuminated by the flickering flames of smitten spectators. Before Nahko’s uplifting performance, a young native girl stood before the crowd: “if you have a voice, be heard, if you have a gift, share it”, she called out to us.
*****
Sunday morning I arrived at the festival and went straight to Stage One to catch the set by iconic Bruce Cockburn. I’d seen Bruce play in Parry Sound, Ontario a few years back, and was overjoyed to see this Ottawa boy play once again. Evoking nostalgia in me from summers spent on Georgian Bay, Bruce’s music has always been a big part of my life since I was a kid. I was so happy to have the experience to see him play once more and, quite frankly, was a little disappointed that I did not get the opportunity to interview the Canadian music legend. I had plans to speak with a couple of other artists that day, and among them was Lisa LeBlanc. I was totally enthralled by each of Lisa’s performances that weekend, and was greatly looking forward to meeting with her.
At one pm I arrived at the Media Tent, but there was no sign of Lisa. I waited another little while beneath the beautiful Willow, preparing myself for our discussion, but still she did not arrive. Finally I took off figuring she must have been tied up elsewhere. With no other way of contacting her, the volunteers at the Media Tent decided they would meet Lisa after her final set that evening to inquire about a make-up interview. During that time, I received an urgent call from a close friend of mine; my attention was needed elsewhere. Regretfully I had to leave the festival before her final set. The next day I awoke with a feeling of disappointment; perhaps I’d missed out on a unique opportunity to speak with this influential artist, for whom I had immense respect. Suddenly I found myself searching her website for tour listings, crossing my fingers that maybe she was still in the area. And there it was: Victoria. Lisa would be playing Sugar Nightclub in Victoria on Tuesday, the following day. Needless to say I got in touch with her press coordinator and tour manager, and next thing I know I’m boarding the Ferry by way of Swartz Bay.
Lisa LeBlanc CBC: http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYaTatJwp9c
Lisa LeBlanc Interview: Tuesday July 19th, 2016
Sugar Nightclub Venue, Victoria
Lisa LeBlanc is an inspirational Canadian musician reflecting the realm of possibility when following your dreams through the pursuit of your greatest passions. For Lisa, that is music and travel. She has intended this life path since day one, through constant affirmations of her calling, in conjunction with an incredible work ethic and an unmistakable Joie de Vivre! What struck me most about Lisa during our conversation is how sure she is of herself, of her music, and of her journey. A natural at what she does, Lisa is a warm and free-spirited individual totally deserving of all her recent successes, and many more to come.
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Acadian musician from Rosairville, New Brunswick, Lisa moved to Montreal in 2011 to pursue her career in music. There she met two of her incredibly gifted band members, JP Hébert, her guitarist, and Maxime Gosselin, the band’s drummer. Just this year, they’ve had another member join them: Ben Morrier, the band’s bass player, of Franco-Manitoban origin. Lisa’s background is extensively musical, having more family members than not who play instruments; including her mother who also played in a band when she was younger. Her family mostly plays for fun as part of their cultural heritage, and before Lisa, none had ever pursued music as a career.
Lisa’s style is a mixture of Country-Western, Folk and Bluegrass, and perhaps most apparent these days, at least to my ears, is her remarkable Rock ‘n Roll influence. During her performances, Lisa favours the banjo, although growing up, she did not relate to the Bluegrass or Country forms rampant in her culture; likely because that’s all there was. These days Lisa revels in her musical roots, and can be found each year visiting the traditional Rosairville Bluegrass Festival. Lisa released her first album in 2012, which was written entirely in Acadian-style French. Since then her style has gotten a little louder, a little edgier, and in 2014, her band released an EP written in English: many of these songs were played this year at the Vancouver Folk Festival. These tunes were my introduction to Lisa LeBlanc’s music, which resonated with me on various different levels. The girl is absolutely bursting with talent, et je sent vraiment chanceuse d’avoir entendu ses tounes pour la première foi, et puis rencontrer l’artiste pour moi même a Victoria. Thank you Lisa for sharing with me. It was absolutely worth the boat ride!
*****
Lisa LeBlanc’s Self-Titled Francophone album from 2012 is a little more acoustic, and a bit softer than her most recent EP: Highways, Heartaches and Time Well Wasted. She explained to me how, just recently, she revisited her debut album again in order to get to the original tempos going in her head, and was completely shocked:
Lisa: I was like “Woah!”, We’ve been turning our amps up a notch, and playing them faster since we’ve started. I can really see how we’ve evolved since that first album where I sounded exactly like I was 21, or 20.
Haley: Were you always doing solo stuff? Where did you meet your band members?
L: Yeah I’ve always played solo, and sometimes with other musicians, but basically the guys I met them in Montreal. I first met with JP and Max, who are the drummer and guitarist, and we’ve been together for five years now, and we’ve really become a family. Our fourth member, Ben, was added to the group this year. We’ve also got Hugues and Tristan, our tour manager and awesome tech.
H: So your EP came out in 2014, and since then you’ve been writing and preparing for your next album which is coming out in September?
L: Yep it’s coming out in September, and it’s almost done. Until that album is in my hands, I’ll still be working on it!
H: The sound of the newest album: is it similar to your previous albums? Has it evolved more? Or is it still a surprise?
L: I mean you still recognize me, the way I write is still similar, but it has evolved musically, very much so, and I’ve challenged myself a lot. It’s a very “Guitar Hero” album actually. There are a lot of guitars on there; there are solos, even harmonized guitars. It’s been a good challenge. I’ve been really pushing myself because I wrote parts that I couldn’t necessarily play at first, you know I had them in my head, and then I had to learn them using all the background I had. I did a two-month road trip, where I took a lot of classes for banjo. That was really cool. I’m a huge music nerd, haha, I love listening to music and I’m always looking for new stuff, so like in the last couple years, a lot of doors have been opened. Especially with the Internet – there are a lot of things I would never have listened to before. I’m a huge Hawaiian music fan; I get all kinds of old records. I like Mariachi stuff, Spaghetti Westerns, and Classic Rock. You really feel those influences [in the new album]; it’s a bit all over the place.
H: Where else have you guys been this summer? And where are you headed next?
L: Well we played the Vancouver Folk Fest and Calgary Folk Fest. This is our biggest tour. Afterwards we’ll go to Kelowna and Calgary, then St Pierre et Miquelon off the coast of Newfoundland. We have a couple things in Quebec, and then Ontario. After the album is released, we’re going on the road quite a bit. We’re going to France, we have lots of shows in Quebec, and then we’ll be coming back here [to the west coast] in the spring.
H: How have things changed now that you’re writing in English more. Or is the third album going to be in French as well?
L: No it’s mostly English actually, the third one, yeah.
H: Do you find you’re getting more recognition from other parts of Canada? I know that your first album went Platinum, but I don’t know how big it was in Ontario, or on the west coast.
L: Nobody really knew about it, because it’s a French album. So the Francophones, knew about it, or the one’s that did, did. So that was really cool. But I wanted to play Canada; I’ve been wanting to play all of Canada for years.
H: And I’m so happy that you did!
L: Thank you! I’m so intrigued by Canadian culture. I’ve always been fascinated by western Canada, and also extremely fascinated by the North. And there are so many places I wanted to see. I’ve been to Europe a bunch of times, and I’ve never crossed Canada, how stupid is that! Like I don’t even know my own country. So I’ve always wanted to do it, and then with the EP it was just natural. Because cool, we have this English record! That was a really good excuse for us to come out back here, and it gave us the chance to come out here a couple times.
H: The EP’s killer.
L: Thank you!
H: I love music; I’m a huge music lover, and I love Rock. And, I just… your musical ability, it’s covered all the bases for me in terms of the musical components. I mean the guitar, the banjo, but then the strong female lead, and then your edge. You know like: You Look Like Trouble (But I Guess I do Too) – the second half of that song, when you really start given’er… Oh my God, it kicks so much ass! Haha, I feel like I’m gushing, but it’s so true.
L: No, thank you! Haha I appreciate it!
H: For sure. When did you decide you wanted to do this as a career?
L: As soon as I started playing guitar, I was 14, I knew that’s what I wanted to do, instantly, I was like this is what I’m going to be doing for the rest of my life.
H: And you picked it up easily?
L: Yeah! Well I was obsessed with it, for real, I took lessons with our school janitor, which was the best thing ever, and we had one lesson a week. I was obsessed; all I wanted to do was play guitar. I brought my guitar to school, every time I had 15 minutes I was playing. That’s how I started. Then it was like off you go – I started jamming, and from day one, I was like: I’m gonna do this! I started playing in bars when I was about 17 or 18, and then I slowly started incorporating my tunes, and started playing more of my songs, and that’s how I ended up here now.
H: Did you find your voice first?
L: I was singing before actually. I was writing shitty poetry before I started writing songs, and it was like, “well this is perfect”! I knew three chords after a week, and I had already written a song because I was so in love with it.
H: In terms of goals: are you just sort of going with it?
L: I am just going with it! I really want to travel; I’ve always wanted to travel, I love traveling. It’s my favourite thing. My two favourite things are music and traveling, and so I’m made for this job. I can’t see myself doing anything else. I really want to keep traveling so basically my goal would be to go elsewhere, continue exploring Canada, but also go to the US, wherever people want to book us. I just want to see new places and meet new people.
H: So after the first album, you went on a road trip in the states, and that’s where you got your inspiration for the EP?
L: Yeah it was very inspiring, that was my first big trip. I did a similar thing last year as well. I left for two months. The first time everything was new, and this time I went to a Cajun Music Camp, which was so amazing! I met so many people from all over the place, and that opened so many doors for me. I was going there because I had to write, so I had six months off from September to now. I wanted to take classes and workshops. It was a musical trip for me; it was so much fun. This album has been inspired by all of those events, and also the time I stayed in Montreal over the last year. It was my first time not leaving when I had time off, which was in a sense, one of the biggest trips I’ve ever done. So that was really inspiring and challenging, for me to stay in the same place for three months, which sounds like nothing, but for me it was huge! I’ve always been a huge traveler, and I always take off whenever I have three days off, you know. I like to go back home, I love New Brunswick. I grew up in the country in a small town, so going back there is the best. I like going to Toronto too because it’s only a few hours away. Wherever I can escape to, really, I love just hopping on a plane or driving somewhere.
H: Had you been to Vancouver before?
L: Yeah quite a few times, we played a couple times in Vancouver in the last couple years.
H: What do you find is the major contrast between east and west?
L: Mountains haha… the Rockies are quite different than the Atlantic forest for sure. There is a difference; I love both for different reasons. I love going west; people are super chill and friendly. Well everywhere in Canada is. But I mean there’s still something about the east coast, I’m such an east coaster. But they are very different.
H: Had you played with any of the artists at Folk Fest before? Well I guess Les Hay Babies, I saw the set you played with them.
L: Hay Babies and I are good friends; actually Vivian and I are from the same town. We’re good friends. Ten Strings and a Goat Skin, we played with them a while back. They’re so good, I hadn’t seen them in a really long time, and they blew me away. It was so cool. We saw some really good bands in Vancouver, like Hubby Jenkins. We did a workshop on Sunday with Ten Strings and a Goat Skin, Les Hay Babies, Hubby Jenkins and us. It was the coolest workshop ever.
H: Writing in French vs. English, do you find that you express yourself better in French just because it’s your native tongue?
L: It’s definitely different.
H: Are the subjects different?
L: I don’t feel like the subjects are very different but there’s something about writing in French because I have this dialect from New Brunswick, the Acadian French, and I’m a big fan also of Cajun French, which there’ll be a little of that in the next record. There’s a more Cajun-y vibe in a couple songs. So in French I automatically… just because of how I speak, I don’t really write in the international French, I write in the way I speak. Already that gives it it’s own kind of colour. In English it’s different because it becomes more international when you speak English. French may be more natural, but I rewrite a lot to get it flowing. But in English, since it’s not my native tongue, there’s like a little bit more research, which I think is pretty fun, you know you get to use the dictionary. I love dictionaries, haha, so I feel like I have fun, especially in English, because there’s a lot of research involved in songwriting.
H: In terms of French and English though, emotionally you find it’s the same when you’re writing music?
L: Yeah it doesn’t really matter. At first I thought it would be easier in French, and then lately I’ve been writing a little bit more in English, and it’s kind of been easier to write more English, maybe it’s because I’m in the swing of it right now, I think it depends.
H: And I guess you’ve immersed yourself more in an English-speaking culture right now?
L: Yeah, I mean with the whole road trip to the states; that helped.
H: And was there a boyfriend or ex? That you’re writing about?
L: Oh yeah, all the time, that’s like my main go-to, haha. The next album is totally about shitty heartbreaks, of course. You know, it’s classic.
*****
After the interview I got to talking a bit more with Lisa about our respective backgrounds, and was also introduced to her band members. Max and I shared for a while, and I was so delighted by the warmth with which I was met by the whole crew. That evening I stuck around for the show, and the night turned into a totally unforgettable experience. I’m so grateful for having had this opportunity, in its entirety, from the folk festival over the weekend, to my adventure in Victoria the following week. I’d like to extend my gratitude to everyone who made it possible; and Lisa, I look forward to seeing you guys again in the spring!
*****
Final note: Although I did not see them play this weekend, both artists I spoke to absolutely raved about the PEI band, Ten Strings and a Goat Skin. And with good reason, these guys are totally unbelievable. Check it out!
Ten Strings and a Goat Skin: http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqxWjf2-JHY
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