>>PREVIEW
CALGARY FOLK MUSIC FESTIVAL
Folk Boot Camp
July 26 to 28
Cantos
"Those reality shows, Who Wants to be a Star or Who Wants to Join INXS, make me want to hurl," spits singer-songwriter Stephen Fearing. "I hate it so much, because it’s such a lie. It makes the celebrity part the most important part of it – and of course it’s not."
A veteran songwriter whose songs evoke fingers brushing redwood, Fearing knows songs, he’ll tell you a certain willingness to be honest and committed is required in crafting them. Songwriting isn’t meant for those who chase cocaine trailing out of Bentleys manned by diamond-encrusted prostitutes. That’s not who the Folk Fest Boot Camp is for. Within the Cantos Music Foundation, a week before Folk Fest begins, musicians have the chance to hone their craft.
"It used to be that if you studied with, say, Reverend Gary Davis in the old days, you watched him play and took away as much as you remembered," remarks Doug Cox. "The new folk process of people sitting down and passing along songs and licks to each other has become way more sophisticated – now you can buy the video, the book, the TAB."
A multi-instrumentalist renowned as one of the world’s leading dobro players, Doug Cox wants to get more personal than he usually does on his many instructional DVDs. With his music partner Sam Hurrie, Cox will lead a workshop for the experienced guitar player, brush stroke guitar and flat-picking filling the lesson plan.
"What I ask is that people can at least get through a basic chord progression," warns Cox. "From there, within an hour, I can teach you to play every chord there is. That turns on so many lights for students."
Fearing, teaming up with Luke Doucet, offers a more general workshop in songwriting. Students have the chance to get their song critiqued by some of Canada’s premier songwriters. Fearing’s latest album, Yellowjacket, served as a revelation for the songwriter, a new way to write music; it’s an excitement he hopes to pass along.
"Sometimes the form ends up dictating the song, instead of the other way around," says Fearing. "Mostly, you’re trying to get people to go beyond clichés, trying to find out what they really want to say. My job is to get them all excited.
"As far as teaching people how to write songs, I don’t know if you can. But you know, I do love talking about songwriting – the esoteric and philosophical conversations at night with some form of alcohol. Those are the conversations songwriters need to have, especially the young ones, so they realize the things they’re experiencing are common."
Over the three day workshop, the instructors want to find the music – more than just finger techniques and rhyming schemes, this is about sitting down and creating.
"It’s like Chess, like Buddhism – its infinite," says Fearing. "You don’t learn the Ten Commandments and then you’re done. You got to constantly be digging." |
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