COCKBURN RETURNS TO MARIPOSA FESTIVAL AS MAINSTAGE HEADLINER — NO LONGER FILL-IN
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
ORILLIA — The Bruce Cockburn isn’t the same nervous kid who was thrust on to the Mariposa main stage in 1968.
“I was supposed to do an afternoon set – which I did. And Neil Young was on the bill and Neil had to cancel because he had an ear issue or some problem and — all of a sudden — I was on the main stage so I got up and played my songs and people liked it and it went on from there.”
Did it ever. The once shy Ottawa-born singer/songwriter has rocketed from Wondering Where the Lion Is to Rocket Launcher and headlines this weekend’s folk festival opening tonight at 4:30 p.m.
“Mariposa has been at various points a really important part of me being able to get my songs out to people,” he said in a festival release from his home in San Francisco.
He is this year’s Hall of Fame all-star.
Festival president Pam Carter says: “We’re honoured to induct him to the Mariposa Hall of Fame this July during his ninth appearance” Sunday afternoon at 6 p.m., before his 10 appearance on the Gordon Lightfoot main stage.
“It’s of course an honour,” said Cockburn. “Mariposa has been at various points a really important part of me being able to get my songs out to people.”
He recalls his first unplanned main stage appearance at Mariposa: “I was supposed to do an afternoon set – which I did. And Neil Young was on the bill and Neil had to cancel because he had an ear issue or some problem and – all of a sudden – I was on the main stage so I got up and played my songs and people liked it and it went on from there.”
Cockburn and the Mariposa vibe seem to have always dovetailed. While his songs of protest, love, and spiritual quest have moved many Mariposa audiences over the years, in typical Bruce Cockburn fashion, he remains humble in the face of his Hall of Fame induction.
“I actually look forward to being at the festival more than I look forward to getting this. At the same time, it is an honour and I’m very pleased about it,” said Cockburn who, like many patrons, has appreciated opportunities to immerse himself and discover new artists while at the festival: “The famous people were less interesting to me than the people I had never heard of,” he said regarding his multiple appearances at Mariposa.
A special live and pre-recorded tribute to Cockburn will be held on the evening of Sunday, July 7 at Mariposa’s Gordon Lightfoot Mainstage to commemorate the Hall of Fame induction.
“You don’t want to miss the special tribute we have planned for Bruce,” said Carter. “It will be an evening to remember.”
The three-day Mariposa Folk Festival features more than ten stages of top folk-roots music, along with presentations of story, dance, and craft. All ticket categories are on sale. Kids 12 & under are admitted free. The festival has special pricing for youth and young adults. Onsite camping is sold out.
Closer to Orillia Afie Jurvanen, who was born in Toronto and raised in Barrie, is among hundreds of performers. His mother was Miss Finland in 1973.
Festival line notes say as the studio follow-up to 2020’s Sad Hunk, Bahamas’ (his stage name) sixth full-length album Bootcut was produced by Grammy-nominated Robbie Lackritz (Feist, Jack Johnson, Peach Pit) and Dan Knobler (Allison Russell, Rodney Crowell). It was recorded in Nashville’s Sound Emporium and features Jurvanen backed by a veritable Murderer’s Row of Music City pros, including guitar legend (and current Eagle) Vince Gill, pedal-steel maestro Russ Pahl (Kenny Rogers, Don Williams, Kacey Musgraves), bassist Dave Roe (Sturgill Simpson, Dwight Yoakam, Johnny Cash), harmonica player Mickey Raphael (Willie Nelson), bluegrass legend Sam Bush.
So yes, you could call this Bahamas’ “country” album, full of songs rooted in familiar Nashville topics like love, death, and automotive vehicles, and topped with extra dollops of teary twang, mandolin-pluckin’, and saloon-door-swinging rhythm.
But Bootcut isn’t simply a Bahamas interpretation of country music, it’s a country-music interpretation of Bahamas that puts a sepia-toned spin on Jurvanen’s signature moves using a genre-less blend of Americana, Bluegrass, and all that Bahamas has been know to embody: the funky finesse, the bizarro guitar solos that sound like they’re beaming in from Mars, and the ever-so-sly storytelling that filters timeless themes through a distinctly modern lens.
See the line-up at: https://mariposafolk.com/
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