Hundreds of artists come to the Edmonton Folk Fest every year. Some years you don’t really know the people who are performing but you leave with a new favourite, that’s what you will always be guaranteed, to leave with a new favourite.
I had heard of Luke Doucet before and had listened to a bit of his music, but I had never heard a lot of his music, until yesterday at a workshop. Just before the workshop I got a call from the Edmonton Folk Fest Media Tent to say that right after the workshop, I would be interviewing Luke Doucet. I spent the whole workshop preparing questions for him, until finally at 9:00 pm, the interview actually happened.
And the result was an interesting interview and a lot of fun!
At the festival he was performing with his band the White Falcon and with his wife Melissa McLelland, though most of his albums are technically solo albums, in that it’s his name on the cover and he writes all the music.
Luke Doucet himself though is all from over the place, he’s lived everywhere. He grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but after 12 years there he moved to Vancouver, after that he’s lived in Nashville, Toronto, Halifax and Hamilton. After living in so many cities, they each must have a different influence on an artist’s music. “In cities where there’s a large music industry like Toronto or Los Angeles or New York, it’s very easy for people to play music in those places for the wrong reason because they want to be stars and they see stars. Where as if you were living in Edmonton or Hamilton, chances are you are playing music because you love it or you’re not good at anything else” explains Luke.
For those of you who are familiar with the Weakerthans, you will know that they are also from Winnipeg. They have a song called One Great City, where they sing in the chorus: “I hate Winnipeg.”
“It’s difficult not to hate that city sometimes but it’s also difficult not to love it” says Luke Doucet in response to the Weakerthans quote. He explains that Winnipeg is in the middle of nowhere, and it’s hard to find work and, of course, that it’s really cold.
Luke Doucet’s music has influences from all over the place, so it’s really hard to categorize it. But categorizing music might be a bad thing, says Luke, “You know back in the day, people said rock ‘n roll was a combination of country and blues and folk, therefore I guess by an old definition, that’s what [my music] would be. But if you ask people what rock music is today, they don’t think of country, blues and folk.”
For more of the interview, please listen to a ZeitCast edition that will be coming out over the next few months.
I had heard of Luke Doucet before and had listened to a bit of his music, but I had never heard a lot of his music, until yesterday at a workshop. Just before the workshop I got a call from the Edmonton Folk Fest Media Tent to say that right after the workshop, I would be interviewing Luke Doucet. I spent the whole workshop preparing questions for him, until finally at 9:00 pm, the interview actually happened.
And the result was an interesting interview and a lot of fun!
At the festival he was performing with his band the White Falcon and with his wife Melissa McLelland, though most of his albums are technically solo albums, in that it’s his name on the cover and he writes all the music.
Luke Doucet himself though is all from over the place, he’s lived everywhere. He grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but after 12 years there he moved to Vancouver, after that he’s lived in Nashville, Toronto, Halifax and Hamilton. After living in so many cities, they each must have a different influence on an artist’s music. “In cities where there’s a large music industry like Toronto or Los Angeles or New York, it’s very easy for people to play music in those places for the wrong reason because they want to be stars and they see stars. Where as if you were living in Edmonton or Hamilton, chances are you are playing music because you love it or you’re not good at anything else” explains Luke.
For those of you who are familiar with the Weakerthans, you will know that they are also from Winnipeg. They have a song called One Great City, where they sing in the chorus: “I hate Winnipeg.”
“It’s difficult not to hate that city sometimes but it’s also difficult not to love it” says Luke Doucet in response to the Weakerthans quote. He explains that Winnipeg is in the middle of nowhere, and it’s hard to find work and, of course, that it’s really cold.
Luke Doucet’s music has influences from all over the place, so it’s really hard to categorize it. But categorizing music might be a bad thing, says Luke, “You know back in the day, people said rock ‘n roll was a combination of country and blues and folk, therefore I guess by an old definition, that’s what [my music] would be. But if you ask people what rock music is today, they don’t think of country, blues and folk.”
For more of the interview, please listen to a ZeitCast edition that will be coming out over the next few months.
1 comment:
Oh!! I'm so jealous that you got to talk with and interview Luke Doucet! Can't wait to read the whole interview. Have fun with the rest of the interviews - I've heard through the grapevine that you've interview Hawksley and Michael Franti!! How fabulous is that?
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