Trial of the century

Back to Bluesfest ... after The Hi Lo Trons, I wandered over to The Black Sheep Stage to see Syracuse not-folk-but-acoustic rocker Hamell on Trial. I saw him a few Bluesfests ago and was much amused by his performance, which combined high energy with acerbic wit.

Mr. Hamell in a rare moment of rest.



Acoustic rock action!



Witty banter action!



Serious ...



Very serious ...



Not so serious.





Goodnight and where did I put my pick?



He's on tour of Britain right now, and the release of a live in 2007 CD/DVD documentary is imminent.

• Show reminder: That's The Spirit release their (or his) new CD at Zaphod's alongside The Flats; Lonesome Paul and Lucky Ron and The Rhode Island Reds play for the kids (really, it's a benefit for Centretown Daycare) at Irene's. Ball and Chain and Al Bragg honky tonk at the Elmdale House Tavern; The Nymphets, The Suppositories, The Misclits and Fools Like You punk it up at The Bytown. Cold Coffee and Salty Boots, Saint Bernard of Love and Folk Hum (aka Mono Hum go folk) at the ClocktowerBrew Pub.

Every day I get the blues

It's possible to go to the Ottawa Bluesfest and not see a lot of the blues, but for much of yesterday that seemed to be the main offering. Sure, when I got there the first band I watched was The Hi Lo Trons: Not all that bluesy. They did have J.J. Hardill of The Fiftymen reprising his guest appearance on their latest disc, Happymatic.


Hi Lo Trons, Ottawa Bluesfest, July 12, 2008

I listened to them for a half-dozen tunes then went off to see what wackiness Hamell On Trial would pull at the end of his set on the Black Sheep Stage.


Hamell On Trial, Ottawa Bluesfest, July 12, 2008

I remember his last Bluesfest set as being much more amusing, but maybe I just missed the best bits. He was still pretty energetic and funny. You may be asking "but where is this blues of which you speak?" Well, after the end of Hamell's set I went off to the Giant Telecommunications Company Stage to see Lil' Ed and The Blues Imperials.


Lil' Ed and The Blues Imperials, Ottawa Bluesfest, July 12, 2008

Lil' Ed and company dish out electric Chicago blues, and appear to have a very good time doing so. Ed was smiling a lot and plainly enjoying the audience's attention as he worked through both his own tunes - a surprising number of which seem to involve his woman leaving him - and classics like I Got My Mojo Working. He had a big assist from the Texas Horns, and horn-in-chief Kaz Kazanoff also contributed some harmonica.


Shakura S'aida, Ottawa Bluesfest, July 12, 2008

This was followed by more blues on the River Stage with Shakura S'aida, who apparently has as much trouble with the menfolk as Lil' Ed has with the gals. I predict disaster if they ever hook up. All kidding aside, she's a capable R&B singer with an ace backing band - I do believe that's Jean-Sebastien Chouinard who some may recall wielding a Les Paul with Guitar Explosion at last year's Bluesfest.


Redd Volkaert with Cindy Cashdollar, Ottawa Bluesfest, July 12, 2008

Next I went to the Black Sheep Stage where Redd Volkaert was performing, along with steel guitarist Cindy Cashdollar. It was a cool set with charged covers of George Jones, Santo and Johnny's Sleepwalk and The Boxtops' My Baby Sent Me A Letter. They'll be repeating their performance today on the River Stage at 7 p.m.


The Sauce Boss, Ottawa Bluesfest, July 12, 2008

I was tempted to wander off but a number of people told me it would be worth my time to stick around for The Sauce Boss. The Sauce Boss really, really likes gumbo (he's big on okra, too). He mixed up a pot while rocking out a few numbers, one of which brought him down into the audience, resonator in hand. I enjoyed some of the resulting gumbo and it was pretty tasty. He'll be serving up more gumbo and music today on the River Stage at 1:15.


Mofro, Ottawa Bluesfest, July 12, 2008

Of course I stuck around for Mofro's set. I've been a big fan since a reviewing gig fortuitously landed their sophomore CD Lochloosa in my hands, and have been fortunate enough to catch three of their Bluesfest sets. They're always great and the hour flew by. Once again the Texas Horns provided a hand.

• Show reminder: If Bluesfest's final day doesn't fascinate, you cam always check out Boris, Torche and Nachtmystium at Babylon - it's an earlier than usual show to accommodate the DJs.

Trial and error

I thought I'd be heading directly to see the Centretown Wilderness Club, but it was not to be. I walked past the entry to the Black Sheep Stage on Lisgar St., but did a quick U-turn since Hamell on Trial was sounding too good to pass up. He was singing his self-deprecatory description of how he's going to answer potentially - okay, inevitably - embarrassing questions from his children about his checkered past, Inquiring Minds, from Songs for Parents Who Enjoy Drugs, his latest album. The chorus goes "I'm gonna lie!"



Pete Hamell, musician and prospective Anton La Vey impersonator.



There was some music bleeding over from the Main Stage "Ooo, this is the bit I love!"



A serious performer, he is.



Thank you and goodnight.



A great show, unless you happen to be an Ann Coulter fan.

Bluesfest: Day Six

I'm back from going back and forth - between the Black Sheep Stage and the MBNA Stage, that is. I was going to head directly to see the Centretown Wilderness Club at the latter venue, but the hard strumming of Hamell On Trial drew me in as I walked down Lisgar. Hamell's humorous assault on all things right and proper was very entertaining, and he spared few. As I scuttled past him with my camera he joked "There goes the guy who gave me a cavity search at the border".



After listening to a few tunes on the state of right-wing pundit/lunatic Ann Coulter's nether regions and the importance of parents lying to their kids, I headed over to see the Centretown Wilderness Club. They sounded great as always. And since I figured out I was setting my shutter speed way to low (at 1/200th of a second when 1/1250th was more what was called for) the pictures turned out pretty sharp as well. When I arrived Dietrich and Aalya were slowdancing on stage.











I was wondering whether to stick around for the Hackensaw Boys or head over to watch Dan Bern when the stage left PA began cutting in and out, effectively massacring the Club's final Carter Family tune. Might as well go and see some Dan Bern while technical difficulties were dealt with, so I wandered back to the Black Sheep Stage for Hamell's last few songs and a short break before Bern headed on stage. He has a serious Bob Dylan influence. Some of his lyrics are a bit dafter, but he's far less obtuse.



Having watched a good chunk of his set, I decided to head back to the MBNA Stage to see Dickey Betts and Great Southern. I enjoyed myself for about half an hour, but to be honest the performance wasn't holding my attention. These guys like their Les Pauls, that's for sure.



Their comely conga player also helped out on vocals.



Back to whence I came to see The Grande Mothers. Three Frank Zappa vets and a pair of ringers from the Quarteto Nuevo did more than justice to Frank Zappa's music. In fact, after listening to some of the performance I have to say they sounded like they were enjoying themselves a lot more than Frank ever did.

Roy Estrada and Don Preston started with Zappa back in the 1960s.



Saxophonist and flautist Napoleon Murphy Brock did a great job on vocals.



I was never a huge Zappa fan, but I have a new appreciation for his stuff now. Unfortunately my pictures of their set mostly stink, but ears before eyes I always say.