Day 2. By Brian Wise.
Another perfect festival day at Port Fairy. Temperature around 30C, not too hot. Cool breeze arrives in the late afternoon like the famous Fremantle Doctor in WA. Tomorrow is predicted to be much hotter. The site is much busier, with many arriving early.
The old dormer tents are all gone since we were last here, replaced by larger, more spacious, and possibly cooler, circus type tents. The Shebeen tent is enormous, at least twice the size of the previous venue.
We start on the main stage with The Guitarists, hosted by Nick Charles. It is one of many ‘workshops’ where musicians share stories and songs. John Smith, Katie Spencer, Grassy Strings (an Indian duo), Jimi Hocking and Jeff Lang. After a round of each musician playing they then tried an ensemble piece, which included ‘Waltzing Matilda.’
From here it was to Stage 2 for on the On The Couch where Brian Nankervis (RocKwiz/ABC Radio) interviewed Kristin Hersh and later Ruthie Foster and invited them to play two songs each on acoustic guitars. From Hersh he prompted some interesting stories of her approach to music and to life, while from Foster he elicited details of her time in the US Navy and the start of her music career. Anyone wanting to learn about interviewing would do well to study Nankervis’ style as he is a role model in making the interviewees feel at ease and drawing out previously little known details.
Muireann Bradley, the 17-year-old Irish blues player who burst onto the scene early last year with her album I Keep These Old Blues, was impressive in her playing and singing as she took us through a brace of blues classics which appear on her album. Afterwards, everyone was raving about her. To me, there is still a lot of room for development in Bradley’s stage craft. Not introducing every song the same way would be a start. It also seems ironic that she sings songs about hard drinking and other activities when she probably isn’t old enough to legally drink herself. It will be interesting to see if she can come up with a batch of her own songs to supplement the setlist. But hey, she is just 17. I can’t remember being nearly as skilled at anything when I was that age let alone playing guitar like a veteran!
We hot footed over to Stage 2 catch the final part of the Charm of Finches set and I remain convinced that they are destined for much bigger things. Not that they might get to the level of Visa & Linda (who are on tomorrow). When you hear songs from their latest album you have to think that the sisters have a healthy career ahead. Maybe a stint with a well known touring artist (something that Jess and Holly from Lucius and Vika and Linda have done) will lift their profile.
At this point I have to mention that the sound at both main stages has been fantastic. Too often festivals are spoiled by ham-fisted sound engineers who equate volume with quality. At Port Fairy, so far, it has been close to perfect.
Ugandan born and raised, Texas-based John Muq has some great stories to tell and relates them in a charming way. (Muireann Bradley is touring with him and might get some clues). His debut album, Flying Away, was produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys who released on his label Easy Eye Sound. He sounds a little bit like Ondara who recently toured here. Lovely voice, amusing anecdotes and some memorable songs make Muq an artist to follow.
We arrived towards the end of the Troubadours of The World panel on Stage 1 where songwriters swapped songs in a format that has become familiar. Canadian Old Man Luedecke treated us to a story about Jordie Lane (who was on next) and a memorable song about growing old. MC Jamie McKew introduced Lane to finish off the session and, after one song, asked Lane to play a singalong as a closer, noting that they hadn’t prepared anything. Isn’t the first rule for lawyers never to ask a question to which you do not know the answer? It might also apply to interviewers.
Lane suggested that he did have song that we could all join in on and that it was about America where he now lives. We quickly got to the singalong line: “It’s that Wild West capitalist motherfucking bullshit.” I am pretty sure Jamie wasn’t expecting that one and I am absolutely certain that the Wiggles won’t be including it in their repertoire! Needless to say, not many of the audience members joined the singalong. Lane said that he thought McKew, who had earlier talked about Pete Seeger, might have cut the power off!
After checking out Kristin Hersh on Stage 2 with her acoustic set and another ice version of ‘The Cuckoo’ we arrived early at Stage 1 to get a seat for Ruthie Foster. The trick at such events where you want to get a seat is to arrive at a stage no later than the end of the set prior to the one you want. It worked.
Accompanied by keyboardist Scott Miller, Foster is the consummate entertainer. Having recently won a Grammy for her latest album Mileage in the Contemporary Blues Album category, she proceeded to demonstrate why she deserved that award. A mix of songs from that album and some of her previous records with a few blues and gospel classics from artists such as Mississippi John Hurt (‘Richland Women Blues’), Sister Rosetta Tharpe (‘Up Above My Head’) provided a deeply rewarding set list. Perhaps the song that received the largest ovation was a great rendition of her song ‘Phenomenal Woman.’ Like the rest of the show it was phenomenal.
A quick visit to Jordie Lane at Stage 2 saw him joined by his local band and Charm of Finches for that singalong song again. Then it was a quick check on Mick Thomas’ Roving Commission which not only sounded great but drew a large audience to the ‘mosh pit’ as they got stuck into some Weddoes classics.
A note on food. We have hardly paused to eat here but there appear to be dozens of good food stalls with a wide variety of offerings. However, this is no New Orleans JazzFest where you are bombarded by choice. Having hardly eaten any meat for months I had a strange hankering for a bacon and egg sandwich from the local Catholic primary school BBQ. It was simple and delicious ($9). (Fresh white bread. No sauce). I realised that this was going to break my vow for Lent not to have any meat products at all but maybe I can start that on Monday. I am also partial to a good scallop pie and, while I was initially delighted to find that the Seafood stall had one for $9, I was underwhelmed. Too long in the pie-warmer perhaps. My partner’s calimari was much better. I’m not on a budget at all but so far it has only been a sanger, a pie and a cup of coffee ($5.50)! Talk about cheap.
Looking forward to Sunday……