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I have this lanyard from the old pre-Bluesfest-owned Ottawa Folk Festival, back when it was sponsored by Carleton University’s campus radio station CKCU (which illustrates either the bigness of the small station or the smallness of the big festival). I can’t remember how I came to be in possession of the pass (which seems like it also included meals) but it was obviously through work, as it is clearly marked “Ottawa Folklore Centre”.
Regardless, I was onsite for two of the three days and August 15th, 2008 was the second of them. I have it written in my book that I saw a slew of acts that day including The Sadies, Ottawa’s own Ball & Chain (including fellow OFC teacher Michael Ball and his partner; their band name is actually quite clever), Sarah Harmer, Colin Linden, Donna the Buffalo, Country Joe McDonald, and Jerry Douglas. If that list doesn’t give you a feel for what sort of folk festival we’re talking about then you probably didn’t recognize a single act. Which is fine; no judgement…
Anyway, aside from some lingering mental snapshots of Country Joe onstage reliving the ’60’s and leading the crowd in doing the same, my thoughts from this day inevitably land in one place only, and that involves Jerry Douglas.
For those that don’t know him (again, no judging, but you really should check him out, and maybe check out Colin Linden while you’re at it) Jerry Douglas is one of the finest lap-style Dobro players out there; a monster of a musician who attracts much respect from the slide-guitar playing world at large. And to bring things full-triangle back to the OFC there was a guy teaching at the Folklore Centre at the time who was a pretty skilled lap steel player himself, a fellow Robert Crumb fan (did I ever mention that I’m a rather huge Crumb fan?) who would sit in the store during his ample time off and wow anyone who would listen with his best disembodied open-tuned riffs.
Anyway, this guy (was it Chris? Yeah…pretty sure his name was Chris) was super-excited because he was going to be playing with Jerry Douglas in the workshop tent, and being rather smitten at the time with Chris’ slippery slickery Dobro slidin’ I made a point of being there for it. Of course I wanted to see the great Jerry Douglas too, especially in such an intimate setting, but I was pretty pumped to see my chum get up there and wow his own hero.
Only that’s not what happened.
Chris was fine, but he was understandably nervous and he was lacking the easy confidence that he exhibited during his impromptu in-store displays. Don’t get me wrong, Chris was still quite good and he came darn close to holding his own, but c’mon, he was standing next to Jerry Douglas! And you want to talk about a guy who played with confidence? Jerry Douglas played with confidence. Ain’t nobody stole the show from Jerry Douglas, that’s for sure. He was great.
And no wonder, he’s one of the finest lap slide Dobro dudes on the planet. Turns out there’s a significant difference between local heroes and heroes. Frankly, good on Chris for getting up there at all but really, there was no way he could’ve passed on an opportunity like that. Just like any fighter would jump at the chance to fight Muhammad Ali, right?
Right?
Anyway, good old Folk Fest bringing back good old memories. Now CityFolk has moved things downtown, Chris stopped teaching long ago, the OFC has closed its doors, and Muhammad Ali died. Sometimes it seems like all that remains is the memories. And the bundle of tickets and lanyards that house them.
Oh, and you, of course. If you are reading this, you remain. Now don’t just sit there all smug like “I exist! I exist!”…go and listen to some Jerry Douglas!
Todd Man Out 