Mr. Reaney, We Owe You a Drink
London, Ontario is populated with lovely people. Some of these people seem to like Porkbelly Futures, because we keep getting asked back.
London Free Press music journalist James Reaney recently published his annual summer concert guide, saying “I am thrilled to think of Toronto’s Porkbelly Futures, the only band that can stand comparison with THE BAND, playing in Victoria Park. For free.”
This is a reference, of course, to London’s Home County Festival. We hope to see you there. And if we meet Mr. Reaney there we’ll… well, we’ll buy him a drink.
Edmonton Folk Festival Likes Us
Here’s what they said.
“I am writing to give my whole hearted endorsement of the band Porkbelly Futures. This band played for the first time at the Edmonton Folk Festival in 2006 and I can assure you it won’t be their last….. Porkbelly Futures would be an excellent addition to any lineup .
Terry Wickham, Producer, Edmonton Folk Festival
We Made the Mariposa Festival’s 2008 CD
Incidentally, the Mariposa Festival’s 2008 commemorative CD is a beautifully packaged set, and features tracks from 19 of this year’s featured performers. We were surprised and pleased to see our own Gotta Love A Train first on the track listing!
Porkbelly made its debut at Orillia’s legendary MARIPOSA FOLK FESTIVAL over the weekend, playing to overflow crowds in the “Mariposa Pub”, really a spacious awning on an huge expanse of lush grass. Saturday was very special, a gorgeous summer evening with pleasure boats rocking on their moorings just offshore.
We had mischievously decided to tamper with the mellow, mellow mood of the festival, and luckily, the crowd was ready. Not to put too fine a point on it, we rocked the place out. The next afternoon saw us paired with A & R for a “Blues and Reggae” workshop, and if anything, the crowd was even bigger. A & R’s trio instrumentation includes box drum and steel pan, so we had absolutely no idea what to expect.
Amazingly, it worked a charm, with Chas and Marty spontaneously laying down a solid foundation to the reggae tunes, and our own stuff receiving a fresh new sound from A & R. Everything just felt so comfortable, and some of the grooves (helped by Rebecca’s cowbell) simply wouldn’t quit. Stuart got a roar from the crowd for attempting, in a single song, to solo on four different instruments. (He only dropped one, but he almost dropped them all.)
Fronting Porkbelly, of course, was P.Q., in great voice and with his guitar amp set to maximum raunch. Wouldn’t it be great if life were like this all the time? Now we look forward to our Ottawa Blues Festival show Saturday afternoon.
Thank you, Mariposa!!