Hearth Music founder and former Folklife staff member, Devon Léger wrote a review of Roots & Branches v.2: Live from the 2010 Festival on his blog. Devon also came and visited us in the office where we sat him down in front of the trusty FlipCam and made him share his Northwest Story… although, let’s be honest, it doesn’t take much to get Devon going on folk music.
Here’s that story:
And the review of Live from the 2010 Festival:
Roots and Branches, vol. 2: Live from the 2010 Northwest Folklife Festival. 2010. Northwest Folklife Recordings.
I’m a completely biased source to review this recording, because I helped restart the Northwest Folklife Recordings label a few years ago when I worked for the organization. But that also means that I know how tricky it can be to produce a CD of live festival recordings. It takes careful mastering and even more careful choosing of the material, and with a festival the size of Folklife (800+ bands, 25+ stages, 200,000+ people in attendance) this task can be overwhelming. So kudos to producer and festival coordinator Kelli Faryar for working so hard after the Festival to put this fun compilation together.
There are plenty of solid folk music performances and a handful of stand-out, amazing tracks on this compilation. Just like the Festival itself, this album lets you browse the many performers who play every year and lets you choose your own favorites. And like Folklife, there’s a surprise or a new favorite band around each corner. The biggest surprise for me was Tibetan singer Karsangjamtso “Karjam” Saeji, now living on Lopez Island. Tibetan singing is otherworldly and transcendent, and Karjam’s voice floats like a prayer flag in the air. Karjam Saeji is a huge talent in our region and a new discovery to me.
I was also pleasantly surprised by young folk duo The Parlour Hoppers, who turned in a powerful version of “Wild Bill Jones.” I really shouldn’t be surprised by this, since mandolinist and singer Ethan Lawton is one of the best roots musicians in Seattle (and one of our best-kept secrets). In fact it’s something of a tradition for him to be featured on a Northwest Folklife recording. He’s been on the past three (including this one), though no one realized this until recently. He’s just so good that he kept popping up on our list of best recordings from each festival!
Thanks to Devon for sharing his story with us. If you would like to share your Northwest Story, record your own YouTube video and tag it with “Northwest Stories.” Or, if you’d rather stay off camera, send it to us at folklife@nwfolklife.org.
