Folk music lovers are gathering in north-end Halifax Jan. 25-28 for the annual In the Dead of Winter music festival.
The four-day event brings musicians from across North America to small cozy venues such as The Company House and The Bus Stop Theatre across the street on Gottingen. Headlining this year’s lineup is Shawn Colvin. The Austin, Texas singer has won three Grammy Awards including Record of the Year for her 1998 album Sunny Came Home.
In the Dead of Winter started in 2005. The first festival was organized by Heather Gibson and local musicians Jill Barber, Rose Cousins, Jenn Grant and Amelia Curran. Every year the festival is curated by a small group of event organizers and local musicians.
The festival gives young, up-and-coming Atlantic Canadian artists such as Willie Stratton, Mo Kenney and Breagh MacKinnon the chance to play alongside artists who have been playing music and touring for much longer.
One of these experienced musicians is Lunenburg’s Jon Mckiel, playing at the festival for the third time. “(In the Dead of Winter) gets people out of their hibernation,” he says.
Last October Mckiel released Tonka War Cloud, an album that came out two years later than planned.
He had 15 songs recorded but the Winnipeg label he was using to his work folded. To generate interest from another label, Mckiel put a few songs out through Halifax’s Youth Club Records in February 2011. It worked and he was able to release his full-length album through Calgary’s Saved By Vinyl.
Mckiel’s music is influenced by what he grew up listening to. This includes his favourite local rock ‘n’ roll bands Eric’s Trip and Thrush Hermit. He is also influenced by acoustic artists such as Hayden. “(It’s) why I have some louder songs and some more hushed, quiet, minimal songs.”
Mckiel is also influenced by run-ins with people in day to day life. The second song on Tonka War Cloud, Iceman, was inspired by somebody he met on tour. “He was this crazy cab driver doing donuts in the parking lot when he picked us up. He said, ‘Call me the Iceman.’”
Since the release of his 2008 album, The Nature of Things, Mckiel’s band has changed from a five-piece band with horns and extra guitars to a simpler three-piece band with a guitar, bass and drum set.
When playing live, most of the songs from his two earlier albums are left unplayed, since they don’t sound the same with the new band. “I think people understand that the band has gone in a different direction,” says Mckiel.
He says not to expect a rock ‘n’ roll set at the festival. Instead he will be playing quieter songs alongside Klarka Weinwurm. He’ll play at the 2053 Gottingen venue along with David Simard and These Hands. The show starts at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the door for $12.
This article originally appeared in the January 27th edition of the Halifax Commoner.
