Folk Roots Radio Episode 340: Summerfolk 2017 Youth Discoveries & More New Releases

We’re up in Owen Sound ON on Episode 340 of Folk Roots Radio as we check out the fabulous Youth Discoveries showcase at Summerfolk Music & Crafts Festival. We’re bringing you interviews with two young duos – Moscow Apartment and Bare Sierra alongside music from the other performers who made it through the audition process to perform on the big stage at the festival. And, as always, we take a look at more of the latest new releases. Photo: Paige Ballagh and Clarissa Fortin (Jan Hall). Check out the full playlist below.

Summerfolk Youth Discoveries Program

The Summerfolk Youth Discoveries Program was created to give musicians between the ages of 14- 22 the experience of playing a major folk festival. Winners from preliminary rounds advance to the Discoveries Final Showcase in Owen Sound where five acts are selected to perform at the festival. They winners of the Youth Discoveries program perform as part of a special Friday evening showcase at the festival and also participate in workshop sessions during the weekend.

The Youth Discoveries who performed at Summerfolk 2017 were:

Clarissa Fortin
Clarissa Fortin wrote her first song at age five. It was a re-working of the popular classic, “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” called “Mousey Mousey,” and it garnered very little praise. After that she took a 15-year songwriting break. Clarissa spent her childhood in Port Elgin, hoarding overdue library books and searching in vain for fairies on the shores of Lake Huron. She eventually moved to Ottawa for university, and began writing songs again as a way to deal with homesickness. Clarissa composes lyrical odes to spiders, birds, turtles, and occasionally humans. She believes a folk ballad can be beautiful while also teaching you a fact or two about snapping turtle anatomy. She uses music to celebrate the people and places she loves, and to express the weird and wonderful inner workings of her own brain.

Paige Ballagh
Paige Ballagh is a vocalist, dancer and fiddler in her family band, The Ballaghs. Although her family sound mostly consists of Irish music, Paige has been developing her own sound through time with just her voice and a piano.

Moscow Apartment
Bright Fry and Pascale Padilla met through the Viva children’s choir when they were very young and sang for the Nutcracker at the Four Season Centre in Toronto. Now 14 & 15, the two Girls Rock Camp grads write feminist indie folk songs that showcase their intricate harmonies. Pascale once sang backup for Alice Cooper and Brighid has had her songs played on CBC and shared the stage with Feist and Sarah Slean. Moscow Apartment recently played at The Lula Lounge in Toronto and The Black Sheep Inn.

Bare Sierra
Originating from Halton Hills, Ontario, Bare Sierra is a alt. folk/rock duo comprising singer-songwriters John Muirhead and Jesse Bydevaate. The duo met at the age of 14 and have been playing together in various bands ever since, developing a sense of chemistry and comfortability in each other’s songwriting. Their unique sound is inspired by songwriting legends Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, and Frank Turner. After a summer tour of Ontario, the dup are working towards the release of their first EP.

Taylor Holden and the Law of Averages
The Law of Averages are a 6 piece alt. pop band from London, Ontario fronted by Taylor Holden. Their music features lush harmonies and infectious melodies that really engage the audience. Taylor Holden released her debut album “Home” (produced by Moe Berg, The Pursuit of Happiness) in 2016. Taylor Holden has shared the stage with the likes of The Sadies, Fortunate Ones and Sean McCann (of Great Big Sea).

And that’s all we have time for, this time around. Thanks to all the artists who share their music with us, and thank you for listening. We have a lot of great music and interviews to bring you on future shows. I hope you’ll join us!

Listen

You can listen to this episode again on Mixcloud by following the link below. You can also listen to episodes of Folk Roots Radio, on demand, via iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher and Tune-in Radio. (Click on the highlighted link to reach your chosen platform.)

Playlist

Nicolas & The Iceni (Theme)
Lucy She Rises (Demo)
Roll Right (Pre-release, self)

Heather Pierson Acoustic Trio
Singin’
Singin’ (2017, Vessel Recordings)

Black Feathers
Holy Water (Radio Edit)
Holy Water E.P. (2017, Bird In The Hand Records)

I’m With Her
Little Lies
(single) (2017, Rounder Records)

Eliot Bronson
Good Enough
James (2017, Rock Ridge Music)

Ken Dunn
Tales of Wandering
Wondrous Beauty (2017, Self) CDN

Clarissa Fortin
The Bridge
(single) (2017, Self) CDN

Interview: Moscow Apartment recorded at the Summerfolk Music & Crafts Festival.

Moscow Apartment
Annie
Moscow Apartment E.P. (2017, Self) CDN

Interview: Bare Sierra recorded at the Summerfolk Music & Crafts Festival.

Bare Sierra
Domino
(live demo)

Paige Ballagh
Thunder (demo)

Taylor Holden
Home
Home (2016, Self) CDN

Rob Lutes
Walk In The Dark
Walk In The Dark (2017, Lucky Bear Records) CDN

The Sherman Holmes Project
Dark End Of The Street
The Richmond Sessions (2017, M.C. Records)