The Monday after

Whew.....

It is now Tuesday and life is slowly getting back to normal after my adventures at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. After 4 years of attending the festival, I have become used to the slightly hungover feeling that accompanies waking up on Monday after spending five days outside from about 10:00am until 11:30pm, intensely listening to music, volunteering, people watching and chatting with any and all of the friends that you are bound to run into at such an event.

But it is always worth it when you think about ALL of the amazing music you have heard over the course of those 5 days.

Here is a list of my top acts from this year's festival:
Iron and Wine - recommended by my sister and she knows what she is talking about!
Neko Case - bit of a diva, but makes the act of singing look effortless
Serena Ryder - gorgeous voice and great song writing
Dominque Reynolds - local Manitoban with a gorgeous alto sound
The Abrams Brothers - touring with their adorable grandparents because they are so young:)
CR Avery - spoken word, beat-boxing and keyboards...love it!
Ridley Bent - great, thoughtful, ironic songwriting
Elvis Costello - rockabilly, Brit pop, and everything in between
Alex Cuba - a little Jimi Hendrix, a little Lenny Kravitz, great vibe!
Dala - beautiful girl group from Ontario
Vance Gilbert - slightly crude, but makes you think
Great Lake Swimmers - i saw these guys every chance I could, so talented
The Lovell Sisters - from Georgia, really young, with harmonies that only sisters could produce.
The Del McCoury Band - straight-up bluegrass for 50 years! they know how to work a crowd!
The Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thile - Thile is a mandolin virtuoso; real crowd pleasers
Joe Pug - this one is for Bryan, very country with a great voice, loved him; wanted to see more
Josh Ritter - compared to Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, he knocked us all over with his style
Xavier Rudd - the crowd loved him, and he scored points with me for having his 7-year-old son along with him on Thursday night:)
Loudon Wainwright - father of Rufus and Martha; song-writer extraordinaire
Martha Wainwright - daughter of Loudon, sister of Rufus, talent all her own
Jenny Whitely - beautiful voice, great guitar playing, shy when you speak to her in person.

And if you can believe it, this is only a sampling of the groups that played at folk fest this year. Can't wait until next year!

J.