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 Dallas Green |
EDMONTON - It’s all well and good for performers to please themselves above all others.
The performers seem to enjoy themselves more, which makes for a more authentic concert experience, which translates to the audiences, which seem to enjoy artists who enjoy themselves more and so on and so forth in a joyful harmonic convergence.
But I draw the line at artists who refuse to play their big hits. It smacks of selfishness, as if the act of pleasing others – by biting the bullet for three minutes and just playing the damned song – brings the artist no happiness at all.
You have to play your hit. Do it for the good of your immortal place in popular culture, whether you like it or not, if not for the people who paid money to see you. That hit doesn’t belong to you anymore. It belongs to everybody who lost their virginity while listening to it. To spite the instrument of your own success is a betrayal of cosmic karma. You are toying with forces beyond your comprehension!
Yes, I wag my finger at you, Mr. Dallas Green, also known as City and Colour.
He performs tonight on the Edmonton Folk Music Festival’s prestigious main stage – and he says he will “probably not” play the hit single ‘Save Your Scissors.’ The folk fest is just the place to get away with this sort of thing, never mind the fact City and Colour wouldn’t be here were it not for that song.
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Back in March 2006, Green declared he didn‘t want anything to do with the song if it became a hit, and it did, and he still feels the same today – “If there’s people coming to see me just to hear me play that one song, then I don’t really want those people to see me.”
Green goes on to claim ‘Save Your Scissors’ is no big deal, just one of many songs true fans know and love. Plus, he’s got a bunch of new ones.
But with professional radio promotion behind it, City and Colour’s lilting heart-of-stone anti-love anthem shot to No. 1 in heavy rotation on MuchMusic, hit No. 6 on rock radio, No. 15 on “hot AC” (adult contemporary) and earned the singer-songwriter and Alexisonfire member a spate of awards, including Junos, and a platinum album.
In stubborn DIY (do it yourself) fashion long after it’s necessary, Green still drives the van and sets up his own gear. Then he says he “doesn’t have time” to rearrange “Save Your Scissors” to fit the new rhythm section he’s bringing to the folk fest. So hire a roadie and take an extra 15 minutes in soundcheck to hammer out an arrangement.
It’s all about time management, people!
(In much the same way, you could argue that the time spent by people like Bon Jovi and Hilary Duff on their various philanthropic efforts detracts from time they could’ve spent improving their records and live performances, so in a sense they make bad music for the good of humanity.)
The relationship between a hit song and its creator is a fascinating topic. Green hits the nail on the head when he says that a song can get so popular that “it becomes everyone else’s song as opposed to yours. You take that risk by putting it out to the public.”
Risk or golden opportunity, once the song is a hit, it takes on a life of its own that can be remembered long after its writer is dead and forgotten.
Numerous rock artists have wrestled with their personal Frankenstein monsters. It is said that Don McLean didn’t play ‘American Pie’ in concert for a time – but that didn‘t stop the song from becoming a huge, stinking albatross around his neck. It just pissed off his fans.
It’s more of a dilemma when an artist has many hits. Even Neil Young, when touring behind new records, often ends up taking the fans’ desperate requests for ‘Heart of Gold.’ And a member of Deep Purple once expressed strange anthropomorphic feelings about ‘Smoke on the Water,’ when the band decided to teach the uppity tune “a lesson” by not playing it – but the ban didn’t last long. The song was just too powerful.
It’s clear that many songwriters have ambivalent feelings about seeing their babies turned into freaks rampaging at large in the great wide world.
Most will admit the money is nice, but some get defensive when talking about that one song they must close with every night like trained monkeys lest they get lynched by their audience, saying things like, “We do have other songs than ‘Smoke on the Water,’ you know.”
Dallas Green is no different – he’s just more up front in his disdain for fame.
He says, “A lot of people get into the music business because they want fame. I play music because when I wake up in the morning and look at my guitar, I have to play it. I want to make myself happy. I appreciate that people love the song, but at the end of the day, it’s just me by myself wondering if it’s good or not.
“There’s no one there to pat me on the back and say, good job.”
No, but you can bet there’s going to be a few people at the folk fest crying, “Aw, man, he didn’t play ‘Save Your Scissors.’ What a rip-off.’
Folk fest offers a spectrum of musical options
Over the last 28 years, the Edmonton Folk Music Festival has proven itself as so much more than just a weekend of folk music.
Starting tonight and running through to Sunday, eight different stages will offer festival goers a whole spectrum of musical options to enjoy.
Gates open this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. for the first of round main stage entertainers, which may prove one of the most varied of this year’s lineup.
Featuring nine of Canada’s best African guitarists, African Guitar Summit starts things off at 6 p.m. before ‘Dr.’ Ralph Stanley takes the stage with his Clinch Mountain Boys, a band he started with his older brother back in 1946. Then it’s back to the 21st century with City and Colour, the solo project of one of today’s hottest songwriter/rockers and Alexisonfire frontman Dallas Green. Capping off the opening night will be Nanci Griffith, crowned the ‘Queen of Folkabilly’ by Rolling Stone magazine.
The folk fest, as it’s commonly referred to, attracts more than 40,000 fans each year – not just for the music, but the overall experience.
“I think the folk festival itself is the biggest draw,” says Wickham. “People, I think, they come down because they know it’s quite affordable, it’s a good atmosphere, and the music will be good – even if it’s people they don’t know.”
Wickham says the choice of artists each year goes beyond mere money and availability.
“You have to have the right spirit to play the festival too. So, if it’s just money you’re interested in ...”
Mary Margaret O’Hara, sister to SCTV’s Catherine, Blue Rodeo and Buffy Sainte-Marie will be on the main stage this weekend, while the sessions, featuring several performers together on stage, will include Buck 65, Guy Clark, Connie Kaldor, Martin Sexton, Mary Gauthier and many more.
Weekend passes and Friday night tickets are sold out, but there are a few tickets available for Thursday, Saturday and Sunday night concerts. For lineups and more information, call or go online to www.edmontonfolkfest.org