Here’s one great reason to go to the Ottawa Folk Festival:
You can meet members of the bands you love! I managed to catch up with Joey Burns after Calexico‘s jaw-dropping jam session with The Acorn, Tanya Tagaq, Namgar, and Kim Beggs during the “A Place Called Home” workshop on Saturday, August 14. I was able to ask a few quick questions about how he was enjoying the festival and details on Calexico’s upcoming tour!
EMJ: Hey, I’m talking to Joey Burns of Calexico!
How have you found the Ottawa Folk Festival so far?
JB: So far it’s been great. We had two really nice workshops in the afternoon here on Saturday. The location here is just divine. If anybody is out there listening and has always wondered if you should go or not to this folk festival, it’s really a great location, and that alone sets the mood. There’s a lot of musicians here from all over the world playing together. You’ve can hear Tanya Tagaq in the background and members of The Acorn and Calexico all hanging out. We just performed all together for the first time.
EMJ: Have you had a chance to see some of the other acts since you’ve been here?
JB: No, I just got here. We flew in last night, and we’ve just been hanging out here. I look forward to hanging out here and seeing more acts.
EMJ: You’ve just announced a tour with Arcade Fire. That’s really exciting for both Calexico fans and Arcade Fire fans. Have you worked together before?
JB: Yeah, some of the trumpet players in our band have played with Arcade Fire. They recorded the song “Ocean of Noise” on the last record, Neon Bible, so yeah, I guess there’s a connection, and we share a similar booking agent, Billions Booking. We’re big fans, and we’re really looking forward to being on the road with Arcade Fire.
EMJ: I know that Calexico has done a lot of specific tour albums. Is there going to be anything like that released with Arcade Fire?
JB: Yeah, probably. We’ve got a soundtrack that we made for a documentary about a Mexican family circus. So we’re thinking about putting that out on tour coming up this September.
EMJ: How is it touring in Mexico? Do you find that the audience is really different from in the U.S. and Canada?
JB: We’ve only toured in Mexico City, once, and I think that really when you boil it down, everyone is basically the same. Everyone really enjoys the music and loves to get together and celebrate, and that’s what these shows are. They’re a big celebration, especially if you get a lot of musicians together on stage. What we like to do is invite guests up when we’re travelling around. That makes it even more festive.
EMJ: Do you prefer doing festivals to just touring in individual places?
JB: I like the festivals a lot. Festivals are great. They’re a really good chance to get outside and to get to know people, whether on a personal level or on a musical level. And our music seems to do really well outdoors, so we enjoy playing the festivals.
EMJ: Great. Well, thanks so much for your time. I really appreciate it.
JB: You’re welcome!
