Recording: Fiver

Artist: Fiver

Song: Oh Sienna

Recorded at Christie Pits Park ("Bloor Ossington Folk Festival"), September 21, 2014.

Fiver - Oh Sienna

Once again, the Bloor Ossington Folk Festival stayed true to its roots as a low-key and local celebration. By enfolding itself into the contours of Christie Pits, BOFF still feels casual and approachable, even with some heavy hitters in its lineup. As so often happens at outdoor events, weather forced organizers to make some adjustments on the fly, but even having to move the headliners into the beer tent served to reinforce the intimate vibes. There's room to grow, but overall the organizers are getting things right.

As the rain poured down, every available canopy was mustered to expand the covered zone at the beer tent and the crowd pulled in to watch Simone Schmidt's "other" unit. An energetic bounce from the rhythm section jousted with Cris Derksen's darker cello tones^* to give a different colour to Schmidt's songs than heard the day before. There was also the debut of a tasty new one called "Theme Writer's Theme" nestled among the older material.

^* I only know Derksen's work so far from her collaborations in Fiver, but I'm looking forward to hearing her unpack her own musical ideas at the Music Gallery's upcoming Emergents show.