August long weekend- a music lover's paradise in the Frontenacs

Aug 07, 2014

The August long weekend is one of the best for music lovers in the area. Two of the music festivals we have been loyally covering for a number years celebrated their 10-year anniversaries last weekend. The first was the Flinton Jamboree.
Founded a decade ago by Duane and Donna Thibault, the Jamboree has been growing exponentially since its birth. This year fans of bluegrass got more than their fill during three days of music at the Flinton Recreation Centre grounds. The line up included Saturday night headliner David Church with Steve Piticco & South Mountain plus numerous award-winning players including Bill White and White Pine, Dallas Daisy, The Tebworth Brothers and the Ducharme and Black Family bands.
One bluegrass foursome that I was fortunate enough to see on Sunday afternoon just before the festival wrapped up was Randy Morrison & the Flatt River Band, who played a stellar and varied set. Early on they offered up classic old faves like “Faded Love” and The Stanley Brothers' "I Saw A Choo Choo" and later in the set Morrison did an instrumental version of "Listen to the Mocking Bird". A few lesser-known tunes by well-known giants were added to the mix - a Hank Williams' gospel tune called "When God Comes and Gathers His Jewels” and Merle Haggard's “Goodbye Comes Hard For Me”.
Randy Morrison is an award-winning fiddler, and he opened and closed the set with two instrumental medleys that demonstrated his prowess. Guitarist and lead vocalist Richard (Dickie) Dugal was equally impressive. He was front and centre on tunes like “Roll on Muddy River” and he admirably blue-grassed up Webb Pierce's 1953 hit, “There Stands the Glass”. He played his original “Blue Grass for Fun” which was just that.
Morrison and his band are a great example of what the best, tightest and most polished bluegrass foursomes have to offer: stellar fiddle and banjo talents, a solid and lively bass, good vocals and a friendly camaraderie that makes their playing together appear as easy as breathing.
Meanwhile south of Sydenham at the Loughborough Lake campground, Del Vezeau was manning the lakeside venue for the 10th annual Canadian Guitar Festival. Many fans traveled countless miles by plane, train, bus and car to get to the eclectic three-day festival, which showcases the best finger picking and internationally renowned guitarists from all over the world.
The event, as always, included an amateur finger picking competition that this year attracted 25 competitors, some from as far away as New Zealand and Japan. Contestants included Pino Forastiere from Rome, Italy, Jon Gomm from the UK, Michael Manring from the US and others. Opening this year was last year's competition winner Justin St. Pierre from Abitibi via Montreal.
I caught Ray Montford and his trio on Friday night. Hailing from Ottawa, Montford plays in an atmospheric style and his powerful forays were equaled by drummer Ben Riley and bassist Russ Boswell, who together formed a tight knit trio. Montford's all-original repertoire covered every emotion and then some and he is especially good at building up his tunes from introspective starts to full throttle, over the top, climactic heights.
Highlights on the heavier side of the set included “Shine On”, and “Big as the Moon”, both from his 2012 CD titled "Vintage is Now". Montford reined it in and played one acoustic tune from the CD titled "Summer Ride”.
Del Vezeau, who founded the festival and continues on as its artistic director, said he will continue to man the helm “as long as people continue to show up.” One fan arrived at 9 pm on Friday night after flying to New York from Houston and driving directly to the festival from La Guardia airport. The Canadian Guitar Festival is a yearly must for its loyal fans.