by Kim Wiesner
The Shady Grove stage sounds like an ideal place to try and escape the blazing sun that heats this year’s Winnipeg Folk Festival. Festival-goers are planted under the trees along the edges and right up front under the stage’s hood, wherever can shield them from the rays, most with one of two items in hand: a fan or a lemonade.
However, the heat wave doesn’t stop festival-goers from checking out Winnipeg Folk Festival’s Young Performers Program, which showcases upcoming musicians aged 14-24. These young performers attend a two-day workshop led by a mentor and perform at the festival on the third day.
Group four, mentored by local artist and past program graduate Roman Clarke, takes the stage Friday afternoon. Ben Notes, Xander Boulard, Rebecca Sichon, Jane Fuentez, and Caylie G sit side by side on stage with their guitars on their laps.
“Ben Notes, self-described loverboy,” Clarke laughs as he introduces the first artist.
Notes fulfills his responsibility as the first performer to capture the audience’s attention with his soft voice and gentle strums of his acoustic guitar as he performs his song “Listening to Silence.” A sonically fitting segue into the next performance by Xander Boulard, who shares a similar sound.
Boulard, admittedly nervous, is reassured by the crowd’s swaying as he recites the poetic lyrics from his song “Suitcase,” singing, “Can we unpack from this nauseating trip/I’m lovesick.” We learn that Boulard specializes in soft ballads as each performer goes down the line, taking turns until they’ve each sung three times.
Shaking things up, Rebecca Sichon embodies power and confidence, standing up for her performance and singing songs that truly showcase her vocal ability. The lyrics in her first song are about being ambitious, knowing what she wants, and getting it for herself. Sichon holds eye contact with the crowd as she belts, her impressively strong and smooth voice making her a standout. In the middle of her third and final song, she instructs the crowd to sing “I still need to breathe” along with her, and they comply.
On the contrary, Jane Fuentez has a deeper, hoarse voice with a bit of an intentional, stylistic shake to it. Wearing a long, floral dress and glitter on her face in true Folk Fest fashion, Fuentez performs original songs for her first two and a mashup of her favourite popular songs, including “Riptide” by one of last year’s festival performers Vance Joy, as her last. Audience members are cheering, singing along, and snapping pictures. Fuentez is a wildcard the way she effortlessly moves through sounds and genres, even performing rap-style songs.
Another standout, not only for her meaningful lyrics and buttery voice, but relatable and witty energy, is Cailey G. She knows how to talk the crowd, cracking jokes and telling stories while she strums her guitar. Cailey G’s final song marks the end of this group’s hour-long Young Performers Program set. After acknowledging the effect the sun has on everyone’s energy, she teaches the crowd her song’s chorus and breathes life into the audience once again.
The performers were well prepared, and their confidence grew as the time passed. The support they have for each other is evident through their smiling, nodding, and learning to mouth along to each other’s songs as each one took the spotlight. The show comes to an end as mentor Clarke joins them on stage to sing together, covering “If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys.
