Probably the thing I look forward to most in the summer, at least musically, is the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival. It's one of the best summer music festivals in BC, probably the best outside of Vancouver, and every festival is great in it's own way. Plus, it's a great opportunity to put on my floppy beach hat, roast under the sun for a whole day and watch live music.
Well, there wasn't much roasting this year. It was cloudy and cool most of the day. There was a storm brewing, but it never seemed to materialize despite a couple of rumble of thunder. By the time the main stage shows came around, the wind was whipping every thing around, and finally managed to ground the kites that had been flying over the festival grounds all day.
I usually only go on one day, making it a day trip. I got to the grounds around 11:30 and, after getting a program, I headed back to the blues stage to catch the last three songs from Hamilton's Steve Strongman. He was playing an acoustic set and showed off his very deft fingers with some quality finger picking. He also performed in a full suit, which always amazes me that musicians can perform in costume without dissolving into a pool of sweat. I heard he played an electric set later with Mighty Mo Rodgers that even had Rodgers' eyes wide with his playing.
I popped over to the Shade Stage to see the Balconies. I was a bit disappointed with their sound. Previous albums from them showed a competent and fun indy rock band, but they had sinced morphed into a radio-ready guitar rock band. The band were decked out in the usual hard rock fair. We had the guy playing guitar in the cowboy hat. And the female lead singer with the eagle feather in her hair and the too tight clothes. By the third song, she was whipping her hair around in a circle. They seemed to have become "Just Another Rock Band." Not my thing...
So, I packed up and went to the Barn Stage to see The Belle Game. They were more my style, a bit on the new wave side of indy rock. They had a full band up there with a synth deck and reverb on the vocals. They sounded a lot like Metric. They also did a pretty cool version of "Beast of Burden". Here's a live video I took.
I talked some shop with Richard Sevigny at the Voice of the Shuswap table (they just got on the air this year and are doing well, by all reports), then got some lunch. My next stop was back at the Blues Stage for Sakura S'Aida, who was in the middle of a very soulful blues set. I caught the rest of her set, which was very good, then went back to the Shade Stage for what was one of my highlights of the day.
Every festival, it seems, I find a diamond in the rough, a performer that I normally wouldn't have thought I'd enjoy, or one that puts in an amazing set. Last year, it was Hazmat Modine. The festival before that was The Kropotkins. This year it was Malcolm Holcombe. He's a blues/country/folk singer from the mountains of North Carolina. I was reading my program when Holcombe unassumingly sat down on stage and started playing, without even a tune up. The audience, including me, were unprepared for this, and slowly started coming back over the next couple of songs. Holcombe was just a voice and a guitar, unaccompanied by anyone. His music was stark, unassuming and honest, just a man and his guitar. His voice suggested someone who had drank heavily his whole life. His lyrics were raw and brutal. He twitched and swung his head around like someone coming out of detox. His stories in-between his songs (banter wasn't something he did a lot, he spoke with his music) were disjointed and had more than a few cuss words. He minced no words. He had some odd chord changes and picking, and he beat out the rhythm to this music with the heel of his hand on his beat-up guitar. I watched this man in rapture for 45 minutes straight, only sitting up in awe after he was finished.
I headed back to the Barn Stage to see Selah Sue, a folk pop singer in the style of Norah Jones, but with a reggae vibe to her work. Like Holcombe, it was just her voice and an acoustic guitar. Her set was very popular to the hipster types. Lots of beards and henna tattoos in the crowd!
I walked around the grounds til the main stage started up at 6 PM and caught a few of the local performers on the busking stages. I didn't catch the names of the acts, but I saw a full band with two singers, a mandolin and a guy playing a guitar and a bass drum at the same time, then a solo singer, then a duo, the last of which were very good and funny. After a quick dinner, it was time for the main stage.
The night kicked off with Bright Lights Social Hour from Austin, TX. They reminded me of Kings of Leon in sound and looked. They had a heavy blues guitar sound and all the members of the band sported the hippie look of long hair and beards. They added some Rush style electronics into the mix, sounding a bit more proggy than the Kings of Leon would, maybe more like the Black Angels. They did say something odd though, that they didn't have festivals like this back where they're from. I guess South By Southwest is something different?
The second act was one of the acts I had hoped to see this weekend. When I go the festival, I usually go without knowing who is going to play, preferring to graze the music rather than seeing what I know and like. Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside are a great band from Portland, OR. They sound like a 60s garage/soul band with a modern indy rock filter. They were raw, they were a bit foul for a family crowd and immensely entertaining. By the end, they had me thinking they could stand beside the 70s era Elvis Costello and the Attractions with little problem fitting in. From me, that's high praise. I took a quick look in the merch tent and found none of their albums. I'll be ordering their latest as soon as I can scrape together some money.
My last act of the night was Daniel Lanois, who hit the stage just as the sun set behind the mountains. After seeing a couple of songs, which were very nice roots rock with some reverb and noodling, I felt I had seen enough. Usually, by the time the sun sets, the bugs come out in droves, and the patrons start into the pot. No bugs this year thanks to the wind, but the smoke was beginning to give me a headache. I could tick off seeing another musical legend on my imaginary bucket list of music.
Thanks Salmon Arm, I'll be back next year!
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