I was inadvertently invited out to this festival that celebrates women in the music industry. This included not only just the artists but the women behind the scenes. This includes producers, promoters and any woman that help this industry move forward.

It was the second outing for this festival, and it is headed by a woman name Andrea Ramolo.

Irene Torres

Well, the show that features eight amazing acts, opening with the Irene Torres who brings her lovely sultry and fun Latin flavoured music to the masses. She walked on stage with a beautiful dress and decided to leave her shoes behind and proceeded to do her set-in stockings. Her connection with her audience felt authentic as she sat on the stairs coming down off the stage to sing a couple of songs. Irene is a woman who came to Toronto 27 years ago from Peru and has been warming up our country for all those years.

Irene Torres Live:

Lala Noel

The second act was a big departure from the opening act. She walked on as a single woman with just a keyboard. She opened her mouth and the notes that followed held you in trance. It was only the beginning as she began to loop her sounds live. Within a minute you were completely immersed inside her quiet wailing. It was like a wave after wave of emotions weaving its way through you forlorn and sleepless nights. It was dreamy with a billowing stream that enraptured you with getting to know yourself better.

I had to laugh at her final song, is it a reactive piece in today’s fast changing climate. She dedicated this brand-new work of art to that orange tortilla chip that occupies the white house. Hahaha. I really look forward to what this artist will go next with her art. She is an underground force that is emerging like an unknown seed in today’s predictable music scene.

Lala Noel live:

Semiah

A true Canadian festival cannot be complete these days without an indigenous act hitting the stage. This is the Canada I want to be proud of giving voice to some of the best storytellers on the planet.

Semiah is of Mohawk decent and came from the Rez outside of Hamilton to share her gifts with us. Andrea called her the Swamp Princess, and she walked out on that stage to prove her majesty with a loaded set of high energy pop songs. In fact, she was so happy to be at this festival she brought her own camera crew to video tape a live video of her show. The Great Hall became a part of her history. Maybe we should say we became a part of herstory.

In her words she finished off her set with a sappy song. She sat beside a close friend who played a ukulele and sang a song of innocence. After her set I spoke with her, and she does shows on the Rez. I asked if anyone was allowed to come or was it a private affair. It is open to the public and I am sure they will welcome us to such an event. I have never done this before, so I will have to take her up on this offer.

Semiah live:

Earth To Tiffany

I believe Earth to Tiffany was a last-minute add-on. I didn’t see her on the bill. In this festival it didn’t matter. She was invited to squeeze in a song to get her voice out there. Her voice came from a place of sadness and discord. It sort of felt like an early Tracey Chapmen or a Joan Armatrading. We will just wait to see where her new material will take her.

Earth to Tiffany live:

Sarah MacDougall

Sarah came all the way from Saskatchewan to showcase her talent. The journey was worth it. Her songs, her stories and her voice really resonated with this crowd who are very attentive listeners. She contains wisdom from someone who watches what goes on around her. She brought along good friend and violinist, Lisa MacIsaac.

Wistful like the prairie winds, she carries personal stories like her song, “We are Fire”. It is dedicated to non-binary people. She also told us of a fun story of meeting Prince William and the Duchess of York, who caught her show up in Whitehorse. The complimented her and said that was the best show they ever saw. Sarah thought these two need to get out more.

Sarah MacDougall live:

R.Flex

Well, if the evening needed a little pick me up after a couple of acoustic moments, R.Flex was the powerhouse performance of the evening. She was a power princess and called Premier Ford, nothing but a powdered Timbit.

She really comes thundering on and stuns you with her vogue moves. Once you settle in and grab onto her groove, you just want to join in and emulate those moves. She walked into the audience and almost dared them to create some kind of dancing mosh pit. The crowd seemed timid but loved the intensity of this performer’s assertiveness.

When she got back up on stage, she asked her friend Ensh to join in the party. They had a pretty cool dance routine and then went into a song called, “Choices”. R.Flex is not for the meek, unless you want to stand in the back of the room to watch.

R.Flex live:

Chris Derksen and Kinnie Starr

Even though, I only heard of these women, I didn’t know what they were capable of. Chris is a highly decorated cellist from the Cree nation. Her list of accomplishments could go on for a very long time. She is noted to be a warrior for people with that gender gap

Kinnie Starr is w ell known vocalist with a very distinct style of pushing sound barriers. There were technical difficulties with the cables, but the show must go on. She let us know her pedals are one of the tools that help her with her performance, so she felt a little exposed on stage. She is well known for being on the bill for the 1997 Lillith Fair concert. This was a huge concert in Canada where they really celebrated the female artists of Canada. We can thank Sarah McLaughlin for that one. Now we can start thanking Andrea for creating this one.

Between a cellist who was completely improvising the atmosphere and a singer going in raw, there was an unknown form that grew right in front of us. It was primitive and mesmerizing and truly a unique experience that left the crowd silent like a lamb; but not going to slaughter.

These were emotions that needed no words, just the vibrations told the entire story. It was a remarkable intimacy that each of us brought onto ourselves. It was digging deep into our own cabinet of jumbled conciseness and rearranging them to make sense once more.

Chris and Kinney Together:

An added bonus

When the spell was broken Andrea walked back onto the stage with a bass guitar and introduced a young 12-year-old hoop dancer name Emily. We now had a three-piece band that accompanied a young indigenous performer who has been in worldwide competitions for her dancing skills. If you have never witnessed a hoop dancer before, Emily is a remarkable ambassador to watch. By the end of her dance, she was handling nine hoops at once.

Emily in action:

CJ Wiley

For a long evening of music, it was nice to see plenty of people sticking around to the end. I guess CJ Wiley is worth sticking around for. This is a young woman is non-binary with the talent of a spice rack. Yes, that is a strange analogy, but it the only one I can think of right now.  CJ’s sound is a mix of emo noir with country sprinkles. Cj is a pop with singer/songwriting ability. They are highly expressive with free-flowing hand movements. Each song varies in spirit and technique.

Their overall message seems to be that of a better human experience for everybody. It doesn’t matter who you are in this world as long as you bring something good to the table. One of the tracks was about finding parts of yourself in other people and then taking them with you to add to mix of life.

You can feel their loyalty towards protecting other people’s vulnerability and do whatever it takes to grow with that. If CJ were a gardener, this land would be full of colour, even though some of the material can lean into darkness. My only critique would be on one of the songs. I believe it was about wanting to grow your out hair. I swear I could hear a horn section in that song. So, if you are reading this CJ, think about horns on your next project.

CJ Wiley live:

Next Year

This was a crowd that strongly supported artists, people of differences, people in the industry that don’t get a spotlight like producers and engineers. This is meant to showcase true talent that is being overshadowed by the oversaturation of music that you hear on Spotify. This is a music festival raising its voice and saying to Toronto that we need our own music festival.

I know this festival will grow next year; we just need you as an audience to pay attention to the rising talent and to come out and support them. We are officially out of Covid and we are allowed to celebrate life again with music. This festival is inviting you out to participate in the power of music. It does exist on the stage, but does it exist in front of the stage. That would the fulfilling prophecy that is asked of you to fill. See you next year.