City Folk Festival – Larkin Poe Steal the Show

This past Thursday, Orville Peck, The Once, Lucinda Williams, Larkin Poe and The Strumbellas fired up day one of Ottawa’s 25th City Folk Festival.

Larkin Poe,  Two sisters from Georgia, hit the Ravenlaw stage midway through the evening. Unbeknownst to me, they would be the biggest surprise of the night.

Lucinda Williams was outside on the mainstage. Her attitude was that of someone that really didn’t want to be there. Rumors were that Larkin Poe put on one hell of a show, so inside I headed to see what they were all about. The rumors were true. The sisters from down south know how to rock.  Their southern style blues-rock kick’s some serious ass. Lead singer/ Guitarist Rebecca Lovell is the total package, Her energy and charisma on stage is phenomenal. Banging her head, jumping around shredding the guitar, belting and wailing out vocals with her southern style and charm, and all the while with a smile on her face. Rebecca’s sister Megan Lovell’s unique style of playing lap steel is hands down amazing. Her slide playing really brings out that southern old school blues feel in each song. Her backing vocals complement her sisters quite nicely, giving them a very harmonious sound. Together with their band, the Lovell Sisters brought the house down and received a resounding ovation when their set came to an end.

Larkin Poe performs at Cityfolk in Ottawa. Photo: Renée Doiron

Earlier in the evening, Canadian country rocker Orville Peck lit up the main stage.  Dawned in his signature “Lone Ranger” style mask, Peck walked out and wasted no time in getting things underway. The audience response was one of knowing just who the Lone Ranger was and made it quite clear they had shown up early to see him.  Having only released his debut earlier this year it was easy to see he already has quite the following. Peck has a definite style of his own with hints of Elvis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison.  All in all Peck’s performance was a  great way to fire the festival up.

If you had made your way inside to the Ravenlaw Stage earlier in the evening, you were in for east coast Canadian treat. St. John’s, Newfoundlands folk band The Once had hit the stage and were performing to a packed house. Front Woman Geraldine Hollett and her band are quite remarkable. Hollett told tales of her upbringing, how her Father in grade 8 left school to work on the fishing boats. He had been caught in one of the big nets and dragged out to sea. Luckily the crew got him safely back aboard and resuscitated him back to life. All the while Hollett at the time was at home in her Mothers belly waiting to be born. For a small folk band from the east coast, they certainly packed quite the punch.

Toronto’s The Strumbella’s finished the night outside at the City stage. Releasing their fourth studio album this past March, the packed crowd was proof of how far the band has come since playing the small stage when the festival was held over at the Hogsback location.