Lose Yer Shoes Folkadelic Festival
A Short History
In the summer of 1996, a folk duo known as Kremer and Nigelfunkel (Tom Kremer on guitar and vocals and Nigel Moses on congas) found themselves on stage at a late night jam at Otto's barn with a very eager and talented Eric Johnson on the bass. Shortly thereafter, the three got together in Tom Kremer's basement apartment, and jammed a set that began a long, strange journey through folkadelia and the Muskoka music scene. The band, Folk&Blues, performed all over Muskoka throughout the summer. At the time of the band's formation, the presence of the Mariposa Festival in Bracebridge had brought about a lot of activity in the music scene. Young singer-songwriters were coming out in droves from the the high school community and young and old alike were getting turned on to the wonderful world of folk music. The band performed at a Mariposa benefit but didn't get to play at the festival for being "the wrong style for the festival". It was then that they knew they had a unique sound! So they decided to call it the folkadelic sound, and to create their own festival.
The name came from a conversation between Eric and Tom where they had both gotten their sandals scooped at a concert. "Lose Yer Shoes" can be understood as an invitation to get closer to Mother Nature, get down and dirty, and party till the cows come home!
YEAR ONE - 1996
The first year was a one-day event at the Bracebridge Fairgrounds in which Muskokan artists shared the stage with some hot acts from Toronto, each community of artists and listeners getting a chance to experience the talent that the other had to offer. It was promoted throughout the summer at open stage events dubbed "Ruby Tuesdays". Many Muskoka songwriters attended the events, which took place in the basement of Bracebridge United Church. The Muskoka contingent consisted of Vicki Dodington, now a successful singer-songwriter in Nashville and Louise Kent, who has performed each year at the Lose Yer Shoes Festival, delighting us with her great sense of humour and meaningful songs. There was also Otis Blue, aka Otto Roosen, who performed an acoustic blues and gospel set, in which he attempted to get the laid back audience to do the Gospel clap. Aki no Kaze, aka Trevor and Francoise Roy-Digby, gave us some nice original folk and a bit of reggae, too! Folkin' Blues played a couple of sets that day. The first set featured Tom on the acoustic and Eric on the bass. The second set, the rockin' one, Eric played electric and Tom switched to the bass as the crowd began to dance and lose their shoes. That set the stage for Caution Jam to keep us groovin' into the night. Everything went smoothly as about 200 people passed through the park that day. About a hundred people watched Folk&Blues and Caution Jam close up the evening with a fitting "We Bid You Goodnight", the old gospel deadhead favourite.
Leo Broere of the Town of Bracebridge secured the site for Lose Yer Shoes at a VERY reasonable rate! An eager team of volunteers (Lynn, Trudie, Rhonda, Jim, and all) helped put Lose Yer Shoes on the map, and Youth Action Muskoka lent a hand as well. Muskoka Transport supplied the stage in the form of a flat bed trailer and the high school BMLSS supplied the sound system free of charge.
YEAR TWO - 1997
Tom and Eric knew after the first year that they needed a place where people could camp and stay over for the whole weekend. So they started looking around. They experienced the BMLSS Scavenger Hunt at Bracebridge Camping and figured that the site would be ideal for Lose Yer Shoes. They made a deal in the middle of the winter and started planning the next stage. It was a sight to see! (In fact you can see it at our website www.geocities.com/folkinblues). Brother Chris arrived with the legendary Big Green Bus and merged it with the Muskoka Transport flat bed trailer to form a beautiful stage, with an artists' area behind the bus. All of the artists from year one were back with the exception of Aki no Kaze, who were back in Japan, and the group of performers grew to include the Amy and Vicki Dodington sisters as a real treat, Matt Ruttan, Adam Scott, and Pat Temple as strong original artists, and Sheri Coates, jazzing it up a little to everyone's liking and Ginger Graham bringing us his folksy wit. Folkin' Blues got people up and dancing with Jed Hiltz on the bass guitar and Caution Jam pleased the crowd with a lively set. Friday evening was declared busker’s night and the Gospel hour on Sunday morning was introduced. The Make-Your-Own-Tie-Dye workshop was established, with Brother Ed of Whole Hearted Hemp taking on that job. A surprise addition of Smiley Mark Weinstock to the bill added a uniquely poetic voice, as Smiley sang a song about Zion to a rainbow backdrop on Saturday after the rain stopped.
Again, Lose Yer Shoes had a successful year and a lot of fun was had by everyone who attended. The Lose Yer Shoes vibe began to seep into the mainstream of the local deadhead community as more and more people were discovering the magic of Muskoka married with the folkadelic music scene. There continued to be complaints about the organization of the festival and its viability but festival organizers weathered the criticism and forged on with plans for the next show.
Year Two ended with a bang, as Lose Yer Shoes organized its first Folkadelic Holiday Tour, taking a band of artists up highway 11 from Toronto to Newmarket to Raymond, Ont., all in the dead of winter. This was a money-making endeavour, for once, so it became an annual tradition. The tour went from Dec. 27 to Dec. 29 at Free Times Cafe in Toronto, the Corner Coffee House in Newmarket, and Otto's Barn in Raymond, near Bracebridge. Adam Scott, Les and Eric from Caution Jam, Louise Kent, and Jed Hiltz were among the performers on tour. Vicki Dodington made a surprise appearance at Otto's Barn after having spent some time in Nashville working on her music.
YEAR THREE - 1998
The Festival got bigger and better with ticket outlets, more artists coming into the fold and a big mistake that almost put the festival in the ground. Pardon the pun, because organizers Tom and Eric had dug up a property in Baysville, Ont. for the festival but it was going to be essentially dirt and/or mud. They weren't going to have time to grow grass, real grass, stupid. Not ideal for camping. It could have been a little messy but the town of Baysville saved the day by contacting Tom and telling him that the property they were going to use wasn't properly zoned for the event so they couldn't hold it there! Learning experience #689. Now, they had to look around for a new site for the event, with a week to go! From his work's pay phone, Tom lined up Bracebridge Camping and immediately all advertising agents (radio, newspaper, word of mouth) had to be alerted as to the change of plans. Tom and Eric went out in Tom's Pony and nailed up signs throughout the region that nearly got them into some hot water with the town, announcing the site change. A few people got to have a little tour of Muskoka that night but most made it to the festival.
Singer-songwriter Nigel Warburton was added to an already stellar list of performers. Caution clowns lost their shoes to all of the wonderful music that was emanating from a stage donated by the high school BMLSS and erected by Brother Chris, Eric and a team of volunteers. The lumber for the canopy was donated by Country Construction. Great act after great act kept the listeners happy on Saturday and Sunday turned into a bit of an open jam after the gospel hour. The Folkin' Blues set was enhanced with the addition of Stew MacLean on the drums. Stew sat in with numerous bands that weekend, including a drumming duo with Mick Maher and Caution Jam. Folkin' Blues, who had played the Mariposa Festival earlier in the summer, treated the embly to a set of new original music as Caution Jam continued to entertain us with its own brand of cowadelic funkgrass. The financial viability of the festival was in question as the festival took a loss of $1500 that year. Organizers were not fazed, and began to make plans for the next year.
The Folkadelic Holiday Tour was again a success. There two shows, the Free Times Cafe and the Corner Coffee House. The tour had succeeded in making money and showcasing Lose Yer Shoes talent. Nigel Warburton, Jack Flint and Louise Kent were stellar at the Free Times Cafe and Folkin' Blues and Louise managed to get on TV (the New VR) while performing the benefit at the Corner Coffee House.
YEAR FOUR - 1999
The show in the fourth year had a new format and a new headliner. Caution Jam still headlined on Saturday, but the new format allowed for a Friday night headliner, and that was Basically Blues, an explosive outfit from Muskoka with Eric Johnson from Folkin' Blues, Mike Phillips, Scott Beasley, Harry Sprague and Georgia Brooke Hamilton on vocals. Friday night also featured Zen Again, Stumble Jam and Revolv, an entertaining evening to say the , Heaps of new talent was coming along with Mudstik, Slack Jaw McGraw, Hokum Blues Band, Andy D., N'Dauba, Steve Porter and the first Biodegradable Band. We also got a hand drumming workshop by drumming teacher Terry Cowan. By this time we had a web site, constructed by Eric Johnson as a high school project and our visibility had increased thanks to local businesses, who let us put posters in their stores, and also newspapers and radio stations. Wherever we went, more and more people knew about the festival. For the first time in its short history, the festival broke even and the campground was packed with musicians and revellers.
Well, the Folkadelic Tour was again a success, with packed houses and especially successful nights at the Corner Coffee House and the Barn. Les Garant provided some original folk stuff at the Free Times, as did Rick from Hokum Blues, and later jammed with Tom, Adam and Stew. The next day Slack Jaw McGraw came out to the Corner Coffee House and entertained a full house to some really nice bluegrass and gospel. Ken Percy came in and did a jazz/world beat jam that got the place a-buzzin'. Adam Scott finished the night with his tasteful originals and folkadelic country-blues. Up at Otto's Barn, jammers came out of the woodwork when it was announced on the local radio that there was a do going on there. Tom opened and closed the event with his folk songs and Otto was his usual self, juggling musicians and entertaining the crowd.
YEAR FIVE - 2000Click for a review.
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It's Lose Yer Shoes' fifth anniversary and the people who got it started, the people who have carried it since the beginning, and the people who have helped us along the way need to be recognized.
It must be noted that Mr. Paul Hammond at Muskoka Transport supplied the stage (a flat bed trailer) for the first two years of the festival, asking nothing in return. Credit also goes to John Walsh of Country Construction for donating lumber for the stage canopy in year 3. Also, Leah Sprague is to be thanked for her wonderful artwork that she selflessly donated to the festival.
Our First Year team:
Tom Kremer, Eric Johnson (coordinators), Caution Jam (headliners and promoters), Lynn McAllister (volunteer coordinator), Rhonda and Jim, Trudie Gilbert, Jason Atfield, Mandy Atfield (volunteers) Muskoka Youth Action (volunteers), Muskoka Transport (stage), Town of Bracebridge (site), Otto Roosen, Nigel Moses, Trevor Digby, Francoise Roy-Digby, Vicki Dodington, Louise Kent (performers). Bracebridge businesses (poster advertising)
Who was involved in the festival every year:
Tom, Eric, Caution Jam, Otto Roosen, Louise Kent, Lynn Trott, Bracebridge businesses who allowed us to put up posters in their offices.
Who helped us along the way:
Our sponsors the Moose 100.9 FM, Rock 95, Lakeland Brewery, Muskoka Cottage Brewery, Muskoka Natural Foods, Drenth's Independent Grocers, Muskoka Containerized Services, A&P, M&M Meats, Artifex, Bracebridge Printing, Bracebridge Muskoka Lakes Secondary School and the ever present Brother Ed of Whole Hearted Hemp. Brother Chris done stage and sound for the last 3 years. Mr. Terry Cowan supplied the sound equipment and gave us a free hand drumming workshop in 1999 and his band N'Dauba performed for us. All the performers and volunteers need to be thanked. The Corner Coffee House in Newmarket has always accommodated us for benefits and promotion.
Peformers
Adam Scott
Aki no Kaze
Amy Dodington
Andy D.
Basically Blues
Caution Jam
Eric Ruby
Folkin' Blues
Fred Bread and the Toasters
Ginger Graham
Hokum Blues
Jack Flint
Jed Hiltz
Jenn Hisko
Ken Percy and Tarab
Louise Kent
Matt Ruttan
Mike Rowbottom
Mudstik
N'Dauba
Nigel Warburton
Otto Roosen
Pat Temple
Revolv
Rolly
Sheri Coates
Smiley Mark Weinstock
Steve Porter
Stumble Jam
Suzi Revell
Vicki Dodington
Zen Again
Volunteers
Andrea Pavia
Andrew Ellis
Angie Bosco
Bob Richardson
Brother Chris
Brian
Cinnamon
Ed Mendonca
Fran
James Laraby
Jason Atfield
Jed Hiltz
Jim
Judi Moore
Katimavik
Kelly Creasor
Kevin Trott
Kimmer Cuzzilla
Leah Sprague
Les Garant
Lisa McDonald
Louise Kent
Lynn Trott
Mandy Atfield
Mark Crissinger
Matt Johnson
Muskoka Youth Action
Nigel Moses
Rhonda
Scott Ashton
St. John's Ambulance
Stewart MacLean
Suzanne Vaillancourt
Terry Cowan
Trudie Gilbert
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