New SPEAK Music Be Kind Festival A Roaring Success

When the organizers and volunteers look back on the first ever SPEAK Music Be Kind Music Festival, they may look back at it as the little festival that could. Having taken up residence this past weekend at one of Toronto's most versatile music venues, The Tranzac Club, all involved should view this accomplishment with a great sense of pride and satisfaction. Steady crowds continually braved strong, inclement weather to attend what appears to be Canada's first truly gender-balanced music festival.

Embracing diversity and wide-ranging musical styles, the festival kicked off in the evening of Friday, January 17 and continued all day Saturday with Lydia Persaud, Mike Field, Tragedy Ann and Johnson Crook. Workshops featuring the festival performers occurred throughout the weekend, providing the artists with the opportunity to describe their stories behind their songs. These workshops often led to some excellent collaborations and unique moments as these artists  likely don't perform together on the same stage at the same time very often.

I attended one of the workshops on Sunday, the final day of the inaugural festival. The Bluesrockin' Roots session featured three of Canada's best blues and roots musicians: Julian Taylor, Kim Doolittle and Ken Yoshioka. All three of these artists are world class musicians. To have them sharing the spotlight for a 45 minute show in a first year festival demonstrates that the organizers are serious about the success of this festival for the long term. Julian Taylor is a remarkable and outstanding singer-songwriter who brings heart and soul to the forefront of his performance. As shown in his telling of "In This Land", this is an artist who has the life experience that one must have lived to make the listener feel every word of this song. Blues mainstay Kim Doolittle has been rocking it out for over 40 years and did not disappoint the packed room when her turn came up. Performing "Into The Blue", a track from her latest album, got the crowd into that nice, feel-good groove that the blues can have now and again. Ken Yoshioka fit in nicely to complete the trio by contributing solid old-school blues guitar as background, in addition to providing his own material.

One of the most unique acts I’ve seen in a long time is Minuscule, a group created and fronted by Laurel Minnes. The sound is a good cross between Joni Mitchell and a vocal choir, the latter of which is a major part of this group - 9 members, all female, backing up Larel’s lead vocal. With a 3 piece band comprised of a drummer, keyboardist and cellist accompanying Laruel’s ukelele, they deliver a spellbinding performance. Their debut album titled “Great” is soon to be released. Watch for this act if they are set to appear in your hometown. The future is bright for Minuscule.

The final two showcases that I attended put the focus on the classics: classic country and classic gospel (it was Sunday, after all). The Dirty Dishes are a Toronto based, all-female trio who blend and introduce old-time country and folk to new audiences. They delivered an impressive set, covering Don Gibson’s “Oh Lonesome Me”, Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight”, Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”, as well as The Band’s “Evangeline.” Gospel was delivered in the form of “I Saw the Light” and “Down By The River to Pray”, the latter of which was featured in the film O Brother Where Art Thou. The finale of “I’ll Fly Away” with The Barrel Boys was reminiscent of improvised jam sessions on the Grand Ole Opry or Music City Roots broadcasts. One of those unique moments you can only see at this type of festival.

The final performance of the evening was a total Americana mashup with HOTCHA!, Mr. Rick and The Barrel Boys. This performance captured the complete spectrum of the Americana genre, in that folk, bluegrass and old school blues was delivered to the die-hard crowd. The audience was tired but more than willing to cheer and encourage these performers, with HOTCHA! having some fun with "Two Axe-Handles Wide", The Barrel Boys delivering a string band version of the Buck Owens classic "My Heart Skips A Beat", and Mr. Rick showcasing 1920's style blues with "Blues In The Bottle." 

A heartfelt congratulations to Bev Kreller and everyone at SPEAK Music for organizing their first festival. The philosophy of being kind to one another now and always is something we all need in these troubled times. The SPEAK Music Be Kind Festival provided everyone involved, from the artists to the audience, the promoter and venue, to the volunteers, a much needed respite from the craziness of the outside world for three wonderful days. The power of music truly can heal the troubled soul. 

*CORRECTION: The original version of this post stated The Tranzac Club was one of Toronto's newer music venues. With it's roots dating back to the year 1931, the Toronto Australia New Zealand Club (TRANZAC) has been operating and featuring music at its current location of 292 Brunswick Ave. since 1971. I regret any confusion this earlier story may have caused.