East Coulee Springfest

Last weekend I headed down to East Coulee for the Springfest Music Festival.  This year was the 21st Annual, though I have only known of it since last year.  Margarit decided to stay home and catch up on some chores, so I headed down with the three girls.  Even though I had Friday off from work, there were a lot of things that I needed to catch up on too, so we didn't get away until Saturday morning.  We arrived in East Coulee around lunch time, and unpacked the groceries and gear that we had brought along.  Our trailer was in storage in the shop in East Coulee over the winter, so we stayed in it on Saturday night, and then brought it back home with us on Sunday.  It needs to be cleaned out and re-stocked for the upcoming May Long Weekend and summer camping trips.

The music festival is a fundraiser for the East School Schoolhouse Musuem.  This building has been designated a historic resource and they are trying to raise money to replace the roof and the mechanical system.

There were 46 bands scheduled to play over the two days of the weekend.  One cancelled due to illness but the rest all showed up.  The festival was a mix of country, folk, blue grass, country rock, cajun, pop, world, blues, rock, etc., etc....  There were three stages set up in classrooms in the school, as well as a fourth across the street in the Community Center.  In the past the bands also played in the local hotel but it was unfortunately closed at the end of 2014.  I managed to see 11 of the bands and took photos of a number of them.

My two youngest daughters, Annelise and Helena, were pretty good sports about it, but soon grew tired of wandering between the various stages.  They retreated out to the old playground and had a blast out there.  While most playgrounds use sand as a base, in a coal mining town they used coal.  The girls were soon very dirty.  We took a break and retired back to the trailer in the afternoon.  We also took a ride around town in a horse-drawn wagon, and checked out some of the vendors.  We had an early supper of BBQ steaks with baked potatoes, corn on the cob and salad.

After supper I headed back over to check out some more of the bands.  Hailey came with me and Anna and Helena stayed behind in the trailer and watched movies.  Later in the evening Hailey and I went back to the trailer to check on the younger girls.  Hailey decided to stay with them and I went back and checked out a few more bands.  It was awesome and I really enjoyed the festival.  Next year I will be back, with Margarit, and we will spend both days enjoying the great mix of music.

On Sunday after breakfast we hooked up the trailer, eased it out of the building, and returned home to Edmonton.  The girls arrived home in time to have supper with their Mom and wish her a Happy Mothers Day.

Dani-Lynn [Country/Pop]

80's Dad and Lightnin' Child teamed up over their love of acoustic, folk, blues and jazz.  They have been described as a "hungry band" playing many songs about their love of great food.  The girls particularly liked their song "Grease Stained Shirt"

The Spitzee Post Band from High River played a mix of Bluegrass, Old Tyme, Folk and Gospel.

Alex Boisselle is a roots, blues, folk and cajun singer/songwriter who sustained a career ending repetitive strain injury to his chord hand.  He relearned to play on lap slide guitar, became a lead guitarist, and added harmonica.  One of my favorties of the festival.

During our afternoon break the girls played in the coal dust of the school playground and took a ride in a horse drawn wagon.

The Wayfaring Fiddlers are a Drumheller based band that explores traditional fiddle music, playing a range of styles from Celtic, Appalachian, Gypsy and more.

Another local band, Willow Creek, plays music once heard in country dances of rural Alberta in the 1950's and 1960's.

Fools Tongue's musical style, inspired by world percussion and thick vocal harmonies, sits somewhere between World, Pop and Alternative.

Layne Syvertsen, another local artist, plays a wide range of folk, blues and rock in a style all his own.  A solo musician and superb electric blues guitarist, he was another of my favorites.

Through the day the crowd was a mix of young and old.  By late evening, a lot of the older crowd had gone home and the younger fans were beginning to really get into some of the faster, more lively music.  The Give Em Hell Boys, from Edmonton, played a unique style that fused classic and outlaw country with breakneck bluegrass rhythms and punk rock attitude.  A large crowd began dancing in front of the stage and the floor of the old schoolhouse was just bouncing.  I half expected it to collapse and see everyone clatter down into the basement, but the old floor hung in there.