Intrepid Assistant Editor Zach Fleisher outlines his Top 3 Picks for this Weekend’s Winnipeg Folk Festival. Look for his coverage of “The Good, the Bad, and the Folked” over the course of the Festival.
Leon Redbone
Legend has it that this old time folk hero once received a 22 minute standing ovation at the 1974 rendition of the Winnipeg Folk Festival. While some might claim that he’s only here to celebrate the past, make no mistake; this legend is the real deal. Check out his sets at Bur Oak at 4pm on Saturday and 3pm on Sunday at the Big Bluestem to see for yourself. Leon fails to disappoint.
Milk Carton Kids
If folk stylings in the form of Simon and Garfunkel influenced jams aren’t your thing, then stay away from this group. Bringing back that old, vocal influenced folk pop, these dudes are serious. Catch them all over the festival, with a big show Friday at Bur Oak at 2pm, Green Ash on Saturday at 11am and 12:45pm and Sunday at 4:30pm, at the Little Stage in the Forest.
Dr Dog
Bringing their psychedilic sound to Winnipeg for the first time, this group out of Philadelphia has an awesome wall of sound similar in some ways to the Grateful Dead in their prime. This Anti Records signed quintet might steal the show. Watch for them at Big Bluestem on Friday at 2:30pm, at Big Blue at 9pm and on Saturday, at 4:15pm.