I have done a lot of interesting gigs and had many beautiful experiences in my seven years of performing. A few stand out in my mind as the best. The 2011 Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, when my band opened for William Shatner in the corral for thousands of people and I experienced an entirely new kind of blind terror. The Hallowe’en show at Vern’s Tavern when the dance floor was seething with bodies swaying and singing. The one at The Soda when we got in a toast fight with the audience. The CD release parties for Indelible, Thought Experiment, and Sora’s Heartwood. The Alberta Browncoats Shindig when the whole audience got in on the joke of getting me wasted and making me sing. The Sun Wheel Pagan Arts Festival, though, might be the best one yet.
It came with challenges, to be sure – the first of which was finding the venue in the first place. Google Maps led us to an empty field. We came over the crest of a hill to find nothing but swaying grass and humming insects. “Multitudes?” I said, plaintively. “Festive multitudes?” My mother and I ended up finding a hotel in the nearest town, but no harm done – we weren’t slated to play until the following evening, and we each had the benefit of a good night’s sleep and a hot shower.
The second challenge came the following day when the whole ensemble – Sora, Althea, Gwenhwfar (Mom), and I – went into town for dinner and blew a tire. We called AMA from the restaurant and, as we waited for help, a sudden thunderstorm struck. I bit my fingernails down to nothing while Althea and the AMA guy (whom we bowed to, in reverence of his heroism) changed the tire together in driving, torrential rain, the sky alive with lightning. We rushed back to the festival site, leaving the angry storm clouds behind us, and managed to arrive about fifteen minutes before we were slated to play. The rain had just begun to fall.
We got dressed, gathered up our instruments, and scurried to the stage area to find it deserted. Back in the camping area, we found that the entire festival attendance had crammed themselves into the cook shelter, and the musical guests were embroiled in a jam session. People were perched on picnic tables and windowsills to listen and participate.
When the rain showed no sign of letting up, the jam session eventually ended and the featured performers took turns sharing a song here and a song there for the packed cook shelter. When it was announced that their stage performances would be postponed until the next day, one by one the acts dropped out to avoid spoiling their sets. We didn’t want to stop, though, so when someone said, “It’s all you, babe,” we took centre stage and played our entire set.
So the four of us did our first concert together perched on a picnic table in our gorgeous flowing gowns, clutching our sheet music and looking absurdly out of place, filling the air with the music which we had lovingly prepared over the past eight weeks. The energy in the space was incredible, and the positive feedback from the audience was overwhelming.
Sunday dawned sweltering hot, and we performed again in the afternoon under the blazing sun. Most of our audience were huddled together in the patch of shade stage left, but we had another great show, and had the inestimable privilege of sharing the bill with some truly brilliant pagan talent, including Sable Aradia, Sharon Knight and Winter, Heather Dale, and Chalice and Blade.
The day ended with a bardic circle led by Dr. Brendan Myers, which was another lovely opportunity to perform. My three collaborators all shared music of their own, and I shared a few of my mythological songs, as well as The Dragon-Slayer, which went over like a house afire. The whole weekend was pure magic. I could not have asked for it to go any better.
Heartfelt thanks to Ed Van Der Zouwen and Mhaoil Lain for making it possible for me to attend, and to Sora, Althea, and Gwenhwfar for coming on this journey with me. I love writing music for vocal ensemble, but I normally just do it in studio using overdubbing. I have never had the chance to do an entire program of it live, and my three singers did an amazing job and were wonderful to work with.
