DownEast delivers the music with 2-day festival

A two-day music festival, produced by Milo Matthews who was inspired to bring a brilliant singer/songwriting legend, is coming to Homer June 29-30.

Buffy Sainte-Marie was a graduating college senior in 1962 and hit the ground running in the early 1960s. That was after the beatniks and before the hippies.
All alone, she toured North America’s colleges, Indian reservations and concert halls, “meeting both huge acclaim and huge misperception from audiences and record companies who expected Pocahontas in fringes,” she wrote in her biography.

By age 24, Sainte-Marie had appeared all over Europe, Canada, Australia and Asia, receiving honors, medals and awards, which continue to this day. Her song, “Until It’s Time for You to Go,” was recorded by Elvis Presley and Barbra Streisand and Cher.

Her “Universal Soldier” became the anthem of the peace movement.
“I was introduced to her music when vacationing in Hawaii,” Matthews said. “I had missed her concert, and when I learned more about her, I was overwhelmed that she’s been around so long and I had never heard of her.”

Matthews said they wanted to build the festival around a major musician.
“I went to her website and called her manager,” he said. “I don’t recall any major shows in Alaska involving her.”

Sainte-Marie is now 73 years old and still performing.
The Alaska Native band, Pamyua, will open the show for Buffy at 8 p.m. June 28.
A line-up of local music will feature Matthews, Nellie Clay, Super Frequency, Yellow Cabin, BarRoom Roses, Caressa Starshine, Shawn Zuke, Sally Wills, Lindianne, Cindy McKenna, Sunrise and Sally Wills.

Matthews said he is envisioning the two-day festival as a chance for Homer folks and visitors alike to hear some great music. Camping spaces will be available, along with food, arts, crafts and music all day long.
“My desire to have the festival was to have one big act and surround it with, not just Homer, but all-Alaskan groups,” Matthews said. “I wanted to help bring people to Homer to boost the local economy.”

He will need volunteers to help.

“Other than Concert on the Lawn, it’s been a while since we’ve had a major music festival here,” Matthews said.

The event also will mark the inauguration of a specially built outdoor stage. It was originally built three years ago when a member of the Grateful Dead was scheduled to play Homer. When the show was cancelled, the stage was set aside.
“That was another point of inspiration for me – the introduction of the outside stage,” Matthews said.

There are no age restrictions on the event, with kids aged 12, and under, free.
Tickets are available at the Down East Saloon, or www.inticketing.com. For more information, check out the Down East website at www.downeastsaloon.com.

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Buffy leads Canadian conquest of Woodford (Video)

Article by Martin Buzacott From: The Australian

TWELVE months ago, the annual Woodford Folk Festival was almost wiped off the cultural map during the Queensland floods.

With torrential rain reducing attendance numbers by 20 per cent and sweeping away vital and expensive infrastructure, many thought that after 25 years the end had come for the much-loved but perennially debt-plagued signature event of the Queensland Folk Federation.

The Moreton Bay Regional Council emerged as the white knight, buying the200ha site on a 50-year leaseback deal to the festival, and the utopian, marvellously over-ambitious event between Christmas and New Year was back on for a 26th instalment. This time it incorporated the spin-off indigenous Festival of the Dreaming that had been postponed from its usual Queen's Birthday weekend timeslot because of the rebuilding.

Blessed with glorious weather, the punters returned, and despite pre-festival controversies over sponsorship and programming, many regulars ended up declaring it the best festival ever.

The symbolic earth mother of this rebirth proved to be the ageless polymath Buffy Sainte-Marie. In two blistering sets, the septuagenarian Canadian delivered an astonishing fusion of hard rock, protest folk, country and middle-of-the-road, all set against a compelling backdrop of Manitoban Native American chants.

In all, 65 Canadian artists (24 of them from Newfoundland) performed, with the sister duo Ennis being a standout, their tight vocal harmonies compensating for the intentional corniness of their between-song patter.

The world music component was led by barnstorming performances from Chinese-Mongolian band Hanggai, while Spanish cultures were well represented by the likes of singer-songwriter DePedro, guitarist Gerard Mapstone and singer Tania Balil's Candor Quebrao.

Gotye was an excellent choice as the headline act in the mainstage amphitheatre, providing an electric moment when his cover of Luiz Bonfa's Seville was unexpectedly revealed to be a source for the hit Somebody that I Used to Know.

Elsewhere, there was a head-spinning range of choice across 20 stages, workshops, street theatre, children's events, burlesque, freak shows, cultures and genres, while, as always, the spoken-word component of the festival covered political views that ranged from green to jade, teal and viridian.

In his public report at the close of the event, a relieved festival director Bill Hauritz announced that there would be "at least one more festival". It's a long way from the heady days when "500-year plans" were vaunted, but under the circumstances, the opportunity to do it one more time seems to be a minor miracle.

Woodford Folk Festival. December 27 to January 1.

Polymath and 1960s folk star Buffy Sainte-Marie delivered two blistering sets at the Woodford Folk Festival. Picture: Anthony Weate. Source: The Courier-Mail

Video: Take a look at the closing ceremony of Woodford Folk Festival.

Dreaming festival crosses cultures

Article originally published by TIM DOUGLAS http://www.theaustralian.com

SHE may have her roots firmly planted on the other side of the world, but veteran singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie identifies strongly with Aboriginal Australia.

Canadian Cree musician says her indigenous people - one of the largest First Nations cultures in North America - and Aboriginals share a strong, unwavering sense of place.

"The notion of land as place is vital for anyone who has become landless by virtue of exploitation," she says. "Europeans talk of going home to the 'old country'. Well, for indigenous people, this is the old country. All we've got. And often what we've got is nothing.

"We share many tragedies but we also share a lot of positives when we're together."

The musician, famous for writing the Academy Award-winning song Up Where We Belong (from the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman), touched down in Queensland this week ahead of her performances at the Dreaming and Woodford Folk festivals in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

This year marks the first time the Dreaming festival, an international celebration of indigenous music, arts and culture, has been staged as part of the larger Woodford event.

Sainte-Marie says she is honoured to be in the company of Australian indigenous musicians, such as rising melodic rock duo Busby Marou, Pitjantjatjara guitarist Frank Yamma and hip hop artist Candy Bowers, as well as international artists including Melanesian musician Wantok Kolektif and Hawaii's Kaumakaiwa Kanaka'ole.

"I've always enjoyed finding like-minded friends determined to stabilise and revitalise our cultures," she says. "It's interesting for me to see the 'pure' as well as the 'pop versions' in indigenous music and culture. Our cultures are like language: tools for communication about whatever we want to share, traditional or contemporary or both together. This kind of event is a great outlet for that.''

The Dreaming, now in its seventh year, will also feature exhibitions of art, writing and theatre in its own precinct inside the larger Woodford festival.

ARIA-award winner Gotye, hip-hop troupe the Herd and didge-roots exponent Xavier Rudd will play alongside Scottish folk legend Dougie MacLean and rising Australian blues singer Hollerin' Matt Southon at the main festival, which started on Tuesday. Some 200 performers, from as far afield as Tibet and the Congo, will feature at the event over its seven days.

Woodford director Bill Hauritz says the variety of acts is exciting. "There is such diversity in the type of music," he says. "From traditional folk to reggae to hip hop, we are sure that there is strength in the program to match the audience."

Photo Robert Tinker.

Your guide to Woodford Folk Festival

FESTIVAL HIGH NOTES

DECEMBER 27

Skipping Girl Vinegar, The Grande, 11am

Renee Geyer, Concert stage, 3pm

Husky, The Grande, 4pm

Mop and the Dropouts, The Dreaming, 8.30pm. The Dreaming Festival, with drama, spoken word and music, every day of the festival.

DECEMBER 28

Mason Rack Band, Blues Town, 5.30pm

Elixir featuring Katie Noonan, The Grande, 6.30pm

The Eagle and the Worm, Amphitheatre, 7.30pm

Gotye, Amphitheatre, 8.45pm

Busby Marou, The Dreaming, 10.30pm

The Medics, The Dreaming, midnight

DECEMBER 29

Jordie Lane, Bazaar, 11am

Peggy Seeger, Concert, 1pm

Buffy Sainte-Marie, Concert, 2.30pm

Tuba Skinny, Parlour, 6.30pm

Owl Eyes, Amphitheatre, 7.30pm

The Herd, Amphitheatre, 8.30pm

DECEMBER 30

8 Ball Aitken, Blues Town, 5.30pm

Frank Yamma, The Dreaming, 7pm

Jesca Hoop, Amphitheatre, 7.30pm

Xavier Rudd, Amphitheatre, 8.30pm

DECEMBER 31

Colin Hay, The Grande, 12.30pm

Dougie Maclean, The Grande, 9pm

Pugsley Buzzard, Blues Town, 9pm

Dubmarine, The Dreaming, 10pm

JANUARY 1

Scotland and Ireland: Dougie Maclean, Tim Edey and Brendan Power, The Grande, 11.45am

Colin Hay, The Grande, 3.30pm

Tinpan Orange, Concert, 5pm

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WHAT ELSE AT WOODFORD

CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL: In its own precinct with activities 8.30am-5pm daily, like circus, storytelling, music, craft, clowns, dance workshops, painting, cooking.

VARIETY: Funny folk like Tripod, Anthony Ackroyd and Fiona Scott are among a long list of acts.

CIRCUS VAUDEVILLE: Lola the Vamp mixes it up with Rita Fontaine, Flipside Circus, and Hoopla Clique and many other acrobatically inclined performers.

DANCE: From Morris dancing to Zumba, Bhutanese, Nepali and Congolese, expect to be treated to dance styles the world over.

VISUAL ARTS : Pottery, weaving, glass-blowing, life drawing

TALK: The 150 sessions includes topics such as Islam, permaculture, astrology and wombats.

WORLD FOLKLINES: From the Transbalkan Express to Sufi Music Group and the UQ Pipe Band.

THE DREAMING: World indigenous artists from Canadian icon Buffy Sainte-Marie to Frank Yamma and Busby Marou.

For more festival Ticket information, go to http://woodfordfolkfestival.woodfordia.com/index.php?id=79

ImagineNATIVE: Buffy Sainte-Marie lends experienced voice to indigenous issues (Video)

Article Via CBC News

Buffy Sainte-Marie has been an inspiration to so many since starting her career as a folk singer in the 1960s and branching out into electronic music, digital art, visual art, acting and, most recently, Powwow rock. Many people who participated in ImagineNATIVE's In Discussion with Buffy Sainte-Marie event Friday evening were eager to tell her so and to thank her both for her body of work and positive influence.Possibly the most poignant moment of the night came when someone asked the singer what inspires her and what keeps her going. Her response could easily have been clichéd, but Sainte-Marie — a true artist and student of the human condition — said it was her time visiting and touring small communities, meeting people and hearing their stories that really inspire her to keep going.

Whenever she tours, for every big city stop, she also plays at a small aboriginal community nearby or in the same country. This is what keeps her fire burning: meeting people on the front lines fighting for their rights and freedoms — an experience humbling for anyone, even the iconic Sainte-Marie, an outspoken activist for aboriginal rights who was blacklisted for decades in the United States.

When I spoke with Sainte-Marie, she talked about how ImagineNATIVE has grown and the importance of the festival incorporating many different art forms, not just cinema or new media.

"I think everybody is creative and ImagineNATIVE is a place to showcase creativity of all kinds," she said. There is a definite sense of community in the arts, with artists from all disciplines coming together and talking about their work. Sainte-Marie spoke about the diversity in the art on display and how it's important that the festival allows indigenous artists from all over the world participate.

"Geographically, it's not the same. Tribally, it's not the same. Linguistically, it's not the same. But, if you see a lot of it, you start to see a true picture of who we are," she said.Also, her performance on Saturday night was a definite highlight of the festival. It brought together artists and viewers alike for a celebration in a way that only music can.

Friday's talk was hosted by the CBC's Wab Kinew, who shared with the audience a bit of what he's been up to: a project called 8th Fire, which looks at contemporary aboriginal and settler relationships with the goal of talking about reconciliation and renewed identities. Set to air in January 2012, the TV program will be a four-part series of hour-long instalments and will also have supplemental material online.

VIDEO Buffy St. Marie in Concert Toronto. Phoenix Club ImagineNative Media Arts Film Festival 2011

Woodford Folk Festival 2011-12 - Saving the world

The Woodford Folk Festival, an event of international standing, is held annually over six days and six nights from Dec 27th through to January 1st. More than 2000 performers and 580 events are programmed featuring local, national and international guests. This year the 7th festival of The Dreaming is being featured at the Woodford Folk Festival. The Dreaming, Australia’s International Indigenous Festival, will be showcased in a special precinct within the Woodford festival where Indigenous music, theatre, talks and galleries will be featured.

There are plenty of others. Over 400 acts from across the planet will come together for this years Woodford Folk Festival from the 27th December to the 1st January.

You can "Occupy Woodford" at The Great Green Debate. “The Plutocrats Now Run The Country” is the topic; with Professor Ian Lowe, Clive Hamilton, Larissa Waters, S Sorrenson, Jo-Anne Bragg and Anthony Ackroyd.

This year, Woodfordia will add The Dreaming Festival to the Woodford Folk Festival experience; we can expect some magical music from folk legend Buffy Sainte-Marie, Pitjantjatjara man Frank Yamma and new discovery Sue Ray.

For more information and this year's program visit www.woodfordfolkfestival.com and stay tuned to ABC Coast FM for details on how to win tickets and when we'll be there for the national broadcast.

by Karyn Wood Read More

Festival Village Map

imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival (Interview)

Buffy Sainte-Marie, the Canadian Cree folk-music icon and activist, headlines this year’s imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, a celebration of indigenous culture and talent kicking off in Toronto this week.  She spoke to The Globe recently about songs, soldiers and castles made of sand.

You’re closing this year’s imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival with a concert. What can your audience expect from you?

It’s a mix of things people expect and things that will really surprise people. My audiences usually ask for Up Where We Belong, Until It’s Time for You to Go and Universal Soldier. But we’ll do stuff from our new album, Running for the Drum, which is pow-wow rock, featuring my band. It isn’t new to aboriginal audiences, but maybe it is to other people. It’s really up tempo, with a real power to the words.

Do you think your audience sees Universal Soldier in contemporary terms, or is it a song that connects them to another era?

I think people get it immediately that the song is still relevant. If people discovered me in the sixties, they might look at Universal Soldier as a song that was important to their youth. If they discovered me during my Sesame Street years in the seventies, they may never have heard of the song because it was blacklisted by then.

Certainly, it’s an important song. But it does seem like an odd one to call out as a song request, like it’s a pop hit or something.

Well, most people might not know about Until It’s Time For You to Go, even though they’ve heard it. They probably heard it by Elvis Presley or Barbra Streisand or Neil Diamond or Bobby Darin or somebody.

Likewise, they might not know you wrote Up Where We Belong. They might not know you wrote Universal Soldier, for that matter.

A lot of people think Donovan wrote Universal Soldier. I did a concert with him four or five months ago in London. He only does his own songs, except for two of mine. So it’s easy to see how that confusion would arise.

As long as you get the royalties, right?

[Laughs.] For Universal Soldier I didn’t, because I gave away the publishing for $1 when I first got to Greenwich Village. Ten years later I bought it back for 25 grand. Show business is a tricky ladder.

What do you think of today’s youth activism and their reactions to war?

A lot of people are so dependent upon the corporate reality. We don’t go to college for the same reasons we used to – for a general education and to learn about the world and to gain the skills needed to participate in the world. Now people go to college for a meal ticket, and a place to stand in line of some plantation owner who kind of rules their lives from then on.

Which is a dangerous thing, obviously.

Yes. I think we’re so co-opted by the money interests, who I think have a huge responsibility for war. The average person doesn’t think very much about who’s responsible for war.

Your song Universal Soldier suggests we’re all responsible, right?

It spells that out pretty clearly. It’s a song about individual responsibility for the world we live in. But there’s so much money in war. If somebody’s going to write a new song about the war, have them write about war being such a racket.

Reading your bio, I see descriptions like a “spellbinding performer” and “audacious attitude,” which I think translates to “swagger” today. What kind of adjectives do you prefer when describing yourself?

I don’t know. I just think of myself as very fortunate. I feel as though I’m an overgrown kid. I had the same skills as other kindergarten kids, except as an adult I’ve managed to hold onto them. I think that’s something that resonates with people.

Certainly your old Sesame Street fans would get that.

I have a PhD in fine arts, but I never took any music lessons. I make it up, the same as any kid does. I’ve held onto the same kind of skills that every child uses when you take them to the beach. They use their imaginations. They make castles in the sand. The skills are the natural gifts that the Creator gives us all. The lucky ones become artists, and the very lucky ones get to become professional artists. It’s an incredible privilege.

This interview has been condensed and edited.

The Beat featuring Buffy Sainte-Marie plays Toronto’s Phoenix Concert Theatre on Oct. 22.

A note about imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival

Typically the most hip and with-it of Toronto’s smaller film festivals, imagineNATIVE, which runs from Wednesday to Sunday and showcases indigenous media from Canada and abroad, is increasingly becoming not really a film festival at all, but a pan-media experience.

For instance, an atmospheric audio-only collage by British Columbia writer and performer Janet Rogers, of the Six Nations of the Grand River, will run within a program of experimental short films Thursday. Similarly, Inuk artist Joey Shaw has a soundscape piece as part of another shorts program Saturday focusing specifically on how it feels to straddle native and non-native worlds.

There’s no shortage of regular feature films, including Wednesday’s opening gala film On the Ice, about two friends in an isolated Alaskan town entangled in a deceitful secret. The film won the prize for best first feature at the last Berlin International Film Festival.

Another highlight is the screening Friday and Saturday of the acclaimed Samson & Delilah, about two youths in the isolated Australian outback and which won the Camera D’Or prize at Cannes in 2009, plus a screening of the documentary about the making of the film.

Yet it’s all the gallery installations by indigenous artists, photo exhibits and music by native performers (including Buffy Sainte-Marie performing Saturday at the Phoenix Concert Theatre) than turns imagineNATIVE into more than a festival, but a scene.

See www.imaginenative.org for details, or the program guide available at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, where the films will be shown.

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1968's Sky River Rock Festival revisited

Sky River Rock Festival 

That's the opening day of the weekend Festival of the River. Groups on Friday's bill include Big Brother and the Holding Company, Canned Heat, Buffy Sainte-Marie, It's A Beautiful Day, Jesse Colin Young, The Daily Flash and Jef Jaisun. A year before the more-famous 1969 summer spree, a core group from Seattle's blossoming counterculture produced the Sky River Rock Festival and Lighter Than Air Fair over Labor Day weekend, 1968. The site was a 40-acre organic raspberry farm on the banks of the Skykomish River, just outside Sultan. Nobody seems to agree on who actually played — though the Grateful Dead, Santana, Big Mama Thornton and comedian Richard Pryor were definitely there, and so was the San Francisco Mime Troupe. Nor does anyone seem to know how many people came, since in addition to 13,000 paying customers, thousands of others sneaked in through the brush off an adjacent country road. Recently, Seattle promoter Terry Morgan decided he wanted to pay tribute to this iconic Northwest event by bringing together some of the musicians who played there 43 years ago. The result is "Sky River Revisited," a Friday show that kicks off Arlington's free, three-day Festival of the River, sponsored by the Stillaguamish Tribe. By Paul de Barros -Seattle Times arts writer Read More