Heather Latter
It’s not just the headliners who will be heating up the stage at the “Harmony of Nations” music festival, which runs this Friday and Saturday under the tent at the Sorting Gap Marina.
“All the musicians are so talented,” enthused organizer Jamie Petrin. “They are so accomplished—it’s unbelievable.”
For instance, she indicated Julie Strom, one half of the drumming duo “JunKtion,” just finished performing with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Ben Folds and Ingrid Michaelson at the Red Rocks Concert Venue in Colorado.
And earlier this year she gave a performance with the Guelph Symphony Orchestra where she premiered a piece written for her by German composer, Marco Hertenstein.
According to former resident Rebecca Cornell, who attended the performances, it was “unbelievable and indescribable.”
“Julie was surrounded by percussion instruments and played them like a demon,” she described.
“Having played percussion with both the high school band and the community orchestra, I thought I’d seen it all. Julie’s skill is at a whole new level. Seeing is believing,” added Cornell.
To make up “JunKtion,” Strom teamed up with jazz drummer, Allison Miller, to achieve a blend of classical and jazz styles.
“By using a combination of ‘real’ drums and percussion, ‘found’ instruments (junk yard materials and scrap metal), electronics, and theatrical nuance, limitless possibilities of compositional experimentation are explored,” Petrin noted, citing Ojibway singer-songwriter, Nick Sherman, is another act not to be missed.
“He performed at the Harmony of Nations Music Festival in 2014,” she said. “We were so impressed, we invited him back.”
“Nick was amazing last year,” stressed retired high school music teacher John Dutton.
“Unfortunately many people missed him because of his early timeslot,” he added. “My suggestion–Don’t miss him this year. He’s on his way to the national stage.”
Petrin added his gentle voice is rich with honesty and the vitality of youth, but tempered with world-weariness, atop his strong, simple guitar.
“His deeply personal songs about ‘the best and worst days of the last four years,’ inspired by the lives of people in his community, events in the world around him, and his Aboriginal heritage resonate with soul-brushing candour as he sings the boreal forest blues,” she expressed.
Brent Newman is a Canadian singer/songwriter some locals may have seen recently at Cornell Farms when he performed a few weeks ago as part of a fundraiser for Community Chest.
“What a musician and song-writer,” Kim Cornell voiced. “No wonder he is in such demand both in England and North America.”
Newman, who grew up in Fort Frances, has been writing and recording music for nearly 20 years.
He has lived in London, England for the last 15 years—having success leading a band (The Koreans) and then later as a solo artist releasing three solo albums to date.
He returned to Canada last year and has been playing and writing his music with Fort Frances roots rock band, Rough Cut Pine, made up of local musicians Jim Newman, Robroy Donaldson and Bill Shine.
Meanwhile, Petrin said Thunder Bay’s Greenbank Trio is sure to impress with their three-part harmony vocals and upbeat retro ’60s sound.
The group’s self titled Greenbank EP (2012), described as “a feel-good, folk-rock romp” (NewCanadianMusic.ca) grabbed the attention of Ontario audiences, landing the threesome opening slots for groups like Chicago, REO Speedwagon, and Leann Rimes.
The Trio’s second effort, Into the Wind (EP, 2014), takes listeners on a journey across time and place.
Another act hailing from Northwestern Ontario is Atikokan’s Sunday Wilde.
“She is a powerful and intense vocalist, a rare voice that speaks from the primal soul,” Petrin said.
Wilde is a newcomer on the music scene and is a self taught piano player, when she picked up the piano in 2009.
However, her newly released album hit number one on SiriusXM Radio BB King’s Bluesville, number one on Amazon Best Sellers List and won Best International Blues Release of the Year.
She is also winner of the first-annual Vocal Vibes Artist of the Year, winner of Best Female Blues Act of the Year 2012 on SevernFm (UK), and the winner of the best International Release on blues411.
Finally, Petrin noted the Metis Fiddlers Quartet are not to be missed.
“The unique and infectious rhythms of traditional Métis and native fiddling have found champions in the four multi-talented young siblings who form Canada’s vivacious Métis Fiddler Quartet,” she voiced.
A family that shares Ukrainian, Belgian and French-Canadan Metis roots, the versatile, Toronto-based ensemble of Alyssa, Conlin, Nicholas and Danton Delbaere-Sawchuk perform the music of their ancestors with virtuosity and zest.
“The Quartet has gained a following through its travels across much of Canada, to Washington DC, New York City and Scotland, performing for large audiences in major venues as well as in intimate settings and schools,” Petrin added, citing each member of the Métis Fiddler Quartet is a gifted and award-winning artist in his and her own right.
These musicians will join the headlining acts—Cape Breton musician Ashley MacIssac, Tom Wilson, with his band LeE HARVeY OsMOND, and Rik Emmett, well-known for over a dozen platinum albums from his band “Triumph.”
Local performers Bob Olson from Bergland, Ira Johnson originally from Seine River First Nation, Kings of None from Fort Frances, Ethan Armit from Dryden, Jamie Labrador from Thunder Bay, Ryan Van Belleghem from Kenora, and The Wild Horses from Naicatchwein First Nation will also be performing on the main stage between acts.
With concerts scheduled for the evenings, the daytime hours are filled with workshops at the Fort Frances Public Library Technology Centre.
They include workshops on Pow wow 101, song writing tips and tricks, history of blues music, percussion tips and tricks, traditional storytelling, make your own dream catcher, fun with three-part harmony, instrument jam, clogging, jigging and singing, fun with three part harmony, youth empowerment, reflections on the music industry and how to get published.
The schedule, performer bios, workshop summaries and tickets can be found at www.harmonyofnations.ca
Tickets are only $35 for one day and $60 dollars for a two-day pass.
Workshops are free to ticket holders.
Also check out “Harmony of Nations Festival” on Facebook, where artists spotlights have been posted, compete with videos and sound clips.
