As somebody whose taste in music is mainly focused around punk, I have not seen a lot of live folk music. Halifax Urban Folk Festival (HUFF) was a shock to the system—a shock that found me trading my excitement for loud sounds and seas of human bodies with appreciation for the storytelling and sense of collaboration woven in every element of the folk experience.
Everything about this festival was set up for artists to get personal and collaborate with other talented musicians. Known in Halifax for its showcasing of local talent, The Carleton was crowned the primary venue of HUFF for the week, hosting 9 shows in 9 nights. The environment produced by The Carleton was the perfect compliment to the performances, with its intimate seating reaching all the way up to the edge of the stage. Each show began with an introduction asking the audience to please be quiet during the performances to respect the artists… and people listened. A far cry from the voice-shredding sing-alongs and stage diving that I have become accustomed to, I understood this to be vital to the enjoyment and experience of HUFF—even if with every photo I took I felt as if I were trying to eat popcorn in a quiet theatre.
Opening night at The Carleton kicked off with Tanya Davis, solo folk act and former Poet Laureate of Halifax, who led the crowd through a diverse set of topics ranging from relationships to worshipping the sun. Introduced as one of Leah Fay’s (July Talk) favourite new artists, Moscow Apartment wowed the audience next by producing some of the most witty, interesting and well-thought-out songs that I have ever heard come out of a 15- and 16-year-old. With only two electric guitars and their voices, the duo created a diverse sound which, at times, reminded me of the grunge-surf style of Courtney Barnett.
Things couldn’t have changed more when the next performer, Paper Beat Scissors, went up accompanied by a 6-piece orchestra. The sound was immense and would swing back and forth between beautiful solo verses with just guitar and vocals to vast and intricate full-band crescendos that were almost overwhelming at times. This was one of the biggest highlights of the festival for me.
The next night I returned to The Carleton, eager to see what was meant by the poster when it said “Tom Wilson’s Literary Tour.” The opener that night was Gabrielle Papillion, a Halifax-based songwriter with a strong sense of narration. Set up on stage with two microphones and a guitar, she played off the crowd rather than sticking to a rigid setlist. The second microphone gave Papillion’s vocals a more distant and ethereal sound, and she moved expertly back and forth between mics like some sort of folk Peter Frampton.
Tom Wilson arrived on stage to a thunderous applause. It didn’t take long to see why his performance was a “literary tour;” Tom immediately began reading passages from his book, Beautiful Scars: Steeltown Secrets, Skywalkers and the Road Home.
I’ll admit: a moment passed where I thought to myself, “am I really going to sit here and listen to this man read a book?” But let me assure you, he killed it.
With the deep, gravelly voice of a very persuasive grizzly bear, Wilson put his hand out towards the sky in a powerful, Shakespearean-like stance as he told his stories. Accompanied by a piano, Wilson alternated between songs, reading passages, and more personal, unscripted stories—stories such as Tom having an affair with an older woman in his early twenties who drove taxis while working for the mob, and drunken fist fights between his dad and uncle. The set definitely peaked when Wilson performed the song “Shine,” which proved to be a fan favourite.
My next festival experience brought me to one of Halifax’s newest bars, Sniggly Wiggly’s. Here, the environment was noticeably different than The Carleton: the seating was moved further back in favour of a dance floor, the crowd was more diverse in age and I found myself using the ear plugs that had been left in my bag for previous shows.
The show that night began with Newfoundland-based band Fairgale. They were introduced as having opened for Bryan Adams in the past, and it showed. They played an upbeat, anthemic style of pop that seemed to blend the 80s feel of Bryan Adams with more contemporary energy. Everyone in this band had great vocals, and hearing them harmonize over each other gave them a quasi barbershop-quartet-boy-band vibe that the crowd clearly enjoyed.
Closing out the night was Ron Hawkins (of Lowest of the Low and The Rusty Nails) who played with the half-as-old yet still complimentary Halifax All-Stars. Playing songs spanning his vast career, Hawkins was a real showman and people responded positively by filing onto the dancefloor.
Next up was Cool Blue Halo. Having heard of this band briefly from a friend of mine they were very much what I was there for. Originally formed in 1990, these guys put out one record before disbanding. This was CBH’s first show in six years, and their second show in over 20 years.
This was kind of a big deal for the Halifax music scene. There was something so appealing about watching a bunch of guys my dad’s age playing music they wrote decades ago and still having so much fun with it. The energy in the room immediately picked up when they began playing and didn’t stop until they left, as if they had never stopped playing together at all. The wonderfully poppy vocals and the grungy guitar tones on some of their tracks were so quintessentially 90s—something I’m a real sucker for.
Taking a break from their record, they chose to play some covers and even debut some new songs that they had written. This showed some real promise for any potentially upcoming projects. The set was ended by dedicating a song to all of the friends and family that were lost in the time of their absence. It was a very emotional moment, almost bringing lead singer Paul Boudreau to tears.
The final show I attended rounded out my folk experience. It was a songwriter’s circle comprised of Tim Baker of Hey Rosetta!, Brad Roberts from the Crash Test Dummies and Dustin Bentall with Lilly Hiatt as the headliner. The circle produced a wonderfully intimate performance full of banter, sudden song changes and playing off each other, which acted as testament to each artists’ ability to storytell and collaborate. Many of the songs played were stripped down, unfinished or unreleased, made evident when Tim Baker introduced one of his songs as “a song that will never be on a record.”
For my first true folk experience, HUFF did an excellent job at curating…
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