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Monday, January 27, 2003 Notes on the Folk Festival I caught the Ann Arbor Folk Festival for the first time on Friday night; I'd been meaning to go for the last couple of years but this time around I finally bought a ticket. Wow. I don't think I've ever seen that many people in the Michigan Theater before--from what I could tell, the place was more or less sold out. Patty Griffin headlined--the only performer to bring a backup band--and Nerissa and Katryna Nields played emcees for the night. The lowdown on the performers: Seth Bernard: He was the only one on the bill that I'd heard before, since he's a local (last year he'd actually ushered the Folk Festival--way to go in a year!). I'm not crazy about his music--it's not bad, but it's his personality that really sells, and audiences fall in love with him. He's a breath of pure sunshine. Jazzy folk. Jeffrey Gaines: This guy sounded like he belonged on pop radio of the Richard Marx variety (not in a disparaging way at all). I was kind of far from the stage, but it looked like his guitar sported a large hole right below the pickguard. Patty Griffin: I borrowed one of her albums from my roommate Elise, and she definitely sounds better live. Simple elegance. Billy Jonas: One of the most unique performers I've ever seen. His first song was a "whisperalong" on acoustic guitar--original, but not that out of the ordinary. What was surprising were the next songs; he put down the guitar and accompianied himself using Indian ankle bells and drums otherwise known as plastic garbage cans and barrels. And it sounded good. If you ever get a chance to see him live, do it. Jeff Lang: Hailing from Australia, he was the only performer to use a more electric sound. It was surprising how full one guitar can be--he veered more toward rock than folk. Erin McKeown: According to the emcees, Ani Defranco and Norah Jones are among her fans. You can definitely hear why Jones would like her--their voices are incredibly similar. McKeown had one of the best voices of the night, but she's so short that her guitar almost dwarfed her (and that was pretty amusing). Nerissa and Katryna Nields: These sisters have incredible, unique voices. I actually wanted to buy their cd, but they were only taking cash and checks and all I had was my credit card. Oh well. Josh Ritter: You know, I can't find anything particularly interesting to say about him besides the fact that he came onstage wearing a brown suit. The Waybacks: They were a bit too bluegrass for my tastes, but they have some excellent musicians in the band, one of the guitarists especially. Overall, the festival was fun and taught me something about stage presence--every artist had that in abundance--though the Nields were the only performers I liked enough musically to look for cds. According to Elise, the festival has been better in the past; she was disappointed. I was apparently inspired at the end of it all though, because when I went off to practice the piano that night (I was recording some piano parts the next day) I ended up writing a song in the process. Until next year.... ^ Top | 7:17 AM | | | 
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