As if the upcoming Calgary Folk Music Festival didn't have enough going for it already, the festival organizers have announced the artists who will be involved in the popular "arranged marriages" series this year. Among the names who will be forcefully married onstage in one-of-kind live collaborations are St. Vincent with Man Man, Frank Turner with the Burning Hell and Joe Henry with the Swell Season.
As we previously told you, this year's folk fest lineup is pretty stellar, including the likes of Michael Franti and Spearhead, the Cat Empire, Corb Lund, Stars, Timbre Timbre, Dan Mangan, and R&B/soul legend Roberta Flack. The festival takes place July 22 to July 25 at Prince's Island Park.
The "arranged marriages" portion has been a special feature of the festival for a few years, and has included everyone from the Weakerthans, Calexico and the Handsome Family, creating perhaps the world's best indie rock supergroup, to singer-songwriter Andrew Bird performing with the Mast Musicians of Jajouka.
This year's collaborations will take place on the afternoon of July 23, and on July 24 and July 25 between 10:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. on six different stages. There are 40 of the onstage marriages taking place over the three-day festival.
"These are the collaborative sessions; the pairing of seemingly disparate or easily connected acts and artists under one theme," says festival artistic director Kerry Clarke in a press release. "The sessions are songwriter-in-the round and jam sessions, organized around themes and styles of music. These are dependent on the artists booked each year, however we typically have several blues-oriented stages, a celtic session or two, several focusing on certain instruments, a gospel session, world music collaborations, etc. The format is three to four artists or groups put together on a stage. They rotate playing and often back each other up. It's a magical meeting of artists in an intimate setting."
For a full list of the "arranged marriages," check out the festival schedule here.
As we previously told you, this year's folk fest lineup is pretty stellar, including the likes of Michael Franti and Spearhead, the Cat Empire, Corb Lund, Stars, Timbre Timbre, Dan Mangan, and R&B/soul legend Roberta Flack. The festival takes place July 22 to July 25 at Prince's Island Park.
The "arranged marriages" portion has been a special feature of the festival for a few years, and has included everyone from the Weakerthans, Calexico and the Handsome Family, creating perhaps the world's best indie rock supergroup, to singer-songwriter Andrew Bird performing with the Mast Musicians of Jajouka.
This year's collaborations will take place on the afternoon of July 23, and on July 24 and July 25 between 10:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. on six different stages. There are 40 of the onstage marriages taking place over the three-day festival.
"These are the collaborative sessions; the pairing of seemingly disparate or easily connected acts and artists under one theme," says festival artistic director Kerry Clarke in a press release. "The sessions are songwriter-in-the round and jam sessions, organized around themes and styles of music. These are dependent on the artists booked each year, however we typically have several blues-oriented stages, a celtic session or two, several focusing on certain instruments, a gospel session, world music collaborations, etc. The format is three to four artists or groups put together on a stage. They rotate playing and often back each other up. It's a magical meeting of artists in an intimate setting."
For a full list of the "arranged marriages," check out the festival schedule here.
