New Orleans Meets Nashville at Gallagher Park

Anticipation is something that drives all music junkies, doesn’t it?

The sense of anticipation that accompanies the knowledge that one of your favourite acts or artists is heading this way, accounts for an important part of the process of attending a live music performance.

It could be that we are so spoiled in this day and age, with the countless and superbly produced festivals of the summer and the great fall, winter and spring programming presented in urban and rural community theatres, that anticipation may not play as big a role in attending concerts as it once did.

I’ve also always loved the sense of anticipation I’ve experienced as my fingers fly through a bin of used vinyl found in a store I’ve never ventured into before. You never know what you’re going to find and over the years plenty of welcome surprises have stared me, and you, in the face, inside book, record, and thrift stores.

So what has been the recent reminder regarding anticipation and the role it plays, for lack of a better word, in consuming music?

It’s that I have been looking forward to seeing Del McCoury once again and that I have not had the opportunity to do so since the bluegrass master all but  “set the woods on fire” around the Blueberry Bluegrass site back in 1996.

Consider the singing, songwriting and guitar playing bandleader is not only touring with his acclaimed quintet that includes sons Rob and Ronnie. McCoury has teamed up with the New Orleans based Preservation Hall Jazz Band and that has only heightened the sense of anticipation about the impending main stage show on Saturday August 6 at Gallagher Park. The anticipation has been building since the day Edmonton Folk Music Festival producer Terry Wickham announced the line-up of the 2011 fest two months ago.

For fans of tradition in Americana music, the roots don’t come any deeper than this combination, and the limbs are as strong as creosote soaked railroad ties.

The timing for these two musical forces to work together is perfect, as we’ve needed a reminder of what some of the requisite ingredients of Americana music are. Unless I somehow missed an important chapter in the evolution of American folk, blues and jazz music, it sure wasn’t about the navel gazing angst of the solitary troubadour that drove this art form during its formative years.

It’s hard to imagine that anyone who witnessed McCoury’s Blueberry performances doesn’t have them indelibly stamped in their memory banks.

As Mr. McCoury would approach the mic stand following every tune, his wide grin would light up the stage and shine a light on the audience a few seconds before he’d utter a word.

This is a man who loves, and embraces everything put in front of him when he hits the stage. He serves his band and his audience with an enthusiasm that is beyond inspiring. The onetime member of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys encourages requests rather than making an audience feel like they are collectively privileged to be in the company of a great artist.

But this time around we will be on the receiving end of a new musical spin with McCoury teaming with Jaffe and his Preservation Hall crew, and a brew that the two camps have been creating since coming together a couple of years ago.


“I was the first artist to sign on to the Preservation recording project that Ben (Jaffe) was producing. And no, I hadn’t had any contact with Ben before that. I certainly knew the band and was aware of the music and the history,” says McCoury, who sang After You’ve Gone with the Preservation Hall band and recorded with the ensemble in the hallowed hall, as did a string of diverse and equally impressive artists like Richie Havens, Yim Yames aka Jim James, Tom Waits, and, as we should note, Brandi Carlisle, who is also appearing at the Edmonton Folk Festival this weekend.

Since the release of the Preservation disc in 2010, an expanded version of the album has been released that also includes McCoury singing Careless Love.

That bluegrass and trad New Orleans jazz should collide in such a manner is by no means a stretch for either act.

“Bill Monroe never told me this, but he did tell Peter Rowan years ago, that he’d often slip down to New Orleans for a week and soak up all the music in that scene. You can hear it the New Orleans rhythmic influence in some of Bill’s playing and arrangements,” added McCoury, who is making his only summer Canadian appearance with the Preservation crew at the Edmonton festival.

Asked if there were any plans for a television special documenting this successful collaboration, McCoury’s first response to the question was a chuckle.

“Well, I haven’t heard about anything like that yet. But that doesn’t mean it might not be in the works. My wife and my boys are the astute ones when it comes to business, so they might be putting something together that I don’t know about. I’m always the last to know.”

If you want a little taste of what these two acts have cooked up and a preview of what awaits us on main stage Saturday night at Gallagher Park,…..there’s that anticipation thing hovering again……., there are a handful of wonderful clips of the McCoury band and Preservation Hall on YouTube.

By the way, Points North will feature a full hour with Del McCoury in the next few weeks.

Preservation Hall Jazz Band poster from 1971


Workshops haven’t been the focus of attention when it comes to the Big Valley Jamboree, but for the past decade the Songwriter’s Tent on the Camrose Exhibition site has played host to a number of exceptional workshops.

The recent long weekend proved to be another successful run of tunesmith combos for Jolayne Motiuk, who produces the sessions with help, on the sponsorship end of things, from Axe Music and Big Valley.

The Sunday afternoon session saw host Mike Plume glance to his right and see Tim Hus, Russell deCarle, guitarist Steve Briggs, accordion player Denis Keldie, Nashville tunesmith Wyatt Easterling and the Travelling Mabels strung out across the workshop stage.

A full house was treated to wide variety of sounds that embraced swing, talkin’ blues, Celtic influenced folk, hardcore country and beautifully layered vocal arrangements from the Mabels.

All of the acts delivered, each and every time they were called upon. Having a guitar ace in Briggs, of the Bebop Cowboys, falling in at every opportunity added some spice to the proceedings. Keldie and Plume also weren’t shy about finding their places in the set that was 100% original material.

I won’t dissect all the performances, but there’s something about witnessing the growth of an artist at regular intervals that is as rewarding as it is enlightening.

In this instance I am speaking of Tim Hus who has been touring non-stop for the last year behind his latest album Hockey Town.


Hus has certainly found his own voice over the past few years. As much as one can pinpoint the influences of Stompin’ Tom and Ramblin’ Jack, Hus has one foot in a tradition of aural delivery while he trawls for contemporary content to great effect.

His voice has become a sturdy, personality filled instrument and he rolls out his songs with precise but inflective phrasings that allow the listener to easily absorb everything he is singing about.

Talkin’ Saskatoon Blues was just one of a handful of winners delivered by this Albertan who also made an appearance with the Ian Tyson Tribute earlier in the day on the Big Valley mainstage. Hus chose Tyson’s MC Horses for the occasion, and his performance received a rousing response from the Big Valley crowd.

Hus has any number of dates booked around the province this month. This weekend he plays both ends of the province, with a performance at the Interplay Festival in Fort McMurray on Friday August 5 and then a main stage show at the Mountain Music Arts Fest in Carstairs on Saturday night.

For complete touring info on this hard working, maverick country artist, head to timhus.ca.