With record attendance figures the Woodford Folk Festival celebrated its 30th anniversary in style.
Woodford transcends the music festival concept by creating a complex and multi-layered world, comprised of interwoven strands that combine to make an experience like no other.
Image © Karen HuttWhere else can you listen to chart-topping acts, tour a tiny house, have your face fanned by a stilt-walker’s flamingo feathers; or listen to a lecture by a former prime-minister, watch jugglers and circus performers, make a necklace, lantern or didgeridoo, learn how to hula hoop or to tango, be chased down the road by a monster; or become a character in a role-playing game, meet someone riding a snail, join a choir, perform yoga, hear Mongolian throat singing, sip whiskey while listening to the blues, or have goose-bumps raised by the power of a single, unaccompanied voice, drink beer while listening to Australian ballads, and kick up the dust while dancing a jig to Canadian fiddle music? Wow!
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With myriad acts and artists in 35 venues during 6 days, you could fill your days from sun-up until the early hours, and still not see more than a fraction of what is on offer. Any review can only ever hope to sample a tiny slice of the riches of Woodford life – and it really is like slipping into another world.
Kim Churchill - Image © Karen HuttDespite the usual expectation, the only heavy rain this year was on the first evening. The trickle of sweat down our backs was replaced by a torrent of rainwater as a sub-tropical deluge doused the opening ceremony. What a shame! The downpour saw many people scrambling for cover, thereby missing the spectacular and well-planned theatrical extravaganza that characterises all Woodfordian ceremonies, and also the only appearance of Lanie Lane.
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This was a particularly unfortunate circumstance for her return to the music stage after a year long, self-imposed exile, and we hope this does not dissuade this promising talent from performing again in the future. At least One Up, Two Down and Josh Pyke had another opportunity later in the programme to entertain their fans.
One of the really good things about Woodford is that many acts appear more than once, and at different venues on the site. This facilitates, via a form of festival bush telegraph, news of excellent but lesser-known acts resulting in a crescendo of enthusiasm, which can sometimes lead to overflowing venues towards the end of the week, as people crowd in to experience a wildly popular, must-see act.
Juzzie Smith - Image © Karen HuttRecipients of this form of largesse for 2015/ 2016 included: Juzzie Smith, Hat Fitz and Cara, Irish Mythen, and no doubt many others!
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Juzzie Smith’s one-man band was a Woodford sensation – his particular inventive style, incorporating slide, cigar box and acoustic guitars, harmonica, stomp box, and chuka chuks (juggling percussion balls!), sometimes includes playing the guitar with his feet! He has a great sense of rhythm, and his infectious enthusiasm for his music is utterly charming – he comes across as a little shy, but in talking about his music and making it accessible to others, he is transformed, and the connection with the audience is suddenly effortless. People danced wildly wherever he performed!
Hat Fitz & Cara gave us superb musicianship accompanied by wry banter – Cara’s femme fatale turn as the sassy drummer with a strong, soulful voice, underpinned by Fitz’s low-down guitar and gravelly voice, packed out venues.
Irish Mythen - Image © Karen HuttIrish Mythen has been part of this year’s Festival of Small Halls, touring venues in regional Queensland and delighting audiences everywhere with her energetic performances on guitar and extraordinary vocal power – the effectiveness of her engaging banter with the audience provides an object lesson in the power of personality in musical success.
Her stories amused and amazed in equal measure, and audiences loved and followed her from venue to venue, to the extent that on New Year’s Eve, there was no need to teach the huge crowd packed into Orchard the words to ‘Tullamore Blues’, because they all knew them already.
Starboard Cannons - Image © Karen HuttAlongside Irish Mythen on the Festival of Small Halls tour, were perennial favourites Starboard Cannons, making a serious play for the title of Australia’s best folk band – the Starboards impressed everyone last year with their uniquely Australian take on the folk music genre. This year, they were just awesome! If you missed them at Woodford, look out for them, as they are well on their way to the top.
The anticipated festival-mud experience gave way this year to the ever-present sound of voices hoarse with dust, and requests for more beer to ease parched throats, and the breathtaking sight of people dancing in hazy, dust-filtered light.
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This last sight was particularly common during The East Pointers’ sets at Grande, where long hair flew as people twirled and pirouetted in late-afternoon sunshine, and sarongs were used to beautiful effect creating maypoles and gloriously coloured archways for everyone to dance through.
Revellers enjoying The East Pointers - Image © Karen HuttThree, young men play a fiddle, banjo and a guitar and draw huge audiences of young and old eager to be driven wild by the music. How do they do it? The secret might be in their energetic playing style, or their habit of running one tune into another to build up a frenzy of dancing.
But we suspect that it's mostly in Tim Chaisson’s stomp box, which provides a thumping backbeat. It’s rave music with fiddle and banjo – or maybe rave music is The East Pointers with added synthesizers.
The East Pointers - Image © Karen HuttIrish Mythen and The East Pointers formed part of a strong and very welcome Canadian contingent at Woodford this year, which also included Harry Manx, who drew large crowds for his inventive musicianship combining blues and Indian influences.
Using cigar-box guitar, six-string banjo and Mohan Veena, his husky working man’s voice and dry humour had no sooner begun to sound distinctly Springsteen-like, when he launched into a cover of 'I’m On Fire'.
Michael Franti - Image © Karen HuttWednesday evening’s big drawcard was Michael Franti - in a pre-concert press conference he came across as a genuinely nice guy, whose own, diverse background has made him a passionate and active advocate for social justice. Michael’s message is love and that peace is surely the sum of millions of people doing millions of small, good deeds.
He preaches and practices optimism, rather than cynicism, and his beautiful new song ‘(It’s) Good To Be Alive Today’ is an example of this. An unscheduled session with festival fans the next day was typical of his obvious generosity of spirit.
On the subject of impromptu concerts, English folk-star Passenger, attending the festival as a patron this year, stepped up to the mic at Bill’s Bar to perform an unadvertised concert to 600 lucky fans on New Year’s Eve.
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Another act that caught our eye, and ear, this year was Liz Stringer. With her battered and clearly beloved guitar, Liz’s deep and mellow, honey-and-whisky voice soothed hangovers with her beautifully crafted, but often slightly dark and angst-driven folk songs.
Vaudeville Smash provided a hugely popular dose of retro '70s disco funk that had everyone dancing. Their flamboyant, energetic lead singer cavorted about on stage as they grooved their way through a set that was both hilarious and truly brilliant.
The Little Stevies interweave banter and narrative about their lives with melodic harmonies and hints of bluegrass. The Small Hall venue was a delightful intimate setting in which to experience their sisterly synchronicity and enthusiasm, broad smiles and laughter and great music.
April Fields’ 'Poetea' street theatre persona (blogging as ‘Leopardprintcess’ on Wordpress) entertained a lucky few on a one-to-one basis, with a delightful combination of tea and poetry, treating us to a recital of her poem ‘Blood Moon’, a dark and beautiful story, reminiscent of Shakespearean tragedy.
The Floating Bridges - Image © Karen HuttSunshine Coast outfit The Floating Bridges played Bluestown on New Year’s Eve, and almost literally brought the house down! They play reggae and ska, but do a mean line in rock too, generating vast amounts of energy in their show. By the time the year turned, most of the seats in the venue had been banished to accommodate all the dancers!
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The Blue Skillet Rovers introduced a new style of performance when almost the whole band disappeared into the crowd and performed from the heaving dancefloor during their turn at Bluestown – an entertaining and effective twist on ‘audience participation’. The Rovers also get a special mention for their fabulous caravan filled with blues memorabilia!
Parked close to Bluestown, The Rover provided an up-close-and-personal taster of many acts in between the main sets, and was hugely popular, giving passers-by a reason to stop and dance outside Monsters HQ.
Jacinta Price - Image © Karen HuttBut our pick of the festival for this year surely goes to Jacinta Price. With a set ranging from folk through to blues and swing, she demonstrated astonishing vocal range and power. No more so than during her cover of Gnarls Barkley’s 'Crazy' – a soulful version that goes straight into the top ten of 'covers that are better than the original'.
With (music and life) partner Colin Lillie on guitar, plus drum, bass and keyboard players, she finished her set with her powerful song 'Wisdoms', which truly epitomises why Woodfordia works when others around are failing – it’s all about diversity and connections, especially the wonderful people you meet, and the good friends that you make on your Woodfordia journey.
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