Music festival this weekend
News
Posted By Marc Zienkiewicz
Updated 1 month ago
The fourth annual Fire 'n Water Music Festival is set for the August long weekend in Lac du Bonnet, and organizer Sheldon Sveinson says it's going to be bigger and better than ever this year.
"We've got a tremendous show planned, and I think last year's show really got a lot of buzz going and this year will be great," Sveinson says.
There's a huge lineup of performers for this year's show, which has been pushed up to the August long weekend to help draw in the huge influx of visitors that come to the community that weekend.
Performing this year are returning acts The Magnificent 7's and swing band The F-Holes, who both wowed the crowd last year as festival headliners.
"I love Lac du Bonnet," Magnificent 7's vocalist and bassist Ida Sawabe said. "I don't get out of the city too often."
Dubbed as the Broken Social Scene of roots music, The Magnificent 7's are a musical collective based out of downtown Winnipeg. Combining traditional bluegrass instrumentation with a sense of modern mayhem, The Magnificent 7's create their own brand of prairie inspired roots music.
The F-Holes, who recently performed again in Lac du Bonnet as part of the Fire 'n Water concert series at the Lakeview Hotel, have shared the stage with the likes of Juno nominated artists Elliot Brood, Twilight Hotel, Nathan and The Perpetrators, as well as The Weber Brothers and Dan Frechette.
Nathan and Frechette will also perform at this year's festival. Folk group Nathan is fronted by Winnipeg songwriters Keri Latimer and Shelley Marshall, currently touring and promoting their latest album, Jimson Weed.
It is their second album as a band and first with Nettwerk Records. It was released in the fall of 2004 in Canada and the U.S. No hype, nobody crying to catch a glimpse of them at airports, but out of nowhere it began a sturdy climb up campus and public radio charts all across North America and a loyal following began to grow. In 2005 the album received a Juno Award nomination.
Frechette hails from Pinawa and is literally the town's folk hero. He released his first album of folk music, Lucky Day, in 2005. Frechette, who didn't study music in school, says music has been a large part of his life for as long as he can remember.
"The first memory I have is when I was sitting in front of a Fisher Price record player when I was three years old," he says.
Since then, he has played at such major musical events as the Winnipeg Folk Festival, where he opened for Grammy Award-winning American blues musician Taj Mahal.
"He gave me a slap on the back — that was a big moment," says Frechette, who played in front of 10,000 people at the concert.
He has also had his songs covered by other artists — Winnipeg band The Duhks, who have won international acclaim with their album Beautiful Dreamer, have turned Frechette's song "The Mists Down Below" into a music video that premiered on CMT.
Other performers include Cara Luft, founding member of Juno Award-winning folk music trio The Wailin' Jennys, Flying Fox and the Hunter Gatherers (hailed by the Winnipeg Sun as one of Winnipeg's "most acclaimed bands") and multiple Canadian Juno Award-winner Bill Bourne, who performed in Lac du Bonnet two years ago as part of the Winnipeg Folk Festival Home Routes concert series.
"The audiences have been great," he said about Lac du Bonnet. "I love to have a close connection with the audience."
There will also be a variety of kids' performers at the festival. Winnipeg's Alphabet Soup, Just Kiddin', and magicians Scott Burton will entertain the children during the weekend-long festival, which starts July 30.
Once again, the event will be split into two parts — the evening cabaret shows will take place inside the Lac du Bonnet Community Centre (tickets are $15) while the outdoor stage portion is free and takes place during the Saturday and Sunday of the festival.
MC for the evening shows will be Winnipeg comedian Big Daddy Tazz. Known as the "Bi-Polar Buddha," Tazz is equal parts comedian and motivational speaker who likes to enlighten, educate and inspire. As a result, his one-man shows have drawn rave reviews and standing ovations from coast-to-coast.
For more info see firenwater.ca.
