Text © by Al Walker Original article appeared in the owen sounder. Click photos to enlarge. Summerfolk an inside job. The weather was great, and you really can't say that often the second weekend in August. Speaking of years spent at SF I've spent my share and then some. I was the Walker part of Jensen and Walker who opened 20 years ago on a wet Friday night. The crowd then (sparse collection of friends, relatives and displaced Gold Rush patrons) were sitting in a marsh. Some covered their bums with coats or blankets, some even had tarps (not many) but most got wet. There was no amphitheater just a large open area with a make-shift stage and an orange tarp which slapped louder in the wind than my guitar that night. The crowd with coolers full of beverage and an abundance of sweet smelling bulrushes ?? was delightful and have continued to be so over the years. SF was a focus for area musicians, but in the bigger picture was a passion for organizers and volunteers who made the weekend in August a community effort worthy of recognition. With so many big and little decisions over the years, all participants past and present should be proud of the product which has eclipsed any singular vision and has become Summerfolk. So when we took the stage 20 years later, to open the Friday night show we were anything but newcomers. The volunteer at the gate when I arrived didn't know me. I still had not received performer passes or car parking pass or family pass. But after pleading my case, (early sound check must get equipment backstage) he allowed me to drive in. Backstage I found Larry (Jensen) he appeared calm, but I knew he was in stage fright denial. Even after all the years performing you still get it, you just get familiar with the feeling. The rest of the band, Shaun, Deb, Mike and Rod eventually collected backstage and prepared for the sound check. We looked at each other smiled, poked fun waited. The sound check was cancelled. We would start our night concert cold. 6:00 p.m. crawled toward us. Some paced, some tuned and re-tuned, Mike sat closer to the drums as if trying to gain a symbiotic relationship between himself and the stage drums he had never previously played. Deb sat on the picnic table folding her hands , Rod was light, like Tigger bouncing, bouncing, Larry was pacing, pacing, Shaun was not willing to group hug before the show. The moment on stage for us came and went like a ride at Wonderland. Momentum, crowd, response. We sweated. It went great. Larry's songwriting shone. Polished by the backup musicians. We were all shocked at how quickly it had gone by. Reports of the sound out front were good. We got thumbs up from our friends and family present. Nothing to do now but watch the rest of the performers sweat. Walking backstage after our act and bumping into Bob Dixon and Richard Knechtal saying hi to Valdy reminded me of my favourite musical highlights of SF. Bruce Cockbourn, Figgy Duff, Harry Parker, Trout Fishing in America in the beer tent, playing Beatle songs with Willie O'Hagen. It had been 20 years. I felt we had successfully passed the torch for the weekend. After bouncing around for most of the evening performances we circled the wagons at the beer tent. The giant screen proved that Quartet were in fact mathematically correct. The beer tent had gone uptown. It was in this technologically correct setting we hooked up with Arrandale. Arrandale had their evening concert Saturday night. They were hopelessly frolicking in the knowledge that Saturday night was at least 20 hours away. Drunk with this knowledge, they led us unsuspecting to their trailer which was on site. Once there, trapped like a fly in a web the hosts played and sang like there was no workshop tomorrow. It was a full evening. Saturday we had a fabulous acoustic workshop. Arrandale had a terrific Saturday night concert. The moment you tend to want to forget but remember was of course worrying the blanket might slip and Derek would be caught naked at SF. What tension, what a performance. What next live Scottish lap dancing? It was all in good fun and we celebrated with Arrandale again into the wee hours. I hope no one was trying to sleep in the camping area Sunday we played a blues workshop in the beer tent. It was a highlight. Larry's blues compositions held their ground with any of the material presented. We could have played 3 hours. 20 years of Summerfolk and each year had it's own little universe of talent, volunteers, direction, memories. Here's to 20 more. From a series of articles written by guitarist Al Walker, for the owen sounder. HOME
web work by |
