The Grassroots Festival is gearing up for three full days of music, from folk to country to roots, and hands-on gardening, ukulele, guitar, and songwriting workshops. For people of all ages, the 13th edition of the festival will take place from April 24-27.
Ottawa Grassroots Festival.
“Ed Lawrence, he’s the gardening guru … and we have Arthur McGregor, he’s going to do a workshop on ukuleles, Vince Halfhide is going to do a guitar workshop, and Lynn Miles is doing a songwriting workshop,” says festival producer Alison Bowie.
There will also be a kids’ workshop, with the festival aiming to cover all ages, Bowie says. She’s also promising “a couple of surprises.”
The non-profit, community-focused event strives to create a participatory environment, and one of the ways it achieves this is through free workshops that will run throughout the weekend, explains Bowie.
“We’re trying to be really inclusive, so it helps to remove that financial barrier when possible.”
While some instruments will be provided for the workshops, attendees are also encouraged to bring their own. Bowie said it’s not uncommon for unscheduled open mic sessions to occur, even among the scheduled performers.
“Ottawa is pretty small, but so is Canada, and a lot of people know each other, so we try to have different artists come together and meet and participate in each other’s shows, so it’s quite interesting how it grows that way.”
Musician Devin Cuddy is performing at Grassroots Festival. Photo by Shelley Hayes.
There will also be a silent auction, which is a key fundraising initiative for the festival. Grace Smith, the auction manager, says the backbone of the auction is from Canadian-owned, family-run, and operated businesses throughout the Ottawa region. Items up for auction include overnight stays in boutique hotels and inns, day trips to neighbouring towns to discover hidden gems including restaurants, specialty shops, and studios, and experiences in fine dining, casual eateries, and tasting tours.
There are also donations from celebrated artists, recording studios, and an award-winning photographer. The auction is set to launch soon, on April 10.
There will also be performances each evening, including the Barrow Gang Buskers on Thursday, Lynn Miles on Friday, and The Devin Cuddy Band on Saturday.
“We love coming to Ottawa. We’ve been coming for years and years in different forms and places to perform,” says Devin Cuddy, whose roots style is a mix of country, blues, and jazz, with a third-person writing style influenced by Randy Newman. He says people’s stories are a key part of his creative process.
Musician Devin Cuddy. Photo by Shelley Hayes.
“You realize how different everybody is, and then you also realize the underlying similarities that we have as Canadians and you hear their stories or their lifestyles,” says Cuddy. “I’m not sure that I write specifically about one person or another, but I can combine those experiences into different characters and stories, and it’s great. I enjoy the travel very much, and I need it for my creative process.”
Fans coming to watch The Devin Cuddy Band can expect some older songs they don’t normally play live and some newer material the band has been working on for their upcoming record, currently in the early stages of development.
“I’ve heard a lot about the old church that we are playing in and how great it is, and that always gets us excited.”
Other headliners include The Dusty Drifters, an Ottawa-based bluegrass ensemble on April 24; The Barrow Gang Buskers, an Ottawa-based Rockabilly ensemble on April 25; and Lynn Miles, a Roots/Folk singer JUNO winner, Canadian Folk Music Awards winner, and Grammy nominee.
The Grassroots Festival will be taking place at The First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa (30 Cleary Avenue, Ottawa) from Thursday, April 24 to Sunday, April 27, and is wheelchair accessible with free tickets to the evening concerts for support personnel and people under 15 when accompanied by a ticket-holding adult. Ticket prices vary. Prices and packages can be purchased from Eventbrite.
