Mariposa 2010-50th anniversary - Lightfoot to perform

[charlene]

http://www.mariposafolk.com/index.php?show=performers
Sunday July 11/2010 line up:

50 Years of Folk History

On the Sunday evening of this 50th anniversary festival, Mariposa is celebrating its rich history with an extra special presentation of artists, each of whom qualify as a pillar of Canadian folk music. Here's our Sunday evening line-up so far.

Legendary singer-songwriter whose songs are as familiar to Canadians as his fans around the world, and have been covered by everyone from Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash, to Barbara Steisand, Sarah McLachlan and Judy Collins, Gordon Lightfoot

Internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter, multi award winner, true musical historian of the old west, and a seasoned horseman,Ian Tyson

One of Canada's best song writers and a performer who clearly enjoys sharing his music and experiences with his audience,Murray McLauchlan

Gifted singer and songwriter and Canadian music icon,Sylvia Tyson

Mariposa will be announcing an exciting major addition to the Sunday evening line-up later this fall. Stay tuned!

Mariposa Folk Festival pays tarrifs to, and is supported by, The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada.

[charlene]

Lightfoot returns
MARIPOSA FOLK FESTIVAL: Sunday evening lineup features folk music legends
Posted By COLIN MCKIM, THE PACKET AND TIMES
Posted 1 hour ago


Folk icon and local hero Gordon Lightfoot is as central to the Mariposa Folk Festival as Big Chief Island is to Lake Couchiching.

And organizers are ecstatic that the 71-year-old composer of classics such as theWreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald andIf You Could Read My Mind,will wow fans once again at the 50th edition of Canada's most venerable folk music festival next summer.

"People are always excited when they see Lightfoot is playing at Mariposa," said artistic director Mike Hill.

"He's the No. 1 name in folk music in Canada. And he's a hometown boy."

Although Lightfoot's performances have been among the high points of the festival in recent years, he did not burst onto the scene in 1961 when the festival was born.

In fact, the duet he was in at the time with Terry Whalen, called the Tu- Tones, was turned down that inaugural year.

"They were a good duo, but not out of this world," says Ruth Jones, one of the founders of the festival, which was first staged at the Lions Oval.

Ian (Tyson) and Sylvia (Fricker), who are also returning for the festival's 50th consecutive year, topped the bill in 1961, along with the Travellers, Omar Blondahl, Bonny Dobson and Alan Mills.

"We had great people that first year," recalls Jones, now 82.

The Tu-Tones did make the cut the second year, playing country-flavoured folk standards, but weren't anything special, Jones said.

It wasn't until a few years later, when she heard Lightfoot singing his poignant balladEarly Morning Rainon the radio that Jones realized how much she had underestimated the talent of the Orillia-born folky.

[charlene]

from Globe and Mail:

Asked recently if he would consider joining a Canadian-folk supergroup with people like the Tysons, the 71 year old ace told The Globe and Mail that such a thing would be 'too comlicated.'

[charlene]

http://www.orilliapacket.com/Article...aspx?e=2204189
LIGHTFOOT RETURNS

MARIPOSA FOLK FESTIVAL: Sunday evening lineup features folk music legends
Posted By COLIN MCKIM, THE PACKET AND TIMES
Posted 2 days ago

Folk icon and local hero Gordon Lightfoot is as central to the Mariposa Folk Festival as Big Chief Island is to Lake Couchiching.

And organizers are ecstatic that the 71-year-old composer of classics such as theWreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald andIf You Could Read My Mind,will wow fans once again at the 50th edition of Canada's most venerable folk music festival next summer.

"People are always excited when they see Lightfoot is playing at Mariposa," said artistic director Mike Hill.

"He's the No. 1 name in folk music in Canada. And he's a hometown boy."

Although Lightfoot's performances have been among the high points of the festival in recent years, he did not burst onto the scene in 1961 when the festival was born.

In fact, the duet he was in at the time with Terry Whalen, called the Tu- Tones, was turned down that inaugural year.

"They were a good duo, but not out of this world," says Ruth Jones, one of the founders of the festival, which was first staged at the Lions Oval.

Ian (Tyson) and Sylvia (Fricker), who are also returning for the festival's 50th consecutive year, topped the bill in 1961, along with the Travellers, Omar Blondahl, Bonny Dobson and Alan Mills.

"We had great people that first year," recalls Jones, now 82.

The Tu-Tones did make the cut the second year, playing country-flavoured folk standards, but weren't anything special, Jones said.

It wasn't until a few years later, when she heard Lightfoot singing his poignant balladEarly Morning Rainon the radio that Jones realized how much she had underestimated the talent of the Orillia-born folky.

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` But to be fair, she didn't much care for a scruffy fellow named Bob Dylan the first time she heard him perform in the early 1960s in Toronto.

Unless a singer could give her goose-bumps, something Dylan failed to do, Jones couldn't get excited.

"I really didn't think he was going to go far."

Lightfoot played at the festival as a solo artist in 1964 when the event was held in Toronto, having worn out its welcome after three increasingly rowdy years in Orillia.

Lightfoot may have performed at Mariposa once or twice after that before headlining the festival's successful return to Orillia in 2000.

In 2004, still frail after surviving a near-fatal abdominal aneurism, Lightfoot made a surprise appearance at Mariposa and sang one song, his voice wavering, but perfectly in tune.

Jones was in the audience that night. "It was a different voice, but beautifully modulated," she recalls.

"What really blew me away was when he came on stage, there was a complete hush. Everyone was absolutely holding their breath."

Lightfoot played a full show at Mariposa in 2005 and in 2007 braved a deluge and lightning storm in the festival's electrical finale.

"I remember him coming backstage and tipping his guitar and water pouring out," Hill said.

In 1961, Ian Tyson and Sylvia (Fricker) Tyson performed as a duo. But for the 50th they will perform separately in a Sunday night lineup that includes Murray McLauchlan.

"It is truly extraordinary that Gordon Lightfoot, Ian Tyson, Murray McLauchlan, and Sylvia Tyson -- four pillars of Canadian folk music -- are sharing one stage on one evening," said Mariposa Folk Foundation president Catherine Brennan.

As well as performing on Sunday evening, Sylvia Tyson will appear with the four-member group, Quartette, at other times during the three-day festival.

The 50th Mariposa Folk Festival will take place July 9-11, 2010, in Tudhope Park. Weekend passes are on sale now. Prices will increase on Jan. 1.

The festival is providing audience camping to help accommodate the influx of additional visitors expected for the 50th anniversary festival.

Tickets and more information are available at www.mariposafolk.com.

cmckim@orilliapacket.com

[charlene]

York University acquires Mariposa historical items:

http://www.yorku.ca/yfile/archive/in...p?Article=8580 - link has pics.

York acquires Mariposa Folk Festival archives

York University is the new, permanent home to the archives of the Mariposa Folk Festival – one of the longest running and most important music festivals in Canadian history.

York has acquired the records to this premier international folk festival following a search of more than a decade by the Mariposa Folk Foundation board of directors that resulted in a donation-in-kind through the York University Foundation.

The announcement was made Wednesday in Scott Library at a special musical event featuring performances by Mariposa alumni David Bradstreet and David Woodhead.

"We are thrilled with the treasure trove of historical artifacts that the Mariposa archives offer," said Michael Moir, University archivist & head of the Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections at York. "Students and faculty will be able to do a wide variety of interdisciplinary research with this high-quality, very relevant material."

Until recently the Mariposa collection – conservatively valued at more than $1.5 million – was locked away in storage in a downtown Toronto basement. A properly-maintained environment was vital to protect the material. York will provide that and more as it makes the included recordings, primary documents, images and other memorabilia available for education and research.

"We now hope that others will be inspired to donate valuable Mariposa memorabilia to this collection with the confidence that they will be well-preserved and put to valuable scholarly use," said Chris Lusty, president of the Mariposa Folk Festival. "We are pleased that York University will not only provide the necessary physical setting to house the artifacts but also public access for this great historical collection."

The Mariposa Folk Festival, an annual event that began in 1961 in Orillia, Ont., helped to launch the careers of many of Canada’s most notable recording artists, including Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Bruce Cockburn, Ian and Sylvia Tyson, and Murray McLauchlan.

The announcement of the new home for the Mariposa archives at York University brought with it plenty of memories of the festival. Poet Don Cullen, a long-time Mariposa supporter, credited Casey and Ruth Jones of Orillia for initiating the first Mariposa Folk Festival. He also lamented the festival’s unfortunate dispatch from Orillia after the second year due to the incursion of a wayward gang of bikers. The festival was left to wander for about 40 years after that. Cullen said, “My heart bleeds for the people in charge” of the festival during those years, but “a group of people in Orillia who really had great imaginations and were willing to work very, very hard” managed to bring the festival back to its original home.

Dr. Bill Goodman, an ear, nose and throat specialist, had an office just “50 yards from Yorkville,” the centre of the folk music scene in the 1960s. As a result of his throat specialty, he treated and befriended many of the folk singers of the time, including Lightfoot and the Tysons. He also collected a lot of Mariposa memorabilia and will be donating it to the new Mariposa archives at York. Among those items, Goodman said, is “one of my treasures which is an 8mm clip of the first Mariposa Folk Festival.” It has no sound, but archivist Moir recognized he had truly received a valuable donation.

The wide range of material in the Mariposa collection, including a large quantity of sound recordings and publicity documents submitted to the festival's organizers annually, offers astounding research potential for the study of folk music in North America during the second half of the 20th century.

"This truly is a gift that will keep on giving long into the future for the entire York community and beyond," said Phillip Silver, dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at York. "This material can be seen as one of the greatest collections of Canadian folk music in existence and we are proud to play a role in breathing new life back into this important element of Canada's cultural history."

The Mariposa archives will be available as a fully-accessible reference collection at Scott Library in September, in time for the fall semester at York.

"Gifts such as the Mariposa collection help to fortify York’s growing strength in the area of research," said Paul Marcus, president & CEO of the York University Foundation. "We recently launched ‘York to the Power of 50’ to celebrate nearly 50 years of exponential growth and dynamic achievement as we approach York’s 50th anniversary in 2009. To date we have $125 million in commitments towards our $200-million campaign goal. This gift helps to support York’s vision to become a leading international centre for interdisciplinary research and teaching."

[charlene]

York University acquires Mariposa historical items:

http://www.yorku.ca/yfile/archive/in...p?Article=8580 - link has pics.

York acquires Mariposa Folk Festival archives

York University is the new, permanent home to the archives of the Mariposa Folk Festival – one of the longest running and most important music festivals in Canadian history.

York has acquired the records to this premier international folk festival following a search of more than a decade by the Mariposa Folk Foundation board of directors that resulted in a donation-in-kind through the York University Foundation.

The announcement was made Wednesday in Scott Library at a special musical event featuring performances by Mariposa alumni David Bradstreet and David Woodhead.

"We are thrilled with the treasure trove of historical artifacts that the Mariposa archives offer," said Michael Moir, University archivist & head of the Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections at York. "Students and faculty will be able to do a wide variety of interdisciplinary research with this high-quality, very relevant material."

Until recently the Mariposa collection – conservatively valued at more than $1.5 million – was locked away in storage in a downtown Toronto basement. A properly-maintained environment was vital to protect the material. York will provide that and more as it makes the included recordings, primary documents, images and other memorabilia available for education and research.

"We now hope that others will be inspired to donate valuable Mariposa memorabilia to this collection with the confidence that they will be well-preserved and put to valuable scholarly use," said Chris Lusty, president of the Mariposa Folk Festival. "We are pleased that York University will not only provide the necessary physical setting to house the artifacts but also public access for this great historical collection."

The Mariposa Folk Festival, an annual event that began in 1961 in Orillia, Ont., helped to launch the careers of many of Canada’s most notable recording artists, including Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Bruce Cockburn, Ian and Sylvia Tyson, and Murray McLauchlan.

The announcement of the new home for the Mariposa archives at York University brought with it plenty of memories of the festival. Poet Don Cullen, a long-time Mariposa supporter, credited Casey and Ruth Jones of Orillia for initiating the first Mariposa Folk Festival. He also lamented the festival’s unfortunate dispatch from Orillia after the second year due to the incursion of a wayward gang of bikers. The festival was left to wander for about 40 years after that. Cullen said, “My heart bleeds for the people in charge” of the festival during those years, but “a group of people in Orillia who really had great imaginations and were willing to work very, very hard” managed to bring the festival back to its original home.

Dr. Bill Goodman, an ear, nose and throat specialist, had an office just “50 yards from Yorkville,” the centre of the folk music scene in the 1960s. As a result of his throat specialty, he treated and befriended many of the folk singers of the time, including Lightfoot and the Tysons. He also collected a lot of Mariposa memorabilia and will be donating it to the new Mariposa archives at York. Among those items, Goodman said, is “one of my treasures which is an 8mm clip of the first Mariposa Folk Festival.” It has no sound, but archivist Moir recognized he had truly received a valuable donation.

The wide range of material in the Mariposa collection, including a large quantity of sound recordings and publicity documents submitted to the festival's organizers annually, offers astounding research potential for the study of folk music in North America during the second half of the 20th century.

"This truly is a gift that will keep on giving long into the future for the entire York community and beyond," said Phillip Silver, dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at York. "This material can be seen as one of the greatest collections of Canadian folk music in existence and we are proud to play a role in breathing new life back into this important element of Canada's cultural history."

The Mariposa archives will be available as a fully-accessible reference collection at Scott Library in September, in time for the fall semester at York.

"Gifts such as the Mariposa collection help to fortify York’s growing strength in the area of research," said Paul Marcus, president & CEO of the York University Foundation. "We recently launched ‘York to the Power of 50’ to celebrate nearly 50 years of exponential growth and dynamic achievement as we approach York’s 50th anniversary in 2009. To date we have $125 million in commitments towards our $200-million campaign goal. This gift helps to support York’s vision to become a leading international centre for interdisciplinary research and teaching."

[charlene]

more acts at Mariposa..
('ve seen Catherine, Madison Violet and Dave Gunning - all are incredible talents)
http://www.orilliapacket.com/Article...aspx?e=2482537
Four East Coast Music Awards winners to perform at Mariposa Folk Festival

STAFF -- As the curtain fell on the East Coast Music Awards (ECMA), the Mariposa Folk Foundation announced four artists celebrated in Sunday's ceremonies would appear at Mariposa's 50th anniversary festival July 9-11.

Mariposa artistic director Mike Hill, who attended the ECMAs, said "The East Coast music tradition is like a hot spring of creativity, with some of the most exciting folk/roots musicians in North America tap-p ing into that rich artistic energy. I am very pleased to present four of the artists celebrated at the 2010 East Coast Music Awards at Mariposa Folk Festival this year."


The four ECMA honourees booked to perform at Mariposa Folk Festival are:

Catherine MacLellan (Prince Edward Island)

With immense vocal and songwriting talents, MacLellan has been nominated and awarded numerous ECMAs and PEI accolades. She will mesmerize Mariposa audiences with her wonderful stage presence, great pipes and soulful tunes.

The Grass Mountain Hobos (Prince Edward Island)

Here is a band that defies description. Bluegrass blended with old time radio? If you can imagine a country dance in the '40s or '50s, you're partway to understanding the sound the Hobos make. Whatever you call it, it sounds great.

Madison Violet (Nova Scotia and Ontario)

Take two brilliant songwriters from different parts of the country, both having Cape Breton ties, put them together in Toronto, record them in England, and tour them around Canada, Australia and Europe, and what do you have? Madison Violet. They are back at Mariposa this year.

Dave Gunning (Nova Scotia)

What else can you say about someone the Toronto Star ranks on a par with Gordon Lightfoot, Bruce Cockburn and Stan Rogers? This Nova Scotia singer-songwriter's true strength is in his live performance. Gunning reaches into hearts with charm, a sensitive voice and a sense of humour.

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Announced earlier for Mariposa's 50th anniversary festival was a Sunday evening retrospective featuring Lightfoot, Ian Tyson, Sylvia Tyson and Murray McLauchlan. More artistic announcements are coming soon.

Another ECMA winner, New Brunswick-born blues performer Matt Andersen, announced during his concert last week in Orillia that he would be returning to the festival this year.

Mariposa Folk Festival takes place at Tudhope Park in Orillia. Audience camping is located nearby at Burl's Creek Family Event Park.