20 ~ Friday, July 22, 1988 - North Shore News RICH POETRY MAKES BAND 10, 000 MAN baich of une nd comers, ensitive TEN THOUSAND Maniacs are revealed to be five sensitive souls; Neil Young hits a flat note with The Bluenotes: Van- couver Folk Music Festival memories linger in the wake of a sunny weekend of international music. 10,000 Maniacs — In My Tribe, WEA 1987 Although the album has been out a bit, more people must know this music. It’s an unfortunately gross misnomer, but contrary to the name there is nothing remotely maniacal about this band. It's all MICHAEL BECKER music reviewer about ringing guitars, cheesy keyboards, danceable rhythms and intelligent lyrics delivered pixie- fashion by gifted lead singer Natalie Merchant. The band was born in the popu- lar-music vacuum of Jamestown, New York State, and released its first record, an EP entitled Human Conflict Number Five, on its own label in 1983. In My Tribe has gone gold in the United States and made it halfway to gold in Canada. WEA has just issued as a single, the song What’s The Matter Here, a stark tale showing up the twisted psychology used to rationalize child abuse. Merchant’s phrasing takes some getting used to — lots of narrative and weird breaks — but it pays off with the rich poetry implanting itself firmly into the grey matter. The Maniacs make some ex- tremely artsy-good music. Neil Young & The Bluenotes — This Note’s For You, WEA 1988 There’s a point where playing the musical chameleon just for the sake of changing the tune becomes a base exercise in mediocrity. This is one of those pointless points in Young’s durable career. The songwriting, judged against Young’s superior past efforts, is uninspired. The ensemble is top heavy and the voice is reduced to a mired whine in the realm of the blues. Skip it. terete God (however one might choose to define the creative spunk binding all matter universal) bless the Van- couver Board of Parks and Recre- ation. The unbeatable Jericho Beach Fark location, the weather, the organizers and the contributors to the 11th annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival made the weekend an unforgettable one for the thou- sands in attendance. A few vignettes: © Self-confessed smail ‘‘l’’ liberal chanteuse Nancy White searching the country for those who might admit to being Yuppies and fin- ding several in the crowd at a Stage 2 Sunday morning music “workshop.”’ e D.O.A. backing Rick Scott in a hilarious, improvised folk-rap ses- sion during the 10 a.m. Sounds of Our City session Saturday. © Quebecois artist Alain Lamon- tagne wailing away on a harmonica and clogging furiously with busy feet while spinning out a metaphor equating the stages of love with the dynamics of a fart. © The Musicians of the Nile cashing in on a golden opportunity to collect some hard currency by preceding and following stage per- formances with nakedly capitalistic bouts of haggling with curious West Coast Natives drawn to bags See Music outside on the Market’s South Plaza July 24th @ 2:30 p.m. “The Sixuvus” @ixieland Jazz) MAREET 123 Carrie Cates Court, North Vancouver Daily 9:30--6:30p.m. Thursday & Friday 9:30—9:00p.m. WHISTLER Village square will be alive with the sounds of country and blues this weekend for the Jack Daniels Country and Blues Festival there. Following on the heels of the Whistler Holiday Family Festival the Canada Day weekend, thas fes- tival features the sounds the award-winning Sue Medley Band, Whistler alive with sounds The Midnight Rodeo Band and the Cajun-spiced group Hot Tamali Twisters. Performances run from !1 a.m. both July 23 and 24, with acts changing hourly. All outdoor Jack Daniels Coun- tury and Blues Festival entertain- ment is free. Call 685-3650 for further event or accommodation information, 101 Lonsdale N. Van. We Del Deliver Chicken WESTERN FRIED CHICKEN 985-4333 $1.50 Delivery Charge A STORYTELLING WORKSHOP ROBERT MINDEN — AUGUST 19-21 torytelling is increasingly referred to as one of the heal- ing arts. After two decades of watching television, peo- ple are hungry to make their own images. That’s the gift of storytelling. It’s really about taking control of images — the storyteller and the listener become connected in a unique, cooperative adventure, articipants in this workshop will have the opportunity to approach storytelling from an autobiographical perspective: drawing stories from personal experience, and from the oral tradition: performance — how to combine story and sound. To work on: bring one story from your own personal experience and one from another source. obert Minden is a professiona! musician and storyteller and a founding member of the Vancouver Storytelling =! Circle. His musical storytelling group, The Robert Minden Ensemble, has a busy performance schedule, including a week long stint at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre this spring. They will be embarking on a national tour this fall. lam Bay Farm is a 100-acre organic farm rich with crops, meadows, forests and wildlife, a stocked trout pond and 1/2 mile of ocean shoreline set in a peaceful valley on Pender Island. You will enjoy delicious meals cooked with produce from our gardens, walks on the beach and through the woods, horses, canoeing, hot tub and sauna. A 50% deposit is due two weeks before workshop date. Please contact us soon because space is limited. Tuition, room and board: $190. ther workshops scheduled for Clam Bay Farm this sum- mer include: © Govindido - ‘Hands On’ Drum Workshop. July 15-17 ¢ Susan Hughes - The Garden Within. July 22-24 ¢ Cheryl Kolander - Silk Dyeing with Natural Dyes. Aug. 5-7 @ Sharyn Yuen - Papermaking by Hand. Sept. 9-11 e Daphne Marlatt - Journal Writing for Women. Sept. 16-18 @ Sandra Semchuck - Photographing Within Play. Sept. 30-Oct, 2 CALL CORRINE DAVIS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. CLAM BAY FARM R.R.1 North Pender Island, B.C. VON 2M0 ‘mB, (604) 629-6313