Recording: catl

Artist: catl

Song: Family Tree Blues^* Gateway Blues

Recorded at Christie Pits ("Bloor Ossington Folk Festival"), September 22, 2013.

catl - Gateway Blues

Full review to follow. Starting out in living rooms and basements in its first year and piggybacking on the local street festival in its second, The Bloor Ossington Folk Festival took a big step up in size and complexity this year, all while holding fast to its mantra of "free music in shared community space". Settling into the topography of Christie Pits, this year's festival included two stages, a beer garden, food vendors and more. Sunday was chilly but dry, and the stages were busy all day, squeezing in a couple extra acts that were bumped from the day before. There were more people around all day, whether up front with the bands, hanging in the beer tent, or just wandering through the park. Kudos to Saving Gigi and the other locals who pitched in to make this a reality. And remember: "folk music" isn't a genre tag, but a description of music that lives in a community, shared between performer and audience. [Also: you can check out a few more pictures from the day at the MFS facebook page.]

Plenty of new songs in catl's set — all signs are pointing toward their next album (to be recorded down in Memphis) being a doozy. The two-piece managed to fill the park with greasy dancin' grooves, but still invited a bunch of friends to join them on stage to close their set out — just right for this community-minded event.

^* At the time, this was the working title, but I've updated it to reflect the final one.