When you put a bunch of musicians together who barely know each other – if you’re even that lucky – it’s a risk.
A calculated risk, of course, because, after all these are professionals who have been hired to play arguably the most prestigious folk festival in all of Canada. But you never really know.
However, Liz Scott, artistic director for the Mariposa Folk Festival, has a pretty good idea of just how it could turn out.
Those who parked in front of the Estelle Klein Stage Saturday were treated to a series of workshops that brought an eclectic array of groups together, culminating in The Rapture of Being Alive, featuring soul singer Tanika Charles, Celtic jazz group The McDades and Delta blues duo The Gardiners.
On paper, it could be a train wreck. But, by the time a simmering jam turned into a cover of Bill Withers' Ain’t No Sunshine, followed up immediately by Lean On Me, everyone realized they were witnessing another Mariposa moment.
“I often put together bands or artists that nobody — like the general audience — would think would make sense. And some of the artists would think would make sense,” Scott said.
“Put a classical piano player with a hip hop artist and see what happens. But that’s not a coincidence. That’s me thinking ‘I can picture what the potential is’ and if the artists are free and happy and understand and let loose and open to make the collaborations work then it’s magic. That’s my goal.”
In the eyes of Toronto musician Sam Polley, Scott couldn’t be doing a better job.
“I find that people who put together the programming for these festivals always do an incredible job of putting the right people together,” he said.
The workshops have been where the magic of Mariposa has been created for nearly 60 years since Klein first took over as artistic director in the mid-1960s. She envisioned a great collaboration and interaction between the artists in an intimate environment surrounded by music lovers, and as much as possible, devoid of ego.
It's a blueprint since borrowed by most folk festivals across the country.
When booking the festival and coordinating the workshops, it’s something Scott strives to replicate today.
“It’s supporting each other up there. Making it as fun or exciting as you can. Or emotional,” she said. "Everyone’s feeling something. And everyone in the audience that’s watching, they’re all feeling something different.”
The workshops are often one of the more enjoyable experiences for the musicians at the festival as well. An early Saturday workshop entitled Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace was hosted by Polley and his band the Old Tomorrows, featuring the likes of Carise Blanton, Jake Vaadeland and The Sturgeon River Boys and The Bros. Landreth. Like so many other workshops, the musicians were introducing themselves to each other as they were setting up.
But it was bound to be a highlight of the weekend for all of them. Polley called it out as such from the stage.
“It’s the collaboration,” he said. “We usually save a handful of songs that we know are good or easy to play along to and then just get people soloing or playing and that’s fun. It’s great to see what other people decide. It’s fun to be with my own band, but I know what they’re going to do. You never know what new people are going to do who have never heard the song before.”
It’s not just those musicians who haven’t heard the song before. Music discovery remains at the forefront of the Mariposa experience, especially as the festival continues to grow, thanks in large part to the headliners brought in, including Tegan and Sara for Saturday.
The continued financial success of the festival is reliant on bringing in the right names to headline the show to drive strong ticket sales. But it’s not just about the headliners, as Scott and any member of the Mariposa Folk Foundation will tell you.
“(It’s) very, very important to maintain the focus of the Mariposa Folk Festival, which has always been the daytime stages and the collaborative workshops and emerging artists,” Scott said. “Some people will only come for the daytime. That’s what they love. They won’t stay for the nighttime stuff.”
It’s a lot of legwork to put the festival lineup together. Throughout the year, Scott finds herself at a lot of showcases and conferences, and also networks with artistic directors at other festivals throughout North America. She also goes right to the source.
“I’ll ask other artists 'Who do you like right now? Who’s really cool?'” Scott said. “And Steve Poltz is like ‘ah, there’s this kid Jack Barksdale, he’s amazing, you’re going to love him.’ And then I start watching Jack Barksdale on social media and I’m like, ‘Wow, this kid is great.’ And now, five years later, he’s here.”
Barksdale was one of many first-time additions to the Mariposa lineup in 2023, as was Polley, who — perhaps more surprisingly, given he’s the son of Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy — had never even attended the festival as a spectator.
From his first set Saturday, he was taken in by the festival’s charm.
“I think these real smaller town folk festivals are amazing,” Polley said. “This one is longstanding — and really not that small — but it has that exact same vibe. People are here to listen to music, which is always exciting and cool.”
Given how much the festival has grown over the past decade, and since Scott took over as artistic director in particular, he’s not the only one to feel that way.
“It feels like we’re doing something right. People are happy. They’re happy with the music. They love the venue, this park,” Scott said. “It feels good knowing I’m a part of that and that people want to come see the music and they have faith. They know the lineup is going to be good. They know it because they’ve been here a few times and it’s been proven that they may only know one or two artists when they get here, but then they have all these new artists they’ve met.”
Scott also realizes that she and the other workers and volunteers who make the festival run are merely stewards of what has been developed in the past 60 years.
“Mariposa is such a legendary festival that any of us here that are part of it, we’re really just passing it along to the next people who can help out who can keep it going and keep it good,” she said.
Mariposa continues Sunday at Tudhope Park, with the likes of Sister Ray, Jeremy Dutcher, main-stage headliner Feist and one more special tribute to Gordon Lightfoot.
