The 2010 annual Ontario Council of Folks Festivals conference (OCFF) kicked off on Wednesday, October 13, with the Bluebird North songwriters series at Ottawa Library and Archives theatre.

On the bill were Miss Emily (Canadian Open National Singing Competition winner at age 17), Harrison Kennedy (three-time Juno nominee), David Leask (2009 OCFF’s “Songs From The Heart” winner), and Ann Vriend (over 12,000 album sales as an independent artist).  The crowd was small, but mighty as the artists put their hearts on display, talking about what inspires them as songwriters and giving the audience a small taste of their songwriting skills.

The library setting was somewhat ironic for a room full of musicians as noted by Ann Vriend. “It’s so exciting to make this much noise in a library,” she joked.  The setting pits the artists side-by-side playing a song each before handing the mic off to the next artist in line.  The line-up on this night presented an eclectic group of artists from the Soul/Americana stylings of Vriend, to the seasoned veteran blues courtesy of Kennedy.

Each of the artists seemed extremely grateful to have the opportunity to be on stage showcasing their own songs while getting to watch others perform on the same stage.  Leask described the event as ‘one of the most phenomenal rounds he’s ever been in.”

If you missed this show, don’t fret.  The link below will give you a snippet of each of the artists spotlighted that night.  The next show in the Bluebird North Ottawa series is coming up on Thursday, December 2, 2010.

Join the ‘Bluebird North Ottawa’ Facebook page to find out more details on that and other shows coming up in 2011.

My own definition of the word “conference” has been slightly altered.
It was a privilege to perform a private showcase in the Bluesfest sponsored All Ottawa Music Room with so many great artists. I must admit walking into that lobby for the first time past the sea of posters and flyers was a little overwhelming. That lasted about an hour and by my second hour there I had met at least 20 people in the same boat. The performances were out of this world. Big bands, small bands solo artists it was all truly an amazing experience.

I have never made so many contacts in one weekend in my life. Special thanks to Lindsay Ferguson for being such a good hostess and a true champion of her fellow artists.

Can’t wait for Niagara Falls 2011.

Video courtesy Kevin Burton

Megan Jerome

Andrew Vincent

Trevor Alguire

Lindsay Ferguson

Ukrainia

Marc Robert Nelson

For more photos, click here.

The Ontario Council of Folk Festivals, or OCFF, is an organization that represents music presenters with a particular interest in roots, folk, and blues music – the kind you’re most likely to see at a folk festival. Don’t think of Dylan wannabes croaking out protest music or workshops on how to use exotic tunings to make your guitar sound like a sitar – think Amy Millan, Bruce Cockburn, The Sadies, Sarah Harmer, and much more.

What’s happening in “folk” music these days is a remarkably diverse scene that encompasses artists working in conventional  folk music idioms (Michael Jerome Browne, for example) as well as artists who are using loops and technology you might associate with techno (New Zealand’s Mihirangi, who wowed the Ottawa Folk Festival this year), to rockers like Joel Plaskett.

Anyway, I digress. So the OCFF conference is a three-day opportunity for musicians – who want gigs – to meet up with festival artistic directors, house concert presenters, and other industry folk – who book musicians. The goal is to make contacts and impress someone so much that you end up with a load of work for the next year.

It’s also an opportunity to learn about the music business, with conference sessions on everything. For insiders, it’s also one of the most remarkable parties I’ve ever seen, with two floors of the Crowne Plaza hotel full of “guerilla showcase” rooms, where musicians play short sets to anyone in the room and offer anything from beer to chili to CDs as incentives.

But that’s for the insiders. The cognoscenti. The people who paid to attend. But… if you’re looking for the best value in town, you go to the Crowne Plaza, you pay $10 for a showcase wristband, and you get to
see tons of great acts.

My picks:

• Rose Cousins – PEI singer-songwriter whose serious songs are balanced by her quirky sense of humour
• Emma-Lee – Toronto singer with songs that echo great jazz and bossanova rhythms and a voice that expands and expands until it fills the room – and your heart
• The Undesirables – Toronto-based duo that meld songs and story together with powerful voices and flawless harmony singing. Folk to the power of rock.
• Sultans of String – roots-music supergroup that masters everything from folk to Gypsy jazz to flamenco
• The United Steel Workers of Montreal – a six-piece group that calls itself alt-country with an urban edge
• Kate Reid – how can you not love someone who writes songs like “The only dyke at the open mic”?

The OCFF is a wrap for another year, and was a great success. Be sure to put it on your calendar for next year  – for $10 for 20 or so acts – how can you go wrong?

Info: www.ocff.ca