| For regular patrons of the Calgary Folk Festival, it may seem like everything falls into place naturally while the volunteers, artists and organizers hold hands in a circle and sing "Kumbaya." This is not the case. For Kerry Clarke, the festival’s artistic director, organizing what appears to be a seamless festival is a year-round job that includes everything from booking the artists to setting the nightly lineups and coordinating the artist workshops. In short, her job is to please everybody.
Of course, the first step in pleasing everybody is booking the right bands, and when it comes to that, everyone is an expert. "People always say, ‘why don’t you get so-and-so,’" Clarke says, "and I’m like, ‘I tried them.’ There are a lot of demands on artists’ time, so sometimes the timing doesn’t work."
Clarke has been the festival’s artistic director for 13 years and has brought in world renowned acts like Ani DiFranco, Elvis Costello, David Byrne and Kris Kristofferson. Despite these folk mainstays, the festival has received some criticism for including too many untraditional artists. Last year, acts like Broken Social Scene and Macy Gray raised eyebrows. Clarke is unapologetic about branching out beyond traditional folk acts.
"Well, I think the criticisms are fair, and it’s an intentional thing," she says. "Certainly not to anger anybody or alienate anybody, but I think it’s to be inclusive and sometimes people come along with you and sometimes they don’t.
"When we choose indie rock (bands), we try to choose ones where songwriting is at the root. We want strong, independent songwriters, and sometimes that comes in a hip hop form, or bluegrass or indie rock."
The 2007 festival will be typically eclectic. If a theme could be taken from the lineup of artists, you could make a case that this is the year of cabaret music, as artists such as Rufus Wainwright, Hawksley Workman and Sarah Slean bring that element to the festivities. Clarke also points to acts like Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, that are guaranteed to turn some heads.
This year’s lineup may not include as many big names as years past, but as usual the stages will be chock full of diverse songwriters. Of course, as much as Clarke’s job demands it of her, you can’t please everyone all the time, but she isn’t worried. "If everybody liked everything, then we’d be elevator music," she says.
And while nothing is more satisfying to Clarke than landing a big-name artist to play the Folk Festival, small time victories are also celebrated. "This isn’t exciting, but it’s exciting to us – the city is supposed to pave the pathways this year."
For the full lineup and ticket information, go to www.calgaryfolkfest.com. |
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