The weather cooled off for Day 2 of the Edmonton Folk Fest but not the music!

Unlike the day 1 lineup all being on the mainstage, day 2 kicks off with performances on 7 stages, despite only having shows scheduled in the evening, they STILL managed to squeeze in a scheduled 15 shows!

The numbering of the stages at the Edmonton Folk Festival is a bit of a mystery … Stage 1 is next to 7 – with the main gates in between the two, while stage 6 is the furthest away from the entrance … and with all the performances starting at about the same time, catching at least some of everyone was impossible even if the day didn’t become full of pieces of Head and Heart.

 

Head and Heart songwriter’s session kicked off the festival lineup on stage 6.  Originally scheduled to be day 2 headliners Jason Isbell and Brandi Carlile, along with Jason’s wife Amanda Shires – who ALSO had a full set on stage 6 sandwiched between Head and Heart and Jason’s mainstage performance, some last minute changes were made this morning when Brandi wasn’t able to get on site in time.  There were a few jokes about her failure to leave ample travel time to account for delays … on her private plane.  Luckily Mary Gautier graciously offered to step in for the Rose Cousin’s MCd set.

 

The Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer

 

Closing out the night for Stage 7 was Edmonton local Joe Nolan.  In between coverage of Head and Heart as a band and the members individually, a little bit of Joe Nolan always worth making a run for the opposite end of the grounds, whether he’s performing an acoustic set or with a full band.

 

Every time I see Joe, it’s the same question … When’s the acoustic album coming out?! … and he always does something different which is the benefit to never having a set list and just playing it by ear based on audience feedback.  For his Folk Festival debut, he spoke a single from his latest album, Another Dead Poet.  No accompaniment, just the spoken word.  Being able to pull that off with a song is a testament to his talent as a songwriter.

 

 

The mainstage headliners for Friday were Jason Isbell and Brandi Carlile, performing solo sets in addition to what was also scheduled to be a group set earlier in the day until Brandi had to get Mary Gautier to step in.

 

Jason Isbell

 

Brandi Carlile brought smiles and laughter and a mutual appreciation for the beauty of the festival grounds at night.  While her delay in arriving caused her to miss the songwriter’s session earlier in the day alongside Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires, she more than made up for it closing out the night … from a constant change of guitars to a “how high can you sing” contest with her bass player … to the grand piano that awaited her later in the set.