Will Ottawa youth miss out on this year’s Folk Festival?

Centretown News, Winter 2006

It may seem early to start thinking about summer, but the days are growing longer and organizers of the CKCU Ottawa Folk Festival are already enthusiastically making plans for this year’s event in August.

Organized almost exclusively by volunteers, the Ottawa Folk Festival brings together performers year round, culminating in the summer festival when fans can gather under the warm summer sun and enjoy the diverse sounds of traditional and contemporary folk music.

This year, festival organizers plan to isolate acts that attract a young audience, after complaints arose last year when acts such as Calgary singer-songwriter Feist and Winnipeg’s The Weakerthans attracted excited, young audiences who stood at the front of the stage, blocking the views of the audience members behind them. This year, to settle anxieties of other concert-goers, such acts are expected to play at the newly-opened Capital Music Hall on York Street, the community centre at Britannia Park and the Beachcomber Room at the Travelodge Ottawa West Hotel.

Festival organizers must start brainstorming on how to keep acts appealling to both audiences in the same venue in the future. By separating acts, young audiences may not stumble across the raw experience of a traditional folk song that they otherwise might not seek out.

At the same time, older festival attendees, who would never find themselves at a Feist or Weakerthans show, will miss out on the stimulating new acts that are bubbling in the underground of contemporary folk rock.

A folk festival is a unique experience. Dozens of artisans gather together to share their craft, singing raw and honest songs, some of which have been around for hundreds of years. With a guitar — acoustic or electric —strapped over their shoulder, folk musicians are part of a constantly evolving art, which the Ottawa Folk Festival celebrates to its fullest year after year. This is the atmosphere that some young crowds may miss at this year’s festival.

The change in venue comes only a year after the festival made another controversial decision, in order to entice a younger audience. It came under fire after it booked Canadian Idol winner and pop star Kalan Porter as one of the weekend’s headliners, causing skepticism among many folk-enthusiasts.

It is no surprise, however, that Porter, who is adored by young fans across the country, would attract an ovation at the front of the stage. But what organizers need to do instead of choosing acts simply to capture youth ticket sales is bridge the gap between younger and older audiences by choosing artists — young and old —who are grounded in the roots of folk music.

While, unfortunately, it is not in the festival’s budget to create numerous large stages every year to accommodate all types of acts, the Ottawa Folk Festival must strive to find a better solution that brings audiences together — such as, for example, a standing-room only section toward the side of the stage.

For now, at least, it’s good news that festival organizers have created a youth committee, to address some of these issues and to keep youth engaged in the decision-making process, as well as fundraising efforts to bring the festival some well-deserved revenue.
Regardless of location, the festival is bound to bring some exhilarating acts to the nation’s capital, for audiences of every age. However, it will be disappointing for many fans of folk music to miss out on some of the diversity of acts that the Ottawa Folk Festival offers year after year.

MySpace offers Internet exposure to unknown artists

Centretown News, Winter 2006

With a quick click of the mouse, MySpace, an interactive blogging website, connects users to thousands of artists of every genre across the world.

Since it was first launched in January 2004, American-based MySpace has grown to include more than 50 million registered profiles, 25 per cent of which are maintained by users under the age of 18.

Users create their own “space,” essentially an alter-ego, where they can cultivate their persona through blogs and photography. They can share their thoughts about everything from last week’s episode of The OC, upcoming concert tours and fashion, to more heavy hitting topics such as suicide, drugs and divorce. At the same time, users are able to post their favourite songs or music they have created themselves.

MySpace is a breeding ground for countless young artists to showcase music, photography, poetry and visual art, while serving as a network with both a vast artistic community and their friends and fans, without geographical boundaries. For artists who fear they may be deemed too edgy, MySpace acts as a direct link to their fans, without pressures from a label, production company or a distribution team.

An estimated 550,000 musical artists have posted songs on their personal MySpace sites and this number is expected to keep growing. Each day, 170,000 new spaces are created by users across the globe.

MySpace is not limited to small, unsigned artists trying to break into the industry. Well-known musical acts including Weezer, Madonna, Black Eyed Peas, Billy Corgan and and even Neil Diamond have premiered songs and full albums on the site. This has created a sense of intimacy with their fans through blogs, web stores and in response some receive thousands of messages from MySpace visitors.

For Canadian musicians, such as Broken Social Scene, Emm Gryner and Wintersleep, MySpace provides an opportunity to be heard by music lovers on an international level, without the hassle for fans to have to seek obscure downloads. This is also true for local Ottawa acts, including Million Dollar Marxists and The Architects, who have a large following on their MySpace sites.

The social network is showing few signs of quieting down in the near future. In 2005 Rupert Murdoch, the chief executive of the News Corporation, paid $580 million to purchase MySpace’s parent company Intermix Media Inc. A recent deal with Interscope Records plans to use MySpace as a launching ground for record deals for unsigned artists, as well as sponsoring international tours.

Critics of this web community, including many weary parents, fear that it is a mere cyber hangout, where teens can push the limits of MySpace censors with scantily-clad pictures and an array of four-letter words.

The March issue of Vanity Fair calls it “a virtual city of sex and youth culture.” However, despite what anxious parents may believe, thousands of youth are logging on and exploring uncharted music.

Through a few simple keyword searches, MySpace allows the community to connect with lesser-known artists. The website acts as more than just an online dating service for teens. Rather, MySpace is a breeding ground for thousands of unknown bands hoping to get their foot in the door.